How one is being ridiculed for being a K-pop fan?
"So you listen to K-pop?" a simple question that makes most people awkward. Why? Fans of K-pop, regardless of gender and age, are often ridiculed because "what they like is nonsense and shallow." People keep on forgetting the fact that Music is not about the language you speak.
Why do K-pop lovers gets ridiculed for loving a type of Music that is of a different language? How is it different from loving our own?
If you don't love your own country's Music, does that make you less of a human being? It doesn't.
K-pop fans, they get called out as names, phrases and all. If you listen to K-pop, you get called a Koreaboo. If there were an article online, you'd see comments that say, 'that's how your opinion is because you listen to K-pop, something that is even entirely irrelevant for the topic. Nowadays, if you love K-pop, you are instantly portrayed as mindless teenage girls.
Like what Suga from BTS said on one of their previous interviews, Music is just a matter of taste and understanding. He stated, "Frankly, I can't understand people who want to put down a certain type of Music, whatever that might be. Classical Music was pop Music in its own age. It's a matter of taste and understanding - there's no good or bad, there's no highbrow or lowbrow."
There's not an accurate opinion than what he said. Just because people love K-pop doesn't mean that these fans have nothing better to do, nor their opinion doesn't matter. Let me tell you something; there's this one writer. She's twenty-eight, graduated with Latin honors in a prestigious university, now a call center supervisor, and she's proud to be a K-pop fan.
Not all K-pop fans are teenagers. Even if they are teenagers, it's not enough reason to invalidate their opinions and their love for the type of Music. Loving K-pop isn't just about loving how those idols look.
Not enough people take into account how important it must be primarily for the younger ones to belong somewhere and to be part of a movement, a movement that changes things and opens up awareness to social issues.
Have you ever thought that maybe this Music had brought peace and serenity to someone? Music does a lot of things. It moves and inspires people.
If you're that person who quickly judges people, tell you what, that doesn't make you any better.
Because fans of Kpop are views like this, there is also this idea that the boy group's Music must not be of any value. People often neglect the fact that these idols also make their Music, something not everyone can do.
They treat their talent as subpar and at a surface level. Let me tell you; these songs give out stories and lessons. Have you ever heard of the song 'So what' by BTS? It's a song that tells people to follow their dreams without fear.
Kpop has gone through so much, from Seo Taeji to H.O.T, to TVXQ, BIGBANG, SuperJunior, now TWICE, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK, BTS and a lot more that we can't enumerate them all. And each of these K-pop groups, just like how your inspiration, regardless of whatever field, had influenced young people to live a better life.
We suggest you live your life with love and a smile on your faces too. Respect each other's preferences, regardless of if it's Music or anything else.
