AOA helped the new TV show Queendom with their great idol skills. Seolhyun's past interviews about being a "sexy icon" in the K-Pop world have been resurfacing. AOA fans realized that Seolhyun waited long for this opportunity to let herself shine which happened during the latest episode featuring AOA's most charismatic style.
Seolhyun said that at the beginning, she felt excited and amazed when people started to notice her. Since that happened, the people only liked to see that side of her and nothing else. She felt troubled about it for a while. She started asking why she needed to wear a cropped top always. She knew that she wanted to try other things too. She said that she is the cropped top Seolhyun, but there is so much more in her than that.
Seolhyun also explained that she had to face the downside of being a sexy icon. She received a huge amount of hate comments about her. She had bravely overcome her battles against maliciously photoshopped photos and nasty rumors. Seolhyun reminisced how she managed to stay firm and unforgiving throughout her journey.
She said that she would show people that those who do illegal things have consequences and punishments. She wanted to be the role model so that other people will not experience the same thing that happened to her. She said she is not sure if she has the power but she wanted to influence people. Seolhyun said that it was hard since she debuted. She experienced haters who sexually harassed her online due to her glamorous beauty.
She mentioned that a lot of GIFs went viral that only zoomed in on a certain part of her body. She can't mention some because it was very malicious. She never wanted other people to experience that especially her hoobae (junior) groups but they're facing it all the same. She said that it seemed cruel and unfair but there is nothing we can do. That made her sad.
Seolhyun changed and she is more fearless now. She is now a star with her own identity and goals and not a "sexy icon" in the industry. She said that she will never be part of "generalization" or the industry's habit of simply sexualizing the female idols to promote them. She wanted to make a change not for herself but for all the female idols in the industry.
