Myself, along with the rest of the world, has had eyes on LE SSERAFIM since their debut last May. They are an up and coming K-pop girl group with five members who are redefining what it means to be a K-pop idol. One member, Yunjin, stands out in particular. Yunjin lived in America for most of her life and moved back to South Korea to pursue a career in the music industry. In her debut teaser she states that she “wants to change the idol industry” and is clearly taking steps to do just that.
Watch her debut teaser here:
On January 8th, the official LE SSERAFIM YouTube channel posted “I ≠ Doll” by Yunjin. This is a song that she wrote the lyrics to and even drew the artwork for the video. “I ≠ Doll” calls to light some of the biggest problems in the K-pop idol industry. It includes lyrics like “no matter what I wear, you love to point your finger at me,” “I’m more than just your pretty face,” and “they pick apart my body and throw the rest away.” The song’s most impactful, repeated, and important line is “idol doesn’t mean your doll to f*ck with.”
Watch the video here:
The K-pop industry is infamous for regulating their idol’s food, activity, and other health factors to make their bodies a certain size. As you can imagine, this often comes with negative physical and mental health consequences. The entertainment industry is one of the biggest industries in South Korea, so it is true that all eyes are on these idols and when their bodies change people notice. Due to it being one of the biggest industries in Korea, the idols are often treated as products. They must look and act a certain way to fit the mold of what this industry is trying to sell-much like how a toy company would create and market a doll. The industry expects idols, especially female idols, to act a certain way on camera and follow regulations that keep an “idol image”. This idol image is seen as one without flaws, both in their physical appearance and in their personality and actions. An expectation of an idol image is extremely difficult to create and maintain considering idols are also humans and aren’t actually these perfect dolls that the industry tries to portray them as. It also prevents idols from speaking their opinions and saying what they think. This insane pressure has awful effects on these K-pop idols. Not to mention, the young girls that look up to them and think they are also supposed to look and act like this.
Since K-pop has started to become more popular and mainstream worldwide, international fans are calling for change surrounding these expectations. As Gen Z has started to make their appearance in the K-pop industry these issues have continued to come to light. LE SSERAFIM’s title track “ANTIFRAGILE” is all about how they won’t break in the midst of other’s expectations and pressures. The rest of their music reflects this theme of aspiring to be fearless, antifragile, and show who they really are. Even their name itself is an anagram for “I’m fearless.”
As someone who loves K-pop, but is quick to say she hates the industry, I’m glad idols are able to take steps like this to call for change. It makes me hopeful for the next generation of K-pop and excited to see what comes next. I’m shocked that her label let her release this, but I couldn’t be more grateful.