In economics, a saying goes that women's skirts shorten as economy worsens. In K-pop, the level of exposure in female outfits has hit an all-time high despite the booming K-pop industry. What is going on?

Lee Hyori, K-pop's sexy queen, returned after a 3-year hiatus with a swimsuit on stage in performing "Miss Korea." Ivy, though she denies following Lee Hyori's footsteps, came on stage in an outfit that is essentially a bikini with white laces.

Dal Shabet, with a bold title "Look At My Legs," appeared in swimsuits that expose their entire legs. Some even featured tattoos on their legs to reel in even more focus.

There are more, of course. Nine Muses, Girl's Day, RaNia, After School, Kim Ye-rim, and the list goes on.

Simply put, there are two reasons behind such outfits: to best portray their songs with appropriate performances or use sex appeal as a marketing strategy

In most cases, it is a blend of both reason number one and two, since using sex appeal as a marketing strategy is almost impossible to do without when it comes to pop music industries. It is the ratio of the two reasons, however, that needs to be evaluated.

Does the song call for a swimsuit for Lee Hyori and Ivy? Was there another outfit that could have worked, with more conservative looks that could be beneficial for many teens watching their performance? Sure, but, at least, their outfits were not totally out of line with their songs.

We can sit here and analyze every song put forth by female artists but that would not do much good. The main issue at hand is that as sex appeal becomes the only factor our artists are concerned with, the qualities of their productions naturally decline. The melodies become repetitive, the lyrics turn childish and the vicious cycle continues to spiral down.

Without a doubt, this is no news to K-pop nor to any other music industries in the world. It is an ongoing conflict that hangs on a fine balance. As long as sex appeal plays a role in attracting viewers, the issue will remain close to home. As such, we can only hope that the balance does not completely tip toward the side of sex appeal.