appears

I have hated everything about this group’s angle since they debuted and I hate them even more now. Even if we do somehow suspend reality and choose to believe that “they lost weight naturally in the past few months” and were not “purposely dieting,” the fact that this is the basis of promotion for their new music sends the worst message possible. And this article’s tone gives me the creeps.

“After shedding tears over their body image and the inability to perform to their heart’s content because of their weight…” They were so fat they couldn’t function!!

“The girls debuted with the hopes of giving other overweight people the confidence to stand out…” So now what? They’re going to give overweight people the confidence to lose weight?

Seriously, just forget this whole group and every single article on allkpop that begins with “[so and so idol]’s secret diet tips.” I’ve been thinking about doing an entire article about this buffoonery and while I procrastinate over that, let’s look at a wall of other articles on allkpop that encourage culturally sanctioned eating disorders:

“SNSD’s latest diet plan revealed” “Son Yeon Jae reveals her diet secrets” “Coin Jackson reveals their diet regime” Superstar K2’s Park Boram shares her diet success photos” “Suzy succssfully accomplishes her diet” Jun Hye Bin shows off the results of her diet” “KARA reveals secret behind their bodies” “A Pink talks about their strict diets” “CN Blue’s Jung Yong Haw loses 8kg for comeback” “How did HyunA lose all that weight?” “SNSD’s Yuri wows fans with her toned body” “KARA bursts into tears while talking about their harsh dieting regime” “SS501’s Park Jung Min lost 18lbs for comeback” “Bomster is nibbling on veggies to lose weight” “Navi reveals her dieting secrets” “K-Will lost 5kg for his comeback album” “Rainbow’s Hyunyoung reveals her weight loss regime” “Park Bom’s lettuce diet is a success” “T-Ara’s Eunjung becomes the next target for her ‘belly fat’” “Hwang Bo takes pride in her 52 kg body” “Seo In Young shares her banana diet secret” “KARA members lose 10kg for their sexy new look” “Bella’s Lucy lost 30kg before her debut”

Etc.

Spending the better part of one’s youth reveling in a despised form of cultural production is rarely good for a person’s perspective. Whether you delight in superheroes or Sweet Valley High novels or Japanese pop bands…

Shit, I’m three for three.

My review of F.T. Island’s Return is in the July issue of 10Magazine and can now be viewed online.