Glamorization of stick-thin figures has led to health risks among female entertainers

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

TW: Body Image

A member of a Seoul-based college dance group Lee Hyo-min (not her real name) says she has no fancy tricks when it comes to dieting. She simply “starves” herself, said the 22-year-old.

“I drink water and iced Americano,” the aspiring dancer told The Korea Herald. “If I get really hungry, I have one bite of pizza or something that the group has ordered.”

According to Lee, “just not eating” is the most effective way to lose weight. It is also easier than counting calories or calculating the nutritional balance of each meal. When asked about the potential health risk, Lee replied that right now a slim figure takes priority over her long-term well-being. However, she added that she eats one to two “normal” meals when she is not dieting.

Looking like the members of K-pop girl groups takes tremendous effort, Lee said. “Some of the skinniest girls in our group look chubby on camera,” she said. “Your body has to have almost no fat to look good.”

In the world of K-pop, which touts stick-thin figures as presentable, achievable and even admirable, there seems to be a fine line between dieting and starvation, with the pressure to look slender often resulting in dangerous consequences.

A promotional photo of girl group Oh My Girl’s JinE, who announced Aug. 25 that she would halt all onstage activities after being diagnosed with anorexia (WM Entertainment)

Last month, it was revealed that JinE of girl group Oh My Girl would be taking a break due to anorexia. JinE had shown symptoms of the eating disorder and had been receiving treatment since her debut, the group’s management agency WM Entertainment announced on Aug. 25.

The girl group member is currently resting in her hometown of Pohang and now weighs a little over 40 kilograms, according to reports. The petite singer, standing at 159 centimeters tall, formerly weighed 30-something kilograms.

Symptoms of anorexia include not eating coupled with a poor body image, according to Baik In-kyung, a professor of food and nutrition at Kookmin University.

The influence of the mass media “cannot be ignored” when it comes to anorexic patients in Korea, according to psychiatrist Kim Hwan-ki.

“The media glamorizes the unrealistic bodies of a few,” Kim wrote in a column in March, leading to patients’ “obsession over unrealistically thin bodies” and “a strange sense of pride in being unhealthily underweight.”

Other K-pop singers have confessed to post-dieting health problems. In February, Sojung of girl group Ladies’ Code mentioned on JTBC’s variety program “Girl Spirit” that she did not have her period for nearly one year after she started dieting.

“My hormone levels were (similar to) those of a menopausal woman,” said the 163-centimeter tall singer, who debuted after being a finalist on season one of “The Voice of Korea” in 2012. Seeing herself on television for the first time was “shocking,” she said, and prompted her to shed 11 kilograms, with her weight dropping from 49 kilograms to 38 kilograms.

Singer Park Bo-ram admitted on a May episode of “King of Mask Singer” that her vocal range became drastically limited after she lost 32 kilograms.

Girl groups share testimonials of extreme diet regimens on television, from the “cup” routine -- where all contents of a meal fit inside one small paper cup -- to the self-explanatory “one meal a day” method.

Ladies’ Code’s Sojung also revealed a book where she recorded her diet. One entry read: “one orange, 15 cherry tomatoes, one piece of sweet pumpkin.”

Girl group GFriend poses for a promotional photo for sports brand Akiii Classic. (akiii.com)

Korean society’s standards for a “thin” figure also appear to be extremely harsh.

In 2014, Tiffany of Girls’ Generation said on the talk show “Radio Star” that with a weight of 48 kilograms and a height of 162 centimeters, she was the heaviest of the (Girls’ Generation) members and teased by other group members for being a “pig.”

A chart that has been circulating on Korean websites juxtaposes two types of weight for a certain height -- the “standard” weight versus the “pretty” weight. According to this chart, whose source is unidentified, for a woman who is 165 centimeters tall, the “standard” weight is 59.8 kilograms; the “pretty” weight is some 9 kilograms lighter, at 50.4 kilograms -- but most celebrities claim to be much lighter than both figures.

As of 2013, some 17.5 percent of Korean women aged 19 to 24 are underweight, according to a report released in March by the National Research Institute of Health. Another NIH report found that between 2005 and 2015, 34.7 percent of nonobese female middle and high school students considered themselves “fat.”

Despite the negative health impact, it is hard for celebrities to avoid extreme dieting, said makeup artist Park So-jung, primarily because of how different their facial features and bodies look onscreen.

“Losing weight makes your eyes and nose pop out (and) become more distinct,” said Park. “There’s a reason they say it’s the equivalent to getting plastic surgery.”

“It’s safe to say that girl groups you see onscreen are pretty much dieting all the time,” said a representative from a K-pop management, agency who wished to remain unnamed. “We do try to enforce healthy guidelines for (our trainees),” but celebrities go out of their way to diet, as they are unable to escape the pressure from both the media and audiences, the representative said.

Source: kpopherald.koreaherald

Wasn't sure what to tag this as.
Also have male idols ever talked about their extreme dieting? Some of them look so thin on camera, I can only imagine in real life.

Comments

[cafetin99.livejournal.com]

right now a slim figure takes priority over her long-term well-being
Everyone and everywere.
"Beauty" standars are more fucked up than ever before... a diverse and realistic representation is one of the many, many things that we must start doing so that these kind of things don't happen.

Oh, and about male idols, Leo (VIXX) looks increasingly skinny each comeback. Idk, maybe people will say that it's bacause all the activities/choreos/whatever they do, but, even so, I think that he/vixx is on a constant diet too.

And in EXO showtime, I think they gave them one/two pizzas for 12 people... and Lay didn't have one bite, and don't forget his "look at your abs if you are feeling hungry and unhappy" phrase. Also, Xiumin.

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

Oh wow 1 pizza for 12 people that's crazy. I wouldn't really buy that choreo excuse, these girl groups do choreo just as hard.

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

Some starlights had pointed out how small N look during Eternity era and yeah, if you compare Leo's body during On and On  and now, his body has slim down a lot. I also believe Ken mention how he diets a lot because he tends to gain weight easily(where? Where I ask you). Jimin from BTS had talked about how he would only eat on meal a day. And Junsu from JYJ had talked about how he wouldn't eat after 6 I think it was.

And bad when SHINee was young there were rumors that SM didn't feed them since they were all so skinny, especially Minho and Taemin. I also believe Key is very strict on how he eats and mostly tries to eat salads mostly.

[molly-hime.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder if the timing of me developing an eating disorder when I was 17 correlates to the fact that I got into Kpop around the same time. Anorexia is hell, and even when you're "better" it's always in the back of your head.
Nowadays I try and just eat healthy and avoid weighing myself or counting calories because then I just end up restricting and feeling guilty for eating.
Knowing everything I went through, I can't imagine how these girls live when they're facing constantly scrutiny and doing so much physical activity. I gave myself a permanent vertigo disorder, I just can't imagine.

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

As someone that had an eating disorder when younger, I agree with it always being in the back of your head.
For me now it's a weird compulsion with always looking at calorie labels and nutrition facts and being like oh no I can't eat that today, too many calories/sugars.

[rivains.livejournal.com]

I've seen Twice at a fansign and they were all TINY (especially Tzuyu) it was slightly worrying. And when I saw Got7 live all of Bambam and Yugyeom were very very very very thin.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

Even now i am considered 'overweight' I used to have a really bad eating disorder the other way and I had to get vitamin b injections and stuff bc I was malnutritioned. Its hard for me to ever gave a healthy relationship wirh food. Liking kpop doesnt help. I'm 180cm comparing myself against 140cm teenagers does not help at all.

[cosmicjam.livejournal.com]

Yeah i agree with you. Any type of media makes me question my weight and body type but ever since i started liking kpop, it's gotten worse and i don't ever remember feeling as bad about my body as i do now. Yeah i sometimes can't help but compare myself too and it doesn't even make sense cuz i can't ever be that skinny because i just don't have that small body structure/frame or type.

I'm glad you don't have that eating disorder anymore :)

[mmmalvina.livejournal.com]

i always have to remind myself that camera adds several kg when i'm watching shows/movies/mvs, it must be horrible to work in the business where even being super gorgeous isn't enough because you have to go out and beyond... And then you look "ok" on camera, and get criticized when your underweight "horrifying" behind the stage pictures are released

I just mentioned it in the Free For All post, but I recently realized that apparently I'm much skinnier in real life than in mirrors, but the problem is that since I can't know how I really look, and everything I have is my reflection, the way I see it, I think there's a lot of "work" to be done till I can look like all these beautiful models and celebrities, and I can't stop myself from restricting my diet or skipping meals altogether

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

I'm the same re: your last paragraph. I see someone large with really thick thighs in the mirror. many comment on how small I am, and I look down and think I look fine, but then look in the mirror or see a photo someone took of me and feel absolutely terrible and insecure...you really do feel like you're brainwashed and will never truly know what you look like since you're always seeing yourself through lenses (camera/mirrors/etc.)

[lovebeat-down.livejournal.com]

no shit sherlock

[cosmicjam.livejournal.com]

It always shocks me when i remember that the camera makes them look bigger than they are.

Like i remember the first time i watched Girls Generation Gee mv and not believing how tiny they were and thing that that couldn't be healthy, and nowadays i've noticed boy groups getting really skinny too

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

There is absolutely as much pressure for male idols to look good - the standard is just different. It's less specifically about weight I think so they don't get asked about that as much in the media. It's all about ~sculpted abs. And to get the abs they usually do.... your bodily fat percentage has to be r e a l l y low. I do remember one boyband member (I think it was 2PM or Got7?) saying their management monitored how fat they looked on tv, so they probably get alot of that too.

