In an online community, K-Netz raised a heated debate about NingNing & Giselle being discriminated against among aespa members after seeing THIS photo. 

On August 6, a Nate Pann user uploaded an article titled, "How bad is the discrimination between aespa members?"

In the attached photo, the fan signing item boxes of the quartet in Hong Kong can be seen in order: Giselle, NingNing, Winter, and Karina. 

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The transparent boxes contain fan gifts, letters, and tributes for each member, but the OP complained:

"Regardless of popularity, isn't it unfair that the company prepared different-sized boxes for each member?"

Looking at the photo, it can be inferred that NingNing and Giselle were given smaller containers because they received fewer gifts, while Winter had the largest box, followed by Karina. 

Although the intention might differ, fans raised suspicions that Giselle and NingNing were being discriminated against, not to mention that the company indirectly trampled their confidence by making it look like they had fewer fans than the other two members. 

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Supporters of Giselle and NingNing then added to the complaints, saying:

• "But SM's member discrimination has been going on since then. It hasn't been fixed, but there are a lot more than that."
• "It's uncomfortable to watch because they're so blatantly discriminatory from the seat assignments. They're not like two princesses or two maids, and the unpopular members are always on the sidelines."
• "Although Karina & Winter is overwhelmingly popular, I don't think that's to the extent that Giselle & NingNing is inferior to them. I like Ningning the most too, but I can understand that much."
• "If you fill up the small container, can't you just put it back and put another small container on it? That seems a bit lacking in sense and consideration."
• "It's ridiculous that they have to make it a transparent box so that everything can be seen. They could have just prepared a paper box of the same size so that the inside could not be seen. Did they do it like that on purpose?"
• "Wow, but Giselle is less popular than I thought."

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On the flip side, most Korean MYs (aespa fandom) explained that it is not discrimination but rather the difference in popularity between the members. Although a lot of fans equally treat the quartet, there are still those who only support one member, also called the solo stan. 

These fans are inevitable. Thus, MYs explained :

• "If you receive a large amount (of gifts), you have no choice but to change it to a larger box...? What kind of discrimination is this?"
• "That's better than unifying it into a big box and making it look more empty."
• "If the box sizes are the same, it will be like this."

• "It's not discrimination, it's just the difference in their popularity."
• "There's nothing you can do about popular members. It's not easy for fans to treat all 4 members equally, and it's not just aespa, but the popularity difference is inevitable in any group."
• "They predicted the influx and put the boxes away well. They are good at their job. If they put the same size in there, wouldn't the empty ones be more noticeable? Every group has popular members. How can that be discrimination?"

READ MORE: aespa NingNing Criticized After Fan Reveals Reason They Left Fandom: 'She failed to...'

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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz