As one of many first K-Pop girl groups to realize worldwide fame, Girls’ Generation is revered by followers, fellow artists, and music critics all all over the world.

However, as one of many first lady teams to develop into a family identify worldwide, Girls’ Generation was additionally subjected to having their message misunderstood, being hypersexualized, being exoticized, and having their artistry fully ignored.

Here are 3 occasions Western media misconstrued Girls’ Generation.

1. “Factory Girls”

In 2012, The New Yorker revealed a chunk referred to as “Factory Girls.” In this text, reporter John Seabrook detailed the historical past of Ok-Pop and the historical past of SM Entertainment, and he weaved the historical past into his expertise on the SMTOWN Live World Tour III present in Anaheim, California. While the article did clarify the historical past of the style and SM Entertainment’s strategy to creating idol teams, the reporter diminished the members’ contributions to their music in favor of what he thought-about to be SM Entertainment’s contrived creation of their personalities and personas. At one level, he requested Tiffany Young if her eye smile was one thing she was taught or one thing that got here naturally to her, and she or he instructed him that she had her father’s smile. He mentioned Sooyoung reworked from a “cold idol” right into a “super cheerleader” when she took the stage as an example his level that the members needed to fully change their personalities to attraction to followers.  He additionally claimed that Ok-Pop boy teams would by no means “make it big in the States” on this article after describing SHINee‘s performance in the same article.

2. “Meet Korea’s 9-Girl Pop Supergroup”

This 2009 Complex article by Brendan Frederick was written shortly after “Gee” was launched in 2019. In this text, the reporter calls the members “faceless Korean fembots” and presents sexualized descriptions of every of the person members. He insinuated that Jessica “sucks a mean lollipop” and referred to as Seohyun, who was 17 on the time, his favourite member. He famous that Seohyun was 18 in Korea though her worldwide age was 17 and questioned “how that would hold up in court” within the United States. He additionally mentioned that Taeyeon was the primary member to make her solo debut regardless of what he referred to as her “dubious singing ability.” 

3. “K-Pop Phenomenon Girls’ Generation Want to Make Insecure Men Feel Better”

This 2014 Vice article was written by Jakob Dorof and got here out throughout the “Mr.Mr.” period. During the group’s interview with the reporter, Sunny described the “Mr.Mr.” video’s idea as being  “about reviving the confidence of men that have lost courage and encouraging them to let go of their apprehensions.” This quote ended up inspiring the article’s title. However, by focusing in on the idea of this single music video, the reporter ignored Girls’ Generation’s total message of feminine empowerment. Additionally, the members mentioned way more attention-grabbing subjects throughout the interview that would have develop into the article’s title. For instance, they mentioned {that a} lighting adapter caught on fireplace throughout the “Mr.Mr.” video shoot, they had been gearing up for one more Japanese tour, they practiced their step distances whereas making ready for his or her debut, and the way they felt about Ok-Pop reaching international audiences.

Girls’ Generation

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