As someone who has been on the lower end of plus size all her life, the general attitudes expressed in this article are very familiar. I've never been able to starve myself (I just got the extreme body hate👍), but there have been many times when that seemed like a much more appealing option than staying fat and an embarassment any longer. To think that your average Kpop idol suffers through much worse... it's heartbreaking because they have no way out of it :/

[glider.livejournal.com]

I've always heard that adage that the camera makes you look bigger but is there actual hard evidence corroborating it? :x Like I guess clearly there must be some truth to it since so many people see themselves on film/in photos and think they look heavier than they are, but I really can't imagine why it would create that illusion...

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

Lenses create distortion.

http://petapixel.com/2016/07/28/camera-adds-10-pounds/ If you click there a guy has a bunch of different pictures using different lenses, you can really tell the difference.

[mmmalvina.livejournal.com]

Aww, please don't feel bad, many people who have/had unhealthy eating habits wish they could go to their lowest weight point no matter how sick they felt at this time of their lives :(
The only advice I can give is to know how you react to food, and prepare beforehand. For example, I know I'll be miserable without any snacks because sometimes I feel like I want to chew something (not for energy, just to eat), but I don't want to stuff myself with cookies/popcorn/chips/etc, so instead I buy lots of grapes or other fruits&berries. Or, if I know I'm going to spend many hours at school, and the only lunch options I have are Starbucks or Pizza Hut or Carls Jr, I'll bring something from home so I don't have to eat unhealthy junk and then feel guilty for simply having a lunch.
It might not be very helpful, but what I'm trying to say is just know yourself, and learn how to trick your body without harming it! Please take care of yourself :)

[ariellm13.livejournal.com]

It's a multifaceted problem. The very first thing that I see and hear the most in regards to Korean entertainments weight issue is "They look chubby on camera" or Hollywood's age old "The camera adds 10 pounds. And that comment stems from a skewed perspective, literally. And it only becomes a problem because everybody tries to preemptively avoid the natural difference that we see when looking through a lens versus the human eye.

The real blame the media should take is for encouraging these poor eating habits and changing the meaning of words like chubby. When you take a size 2~4 girl like UEE or Seolhyun and label them chubby you set a really unrealistic bar.

[anewtrilogy.livejournal.com]

This is what Sungyeol said last year: "I don’t like being full. I like being hungry, so I don’t really eat a lot. You suffer when you’re hungry, right? (Laugh) I like physical suffering for some odd reason. But I don’t like just suffering physically. I think I’m weird too." and i think it speaks for itself :( Im pretty sure a ot of idols, both male and female, suffer from eating disorders and most, if not all of them, have developed some form of disordered eating :/

[tree-star123.livejournal.com]

o_o he's so skinny and tall tho. i only remember sunjong talking about dieting and stuff oddly

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

yeah, like a lot of you mentioned, it's not kpop, it's everyone on screen in media. you can look straight up obese on tv, while in real life you're a perfectly healthy person, that really messes with everyone's heads. just like how you get totally different make up for stage and tv...
another minor one i remember from bts is the high heel deal. once i gave a compliment about this celeb's shoes. and i proceeded to say how i'd like to wear shoes like that, but i don't, cause it hurts so much. the girl replied that she actually loathes high heels, she has problems with her spine cause of them, but she cannot allow to be seen in anything else, otherwise her image and career would be endangered.
while i feel sorry for her, it made me feel so much better about my choice to wear whatever's comfortable, really thankful for her.
/thank god i'm not a celebrity

[a-cheshire-grin.livejournal.com]

As somebody, who suffered from bulimia for years, articles like this always make me so angry.

Beauty is getting more and more important (not only in KPop) and especially young women (men too, but it's mostly girls and women) are suffering so much from this beauty culture!
I think the biggest problem is, that the models you see in magazines or in tv ads aren't real - I mean, they're real people, but their bodies have been photoshopped until they don't even recognise themselves anymore. And yet women still try to achieve this flawless look, which is of course impossible, because it's all one big lie! I think it was Cindy Crawford, who once said: "I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford."

[ah0000.livejournal.com]

I'm usually ok with my weight knowing that I don't exercise or eat that healthy lol but it's when I take pictures or look at my reflection that I think I look stocky. So I don't take pictures and only look at my face in the mirror. Except it's hard in this day and age to not take pictures when all of my friends "wanna take a selfie!!" and then I look at them after and feel so self conscious about how I look.

And my mom has a very unhealthy obsession with weighing herself and maintaining a 110 lb weight (she's 4'11") so I decided not to ever weigh myself unless I go to the doctors office. I know I'm still affected though bc whenever I go to the doctors I feel good if I haven't gained weight since my last appointment and feel shitty if I have.

