The Evolution Of Sexy: How Western Culture Has Influenced K-Pop's Girl Groups

In times past, girl groups would debut with fresh faces, clad in flowing white clothing, and sing songs of first loves and crushes. Some of the first few Korean girl groups, S.E.S. and Fin.K.L. were trailblazers for such concept, were later followed by innocent girl groups the Wonder Girls and Girls' Generation. For most of the Korean pop industry, leading girl groups' concepts included a pure, doll-like innocence (that may seem infantalized in some respects)-catering to uncle fans and their other demographics alike. However, a new trend has risen on the K-pop scene: the sexy.

Nowadays, many girl groups are resorting to showing skin in hopes of controversy, as Korean culture remains as a whole largely conservative. Many entertainment agencies with struggling girl groups embrace the philosophy of "there's no such thing as bad press," and will dress their performers in as little as possible in hopes of getting the public riled up and the girl group's name known more to the public. Also, there's the nagging factor that everything western is "cool," and Korean entertainment companies such as YG Entertainment or JYP Entertainment may appropriate certain, specific aspects of American culture in hopes of coming off as "edgy," or "trendy."  However, often times smaller entertainment companies don't have the correct funds to pull off such expensive concepts-rather, they turn to another aspect of the western music market: sex.

Many in the K-Pop universe may ask themselves why explicit sexiness has become extremely more prominent in the past year or so. Although veteran performers such as Lee Hyori and Park Jiyoon have commanded with staunching sex appeal, it is now more common than ever for girl groups to sing sultry songs about the short clothes they are wearing or what they would like a man to do to them.

Trailblazers SISTAR would be one of the most popular examples of when the shift from "innocent, girl next-door" concept to "sultry, sexy diva" concept arose. Singing in tight, short, sparkly dresses for "So Cool" and in short-shorts and tank tops for their subunit's release "Ma Boy," SISTAR was the first girl group to rise from "unknown, nugu" to "one of South Korea's top girl groups."

Following SISTAR, Girl's Day, a struggling rookie group whom had always been lurking in the shadows of the girl group scene, made a splash with their erotic, darker bubblegum tune "Expectation." Around the time of the release, it was revealed that Girl's Day member Hyeri was dating ex-H.O.T. member Tony Ahn. Many began to associate Girl's Day as sexy icons--scandalous, a little mysterious. Gone was Girl's Day old, cute and quirky image they had created through releases "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Oh my God."  Now, a new Girl's Day had risen from the ashes and achieved public recognition, solidified by their follow-up releases, the ever-controversial "Female President" and "Something."

Newer girl groups, such as Stellar, who's previous releases only garnered less than one million views on YouTube, nearly quadrupled that number with their controversial latest release "Marionette," featuring over-the-top scenes of the members in bath tubs or with questionable milk dripping down their chests. Although some might see this as blatant pimping and objectification of women, the concept ultimately worked as Stellar began getting thousands of more comments on their news pages than before.

The perhaps greatest example of this sexy trend is girl group/band AOA (Aces of Angels). With second-generation girl groups such as KARA and the Wonder Girls (and some may say Girls' Generation, although as a SONE I will never admit this) on a decline, there's been intense competition for a new girl group to rise as the "nation's girl group."  Although some may mention fairy girls APINK, one of the last girl groups with an innocent concept around, a strong black knight contender is AOA.

AOA's releases such as "Miniskirt" and "Short Hair" have solidified its position as a rising girl group. AOA failed to receive public recognition until "Miniskirt," where their previous band concept gained few fans in comparison to the popularity they have received since the sexy concept.

What does this mean for the future girl groups? Must they resort to stripping for popularity, regardless of the talent they may possess? Will AOA rise as the nation's first ever sexy girl group, or will a new trend rise in place of the sexy? Only time will tell, but as the Korean music market expands out of idol saturation and becomes more westernized, in a few years Korea might find its first ever Korean Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.

 

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AOA
Ace of Angels
SISTAR
stellar
Miniskirt
Short Hair
Marionette
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