Time Magazine on Uncle (aka Ahjussi) fans

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

TIME Magazine on Uncle (aka Ahjussi) fans

Crayon Pop's Bar bar bar could be the next Gangnam style but there's another reason drawing Time magazine attention.
Male fans over their 30 into kpop groups

Those who observe the Korean pop-music phenomenon from a distance may have ideas about who listens to the music. PSY, the YouTube star whose hit “Gangnam Style” help popularize so called K-pop in the U.S. and elsewhere, is big enough to have fans across all age groups. But the boy bands and girl groups who otherwise dominate the K-pop scene target a young teenaged audience in the same way teen pop stars on these shores—from David Cassidy to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez—play to middle- and high-school students, particularly the girls.

So it may come as a surprise that in the audience at a many a K-pop show are older males. They’ve become such a presence they’ve earned their own nickname: “uncle fans"
Uncle fans—also called by the Korean word for “uncle,” commonly written in English as “ahjussi” or “ahjusshi”—are defined as male K-pop fans who are 30 or older. One of those fans is Stephen Knight, a 47-year-old Nashville lawyer who runs the website kpopularity.com and was recently chosen to participate in a show about the wide array of K-pop fans out there
Knight’s love of K-pop came about by accident: he had long made an effort to find interesting music to play in the car when he drove his children, now 10 and 13, to school. Time spent in Japan after college had left him with an appreciation for Japanese pop; looking for such music kept turning up Korean music instead—when PSY made it big last year, Knight took the plunge. Soon enough, he was a serious K-pop fan. A few months ago, he came across the term “uncle fan” and realized that that described him—which left him with mixed feelings.
For one thing, he knows that some people think it sounds weird—or worse.

“It worries me a little bit because I know that some people look at ‘uncle fans’ as something creepy, but in a way it is a pretty good description of the relationship between the performer and the fan, right?” Knight says. “You could look at it as the way an uncle might look at a niece, interested in what she’s doing and a supporter, but it implies that there’s not any sort of romantic aspect to it.”

On the other hand, as K-pop bloggers have pointed out, the pop-music industry isn’t exactly a world that sells modesty. The girl idols of K-pop are often presented as scantily clad, winking adolescents—some wonder if “uncles” are freed by a wholesome label to gaze however they choose.

But Knight insists that the only reason for those fans are labeled is that they don’t fit a stereotype, and that such examination will turn up that there’s nothing automatically amiss about being an “uncle.” Just like any piece of pop culture, a world where people are more likely to feature younger, attractive people, K-pop has all sorts of fans. Yes, the K-pop fan industry is structured on a teen-heartthrob model, but that’s a factor of marketing rather than music appreciation" Knight believes.

"There’s this thing in K-pop about your ‘bias,’ who’s your favorite group and who’s your favorite boy or girl in that group that you’d want to marry,” he says, pointing out the difference between the way a teen is a fan and the way someone looking for music to listen to with his kids is a fan. “To some extent, there’s projection. This kind of obsessive attraction to the idols that a younger teenager might have, some people maybe assume that older fans feel the same way about groups they might follow

Though Knight says there were some negative comments on his video for the K-pop fan show, suggesting that it’s creepy to see a grown man confess his love of K-pop, many other comments are from fellow fans who commend him for being brave enough to admit that he listens to and loves K-pop (and in Nashville, of all places).

Plus, he adds, he’s personally seen more of an “uncle” fan culture for the K-pop groups that tend to project fun rather than extreme sexuality. In addition to catchy music, he says, they offer listeners a carefree moment; the groups that are meant to be super sexy tend to keep straight faces rather than smiling. One group he singles out as an example is Crayon Pop, the quintet whose song “Bar Bar Bar” has been shooting up the K-pop charts; Crayon Pop has, according to Knight, one of the most visible “uncle” fandoms.

But what about us? Omona, can we judge those uncle fans?


Source:Time Magazine & Mnet on Youtbe

Comments

[tillynilly.livejournal.com]

what whole "SNSD thing" are you referring to, may i ask?

[uledy.livejournal.com]

When I hear about uncle fans, my mind goes straight to IU and Yoo Hee Yeol's piercing gaze. He's such an ahjusshi fan.

@1:30

[illustratedd.livejournal.com]

ot but this video totally converted me to IUism

[4minutesluts.livejournal.com]

i feel sorry for that guy's kids

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

There's probably a little bit of attraction in the mix, but it doesn't have to be creepy. I'm glad I'm not a guy when I read articles like this one - no one automatically assumes I'm in it to perv on the teen girls when I like Kpop girl groups, even though I'm nearly 30 myself.

Oh but purposefully going after those older fans, the way a lot of Jpop groups and some Kpop groups (...Girl's Generation?) do, is kinda gross.

There was a point when most of the top comments on Girl's Day - Nothing Lasts Forever were speed metal fans talking to other speed metal fans about how surprising it was that they all liked Kpop. Haha.

T-ara probably have a lot of older fans, right? Since they're always doing retro concepts.

Re: From an "Ahjumma"

[obviousgirl.livejournal.com]

This is pretty much how I feel only the sexy stuff doesn't really phase me because of how pop music is marked in the Western part of the world.

[nortonamo.livejournal.com]

Bar Bar Bar is getting popularities?? When? How many?:o

uncle fans are just like any other fan

[zuluuluz.livejournal.com]

omfg am i going to be one of those creepy guys who is 30 but likes the 18 year old kpop guy groups
when do i stop liking kpop because of this reason?
is that gif my future?
questioning my life choices rn

[obviousgirl.livejournal.com]

lol don't question your life choices just yet and just enjoy what you love about kpop. Start questioning your life choices is if you start cruising 18 year old's in real life.

