There are days when female idols receive so much hate online whether or not they do the tiniest things that would automatically appear like a bother for their career. Unfortunately, while it's true that male and female idols suffer a form of hardship as artists, the difference varies significantly for female idols.
There have been a lot of idols who spoke out how they suffer from gender inequality and how unfair the media would be when it comes to female idols. And to prove some of these, here are the times where netizens criticized female idols for what they do or did.
Red Velvet Irene
There was a time that Red Velvet's Irene mentioned that she reads the book "Kim Ji Young, Born 1982." This is a fiction novel that talks about a housewife who focused on the everyday sexism that she experiences from the youth. The book became controversial and a best-selling for its feminist theme that this was produced as a film as well.
Due to this, Irene received an unreasonable amount of outrage from her so-called male fans, who shared their anger online by tearing and burning the Irene merchandise they own.
Sulli
The late K-pop star Sulli was known to be one of the idols who were carefree about what they wore. However, netizens came at her way of living, the "no-bra" policy. Media created so many articles about how she was caught for going outside bra-less and claimed that she was violating the societal rules.
TWICE Jihyo
TWICE's leader got a huge backlash when she posted a message on their V Live+ channel, calling out "attention needy folks" for being critical of her disappearances during the Mnet Asia Music Awards 2019, and for returning to Korea with a different flight from her members.
The singer's message became an issue on social media for a different reason, though. She used the term "oong-aeng-oong" for mumbling that netizens pointed out as a mocking term used by radical feminists against their detractors.
MAMAMOO Solar and Hwasa
There have been a lot of times that members from MAMAMOO were body-shamed. For example, Hwasa has been standing up about this issue and spoke out on her appearance in a concert. There was also a time that she got criticized for showing "more skin" for an Mnet Asia Music Awards performance.
Solar also received backlash for getting a bald concept and "too revealing" transparent skirt for her "Spit It Out" solo debut.
IZ*ONE Chaeyeon and ITZY Chaeryeong
The Lee sisters, who are quite known to be dance monsters in the industry today, also received criticisms for their appearance, with haters claiming that they don't fit the standards of an idol beauty. The two got too much hate that it reached the extent that their mother begged the people to stop hating on her daughters as they are both hardworking in achieving their dreams.
BLACKPINK Jennie
Despite being a renowned female idol and the crowd's favorite, Jennie also experiences criticism due to her alleged "bad attitude" after her photos while she's in the US circulated on social media. Also, her alleged "lazy dancing" was the reason as well why other netizens were throwing negative remarks against her.
(G)I-DLE Soyeon
The idol faced criticism after people accused her of cultural appropriation in G-IDLE's performance for "Queendom."
TWICE Tzuyu
Tzuyu is always praised for her beauty that could make everyone fall for her. However, some K-netizens are claiming that she doesn't have the best vocals and is also lacking emotions whenever she's onstage.
IU
One of the biggest stars of this generation, IU, was also severely criticized when she accidentally uploaded a photo with Super Junior's Eunhyuk, sparking dating rumor between the two.
IZ*ONE Sakura
Before experiencing fame and love, there were times that she was hated for having too much screentime during the survival show Produce 48, and was accused of favoritism.
HyunA
And last but not least, Hyuna, who received hate when she and her current boyfriend, Dawn, confirmed that they are dating. The couple got so much hate from fans, and lead to the termination of the contract with Cube Entertainment.
