As a kpop fan who recently left their 20s behind, this is a topic that has been on my mind for awhile. Obviously, there’s a problem with ageism in kpop in general, where idols past their mid-20s are frequently treated as being too old for success by both the industry and the general public.
Of course, there are plenty of rational fans who see how ridiculous this is, but even with my minimal amount of time spent browsing Instagram (and even less on Twitter), I still see plenty of back-handed compliments aimed at idols like Solar, Irene, even Sakura (which is absurd), etc (there are plenty more examples, of course, these are just idols belonging to some groups that I follow).
Often times, this is laughable—Solar, for example, is 33. Which, as a reasonable individual can figure out, is not actually old. In comparison to idols who are minors, then sure, she’s certainly a full grown adult. But that has no effect on her absolutely astounding talent.
Other times, though, this can become a problem, especially when it is directed with negative intentions (as opposed to misguided, naive beliefs) or when it is directed at other fans.
This wasn’t something I’d ever experienced personally, mostly because the bulk of my kpop interaction on social media are either on Reddit, smaller Discord communities, or Buy/sell interactions on Instagram.
However, recently, I attended a Young Posse concert—this was something I was very excited for because it was a Leo Presents concert and I had the highest tier ticket. This means fansign, selfies with members, a photo with the whole group, and expedited entry to the concert. I usually arrived around 10:30-11:00 for Leo Presents concerts and get barricade basically every time. It’s great.
I also like to join Instagram Group Chats before concerts because it’s a good way to get up-to-date information, help other people out, that sort of thing.
You can probably see where this is starting to go.
Anyway, the day of the show arrived, and I got there around 10:45, as planned. I was the 13th person there, which meant barricade for sure. There were a lot of people in the group chat that were not going to be arriving that early, so they wanted to know how many people were already there, etc. I kept them updated as the day went on, no problem.
There was, during this time, a not-insignificant amount of people complaining that we were “there too early” and that “there was no reason to be so early.” Obviously the source of these comments was just that they were mad they wouldn’t get barricade, which proceeded to lead to people actually asking the group chat “Can we just cut in line? Like no one will say anything right?”
Fortunately, the more rational members of the chat said no.
This then lead to people who had gone to the previous show complaining about the same thing—about how people arrived super early. Which then progressed to the topic at hand—people complaining about how “there were too many grown men there” and how the front row was all “grown men” and how that was weird and there was no reason for them to be there.
This was the point where I stepped in, questioning why their age mattered, and stating that I didn’t appreciate the casual ageism (I left out the sexism part, as that was a conversation I didn’t want to get into). I mentioned that I was a grown man and my appreciation of the music and group meant I had the same right as anyone else to be there.
This led to several members reacting with great shock to the fact that I was an adult male, though several other members were like, “Yeah, he’s right, as long as no one is being weird, who cares?”
So what’s my point?
I guess I’m just frustrated. I look way younger than I am (always have), but I hate that I sometimes feel like I need to justify my existence in fan spaces. Obviously, not everyone is like that, and the people who ARE like that aren’t worth engaging with… but there’s a lot of them.
And these are the same people who will decry sexism in the industry (which IS a real problem, absolutely), and then turn around and practice their own version of it.
It’s so stupid. Yes, I’m an adult male. But believe it or not, regardless of my age, I still appreciate cool music and fun performances.
If you want to get barricade, you have to arrive early. No, you cannot cut in front of me. Yes, I have absolutely allowed people who are shorter than me to stand in front of me when they asked nicely. But attempting to just stand in front of me is not going to get you any favors.
Fortunately, I had a wonderful time at the concert, and everyone around me was lovely. We all had a blast discussing kpop before the show, and then dancing, singing, and hyping up the girls.
I don’t really know where else to go with this. I know people will always have ridiculous opinions—and when it’s 13 or 14 year olds, it’s pretty easy to ignore. But when it ranges from late teens to early 20s, it becomes a little more disheartening.
tl;dr: Let people enjoy things. Just because someone is “old” (used VERY lightly), doesn’t mean they suddenly stop liking their hobbies.
submitted by /u/jazzberry76
[link] [comments]
