Sexual objectification of female idols is a well-known problem that currently exists in K-pop culture. It is a phenomenon that is evidently shown in almost all female idol’s music videos. From the enticing choreography and the provocative wardrobe all the way to the director’s choice of the camera angles (Lin and Rudolf 2017: 28), female idols are commonly portrayed to be a desired prize that is waiting to be won by a man. Additionally, it seems that in the K-pop world females never have complex ambitions with the purpose of self-fulfillment, but rather are all blind sighted by love and only motivated to find the “right” man. Moreover, the male dominant gender roles are also commonly displayed in K-pop media. It seems that females are always on the passive side and waiting for male initiation. In Ailee’s comeback music video “Insane”, this lack of identity and excess passivity is clearly displayed through the choice of wardrobe, choreography, and lyrics.
To start off, the music video is basically about a girl longing for this guy that she deems to fill her entire world. The music video begins with Ailee waking up in a bed with a man standing by her bedside (we later realize that he’s just a figment of her imagination). She is dressed in what I assume to be a man’s shirt along with a pair of boy shorts that works to display her legs. Her clothes suppress her identity in the sense that they do present any of her personal characteristics. Her hair is also intentionally styled in a way that looks a bit messy to promote the image of an infatuated girl as well as emphasize her obsession with this guy she’s longing for. Moreover, Ailee is also painted to be an emotionally-dependent woman without self-direction due to her insane love for this person. This is presented in the lyrics “I don’t wanna be alone… I love you insane”. Likewise, the director’s choice of using a Black & White filter throughout the video further highlights Ailee’s loss of color in the world without her man. The choice of wardrobe, the lyrics and the use of black & white video filter are all underlining components that contribute to Ailee’s lack of self and identity suggested by this music video.
During the music video, Ailee attempts to seduce the male character with her suggestive dance moves. Specifically, her constant body rolls towards the male character act as an invitation to pursue her. Moreover, the male character’s passivity of just watching Ailee dance degrades Ailee’s active enticement. It is less of an interaction between the two and more of a service on Ailee’s part, this ties to Mulvey’s point of men being the spectators and women being the object that they spectate (Mulvey 2010: 11). Furthermore, the male character always walks off first to switch set locations and Ailee follows after. This depicts the passivity on Ailee’s part in that she’s waiting for the man to initiate in order for her to continue. Additionally, in her lyrics, she sings “I pray every night that I want to meet you”, which further illustrates her passivity in the relationship in that she can only wait for the guy to come to her instead of going to him first. To add on, the idea of male-dominant gender roles is clearly prevalent in her lyrics “I’m good enough only with you”.
This lack of identity and excess passivity in media’s portrayal of females, as well as the stagnant male-dominant gender roles, not only promotes sexual objectification but further encourages unfair treatment and incorrect attitudes towards females (Kistler and Lee 2009: 82). Furthermore, if this continues it will lead to negative consequences for both genders as illustrated by Bernard et al (2015: 505), due to the backward gender expectations that are being pushed on by K-pop media.
Author: Jialin Shen
Bibliography
Bernard, Philippe, Steve Loughman, Cynthie Marchal, Audrey Godart, and Olivier Klein. “The Exonerating Effect of Sexual Objectification: Sexual Objectification Decreases Rapist Blame in a Stranger Rape Context.” Sex Roles 72, no. 11-12 (2015): 499-508.
Kistler, Michelle E. and Moon J. Lee. “Does Exposure to Sexual Hip-Hop Music Videos Influence the Sexual Attitudes of College Students?” Mass Communication and Society 13, no. 1 (2009): 67-86.
Lin, Xi, and Robert Rudolf. “Does K-pop Reinforce Gender Inequalities? Empirical Evidence from a New Data Set.” Asian Women 33, no. 4 (2017): 27-54.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, 6-18.” PhD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1973.
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