Most of the time, male idols who were accused of sexually harassing females were immediately canceled, and their skyrocketing careers were suddenly nowhere to be seen. K-netizens also throw them negative and hurtful comments, even before their verdicts-that though these male idols are proven to be innocent, going back to their former life isn't that easy anymore because of their ruined image. However, what happened if female idols were accused of sexual harassment? What could be the reaction of fans and netizens?
The following are female idols who received backlash for allegedly sexually harassing males, and here's how people reacted to these controversies.
1. IU
In 2015, the K-pop's sweetheart IU was accused of pedophilia after explaining the meaning of her song, "Zeze" in an interview.
According to IU, she wrote the lyrics looking at the point of view of Minguinho of a novel called "My Sweet Orange Tree." The idol then described Zeze, the 5-year-old main character, as innocent yet cunning, and 'hypocritical,' according to Soompi. Thus, after saying these words, the publishing company of the novel as other netizens claimed that IU wrote suggestive lyrics about a young child.
In particular, Zeze, in the novel, is an abused child wherein his only company is the orange tree that can communicate with him with his imaginative mind. The novel's publisher then vented out their anger to the female idol for sexualizing the abused child and posted, "IU-nim, Zeze isn't a child who's like that."
Some of the lyrics say , "You are innocent but so clever, so naï ve like a child, but so dirty."
K-Netz also expressed their disappointment to the singer; however, many critics also defended IU for being misunderstood for her art and music freedom.
Later on, IU released an official apology letter stating that she didn't intend to write something about sexualizing a young boy, which is only a third party based on the novel. Nevertheless, she sincerely apologized to those who were offended and scarred of the song.
2. LOVELYZ Mijoo
In September, Mijoo faced a sexual harassment controversy, following the broadcast of her YouTube series called "MijooPickchu" in June. During the episode, the female idol filmed at the Seoul Forest, where she encountered various people, including a male college student.
During their conversation, Mijoo found out that participant A had a girlfriend, and this is where the sexual inappropriate jokes started. On the video that became viral among Korean netizens and other international K-pop enthusiasts, the female idol asked, "You have a girlfriend? How far did you go with her?" and asked if how long they've seen each other.
The student answered that they have been dating for 200 days (almost a year), and Mijoo jokingly stated, "You must have gone all the way with her," claiming that they "did it."
However, the male participant who was taken aback clarified that they only kissed so far, but after hearing it, Mijoo then questioned him if he's a man.
The production team even put a caption on the video, "where are you looking at?" after Mijoo diverted her eyes "down".
Shortly after, the female idol gave her apology message, expressing that she was completely regretting it for failing to recognize that people might feel uncomfortable watching the video.
People have divided opinions about this then, as some fans were conveying that the idol already posted her apology, and it was merely a joke. At the same time, other netizens think that there should be no double-standards with sexual harassment, may it be if a female idol is involved.
3. Lee Se Young
Lee Se Young, who is a famous crew of SNL Korea, also received backlash and charges for allegedly groping male idols "private parts," including INFINITE, B1A4, and BLOCK B way back 2016. On a pep-talk meeting, the male idols on different episodes along with the other crews met. However, the female staffs, including Se Young, rushed to the idols (B1A4), with a lot of body contacts.
Based on Koreatimes, the singers were dumbfounded and even covered their "private parts" after the incident. It happened on November 2016, but with fans' investigations, INFINITE on October, and BLOCK B on March were allegedly sexually harassed too---fans then concluding that Lee Se Young's act is habitual.
In 2017, Lee Se Young was able to clear all of her charges and proved to be innocent, as the three K-pop groups reportedly testified that she didn't touch them.
Lee Se Young also conveyed her apology and took a break from the show.
