Long post ahead, sorry! I’m a relatively recent kpop fan (since Jan 2024) and have been thinking about my own preferences for kpop boy groups vs girl groups recently. I wanted to see if anyone has some thoughts on this.
For context, I am a early twenties straight male living in a western country. Ever since I’ve gotten into kpop, I’ve almost exclusively listened to and followed girl groups, more specifically, the larger groups of 3rd gen onwards. There have been some BG choruses that I’ve liked, e.g. plot twist (tws) and deja vu (txt), but I don’t think I’ve ever repeatedly streamed any BG songs more than a few timee. I’m don’t want to generalize but in the past, I put off a lot of BG music as just noise music at best, and at worst, appropriations of prominent black male artists. Obviously this isn’t gender specific but maybe these things have just been more salient to me in BG music.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about whether this aversion to BGs is a form of sexism, in the same way that One Direction, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift have been looked down upon by a lot of men. Most BGs have strong majority female fanbases. Hobbies and interests that are female dominated have historically been looked down upon by many people. There are valid critiques of these things, but many dismiss any merits they have just because their fans are predominantly female. Personally, I have little interest in listening to men sing or perform regardless of the language, I’ve listened to music in predominantly 4 languages and the vast majority has been from female artists. But is this preference just a manifestation of a sexism? Or is it mostly my attraction to women at a baseline just means I find them and their creative output more interesting?
Obviously people have their preferences/tastes, but preferences don’t exist in a vacuum and are informed by personal and societal biases. Do I not like seeing BGs because I prefer it when women perform as opposed to men, or because BG dances appeal to women (big overgeneralization, I know) and that subconsciously puts me off? Is it because I am fine with women performing for people, but because I don’t like men doing the same which definitely sounds sexist. I know men listen to BGs as well, but obviously female attraction to men informs their music preferences as does male attraction to women. Maybe this is also because nearly all of my past strong relationships, whether it’s family, friends or romantic, have been with women. I don’t think I’ve really had a deep connection with any man before and I have a lot of negative feelings towards men, their role in society, and the way that some of them treat other men and women. Maybe this is why I am put off by variety show and social media content of BG members with each other.
It’s likely a combination of all these things, but I can’t quite parse what is going on with me. Maybe some of you have thought of these things before, your thoughts may help me and others figure it out. I might have worded something crudely, but it was difficult to express these thoughts cleanly lol. I’d be interested in what you all think, and what male/female fans of mostly GG/BG think about this. I also haven’t brought up gay people and how their gender + sexuality informs their preferences. I’d be very interested in hearing from them about their thoughts on this as well
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