[cimelleh.livejournal.com]

I started liking kpop in high school, and what's interesting is that as an Asian American I never compared myself to the thin white hollywood stars because I knew that my body was different and I was never going to look like that and I didn't even want to look like a bunch of seemingly removed old white people.
The only place i really had access to Asian pop culture and people who I could ostensibly look like was through taiwanese dramas and kpop, and tbh I still take some visual cues from kpop, being the flashier and more comparable to western aesthetic standards.
I think it's complicated, the difference in Asian and Asian American beauty standards - I'm excited for the rise of Asian Americans in the US media (if anyone here is in media, honestly super proud) to influence probably a global perception of what Asians can look like.

Somewhat back on topic, I saw girls day in concert two years ago at least and I was so shocked at how small they were, which I think also the camera skews- everyone seems the same height on camera?

[adenar.livejournal.com]

That bit about JinE - are they updating fans on JinE's weight gain? Because I get the need to reassure fans and the public but I feel like this should be a private process and that broadcasting her weight gain is only going to mess with her head further (iana psychologist though but I worry about her).

[anewtrilogy.livejournal.com]

I dont follow Oh My Girl closely so i might be wrong, but i think the article states previously released information, they dont make any weight updates anymore

[daikokudanji.livejournal.com]

Just this week I was reading this article where Naeun was talking about her waist like "Oh i had a 50cms waist, but now I gained weight so my waist is 58 cms" and i felt so fucking bad, according to profiles we have/had the same height/weight and I'm not even close to have a 58 cms waist, even when I was having hormone problems and lost a ton shit of weight I still didn't get close to it, like fucking c'mon you gotta be lying/exaggerating, 50 fucking cms?! I know I have a ~boxy~ type of body where I just don't have a tiny waist, everything is kind the same size, but I can't help but to still feel bad because I don't have her ~killer body with a 50 cms waist~ and shit like that and ugh
i don't even know if i made sense, but this have been bugging me since i saw the article .___.

[cosmicjam.livejournal.com]

You make complete sense. When i read stuff like that, it really get to me too. I also have a square type body so i'll never be able to have those small waists cuz it's just not possible. And when i hear of those itty bitty 50cms waists, i feel bad because i want that but i know it's impossible unless i like take out my ribs and inner organs and that's just crazy and illogical, I wouldn't ever do that even if it was possible.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're not alone in feeling that way :)

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

i used to have a pretty banging body tbh when i was 18 but ever since that i lost a ton of weight (around 10 kgs) because of personal problems (stress, depression, break-ups etc.). i cant gain the weight back bc im one of those "eat whatever and dont gain weight" girls. however, seeing that idols purposely diet just to get this thin makes me sad. i hate my current body bc im way too skinny and i miss my big boobs and my butt.

on another note, there was a boyband in my country a few years ago which had a pretty bulked up member. he would always talk about exercising and show of his body. he was pretty buff. years later the confessed that he was actually suffering from anorexia. so whenever i look at all these boygroups i just wonder how many of them also suffer from eating disorders.

[dot-rose.livejournal.com]

Some of the boys are getting very very skinny. Hyunseung for example. There doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about diets and boys (or not as much as girls).
I hate how openly people can comment "Oh you look so much prettier now that you have lost weight" on public broadcasts.
Also the fact that their skinny-ness can be used as a 'notable' feature.
Hara and Naeun are known for their tiny waists, and for companies to keep associating that with the person...I would feel horrible every time that fact is mentioned and then I have to correct them and say it's actually wider now.

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

there's so much to say about this. i have to pull myself out of the mindset of a kpop fan every once in a while and check myself, bc i really think it does influence you no matter how much you try to avoid it.
you have to put aside some of your beliefs in order to be into kpop. because if you stay fully aware of how messed up beauty standards are and all the sexist double standards and... everything, then you're just gonna look at the state of things and see a big mess. it's everywhere and in everything, in every group, every company.
and while it's totally possible to put aside your beliefs temporarily to enjoy entertainment... the more often you do that, the more you're going to be subconsciously affected.

[funga-fufu.livejournal.com]

This subject is so difficult to deal with. I'm fat and it took me many years to stop feeling guilty about liking/eating food, and to realize that my mom putting me on diets/restricting what I ate since I was 13 was wrong. It just made me eat compulsively behind her back. I wasn't even chubby back then, I just had baby fat on my face.
I still struggle with eating healthy, my meals aren't balanced at all, but I'm getting better I think. Dealing with food while having depression is hard so I don't pressure myself too much.

I just hope things will get better for people in the media, it's such a sad situation.
The glamorization of thin bodies and excessive femininity are some of the reasons why I can't get into a lot of girlgroups. I'm not a cis woman (I'm a demigirl/bigender) but despite getting a light dysphoria sometimes (rarely) when I look at male idols they don't make me feel as uncomfortable as the thin standards for women do.