[gundae.livejournal.com]

born in 1991 I feel uncomfortable about being a fan of people born after 1994 not because I am in it for the sexy I just don't feel like being a fan of people that are out of my friend range.

[emeraldxdew.livejournal.com]

"out of my friend range"

yup pretty much

[dbsked.livejournal.com]

I think some of kpop girlgroups marketing strategies totally have ajusshi fans in consideration. didn't LSM say that SNSD were targeted older guys.

I like how this woman handled some uncomfortable questions on the issue.

overall I think it is ok to be in fandom if it makes you happier and influences your life in positive way, and it has nothing to do with age. teens are just more vulnerable.

[juhli.livejournal.com]

wow, the man really seems to have some issues about this.
The poet has a really soothing voice.

[soramai.livejournal.com]

well, I'm not a teenager anymore and I still like Kpop.

[martha-sal.livejournal.com]

I personally don't really enjoy listening to most new groups whose members are younger than me (I might like a song or two but I'm probably not gonna have a bias nor will I watch all of their variety show appereances etc.) but that's just me... The term "uncle fan" does come across as a bit off when you first hear it but it doesn't have to be that way. I remember being 16 and extremely attracted to members of Rammstein who could very well be my fathers...

[sydninicole.livejournal.com]

i feel like a creep being into kpop at 24. i mean i like the music but i also rly like the ladies. /perv.

[redhandedjilll.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily find it all that creepy for there to be some sort of attraction even if they're a lot older. As long as the people involved are post-puberty it's not all that creepy unless the person makes it creepy. If you're obsessing/sexualizing them to an extreme it reaches inappropriateville. But, thinking they're cute and/or attractive doesn't automatically put you in the creeper box.

[stephantasm.livejournal.com]

Lmao some of these comments... sure

[jeit91.livejournal.com]

is that gif for real? i dont believe it haha

[aleksu7.livejournal.com]

I'm a creepy unnie and I love it.

not really, my faves are all around my age, xD

[ultraflyy23.livejournal.com]

Exo's probably my cut off seeing as how they're all older than me. I just can't stan a group where the members are around my age or younger.

[weerainbow.livejournal.com]

I think the way you look at age has a large part of how you will feel about being a fan of someone who's not the same age as you. If you are someone who keeps to their own age group mostly it will seem more strange I think.

[redhandedjilll.livejournal.com]

I can agree to this. I mean, an idol being 5 years younger than me doesn't seem that big of a deal considering my boyfriend is 13 years older than me. Neither of these situations read strange to me because it's not so much the actual age gaps as it is the fact that everyone is considered an adult.

Another ahjumma responds

[atelierlune.livejournal.com]

Good music, fashion and choreography are universal. Being a slavering creeper never is, no matter what your age or gender. I get really anxious when a pop group of young/er girls or boys seems to be marketed to a much older audience, and that's been that way since from Britney Spears to Sexy Zone (he was 12!! No!!!!!). My personal awkwardness with stanning groups or artists that are much much younger than me is well documented, but I have a brother who is 8 years younger than me and it has made me extra sensitive to these things.

[candycrush808.livejournal.com]

.

[lovelyxbeauty.livejournal.com]

eh, as long as they are not really possessive over the idols and they are at least legal age I don't really see a problem with it :/. Although as a 22 year old female I do find it hard to like the newer male groups cause most of the time they are younger than me and I do feel creepy lol, I think out of the newer groups the only ones I really stan for are A-JAX and History. Also I think for a lot of the older international fans, they may have looked to kpop for nostalgia, I know that's my case, most western artists are just solo and not groups and for someone who grew up liking spice girls, *nsync, backstreet boys, atomic kitten (lol I stanned them so much) and steps etc, it was nice seeing groups with upbeat songs and choreography, maybe that's why groups are more popular with international fans than solo artists.

I think as long as you just enjoy the music and performances then it's alright (and I do hope that the people that make sexual remarks regarding an idol are around the same age as them).

[jesymphony.livejournal.com]

There is absolutely nothing wrong stanning people, so long as that stanning doesn't turn into obsessive sasaeng behaviour.

Funnily enough one of my uncles has recently gotten into KPop, and he loves APink, SNSD etc. There was a KPop concert going on at the time, Music Bank in HK I believe and I was trying to convince him to go but he refused because he thought it'd be creepy, and also because his wife was giving him shit about it because she also thought it would be creepy if he went. Which I thought was a crying shame, because going to a concert and cheering on idols you love is harmless. They do their job, you get a great night out and you're left giddy and high for days. Regardless of age I think everyone should be able to experience that.

Though I must admit I get uncomfortable at the thought that there are idols debuting who were born in 1995 and later. I'm still surprised that there are idols born in 1994, and then I remember that they're 19. For some reason I just assume that as I get older, KPop idol world stays the same as when I entered it and everyone born in 1994 is a baby and 15 years old forever.

ok I'm rambling I stop now bye

[dharawal.livejournal.com]

I'm the oldest ahjumma in OMONA, I have children who are older than most members of any k-pop group, excluding perhaps Shinhwa and some of the older members of SuJu.

I personally don't find any of the fetuses sexy at all, cute maybe but not sexy, I admire a few of them, Amber for example because she hasn't let SM pigeonhole her into being something she isn't. On an aesthetic level I like looking at all the pretty boys and girls, some I find incredibly beautiful like, Ren, Minho, Amber, Rise, Changmin, Yoseob, Bang Yong Guk and Luhan, but that's as far as it goes, I don't find any of them sexy and I would worry about myself if I did.

I like the music because it's fun, the MVs are for the most part also fun and boppy, and when they aren't they almost always have a story behind them, like One Shot by B.A.P, and that entertains me

I'm here for the music first, the MVs next and the pretty people last.