I quite like all three. From the sound I'd say that SNSD don't have a lot to do with The Wonder Girls other than their both being girl groups, but maybe that's a huge connection. In 1999 I wouldn't have thought of much similarity between, say, *NSync and Destiny's Child but by 2000 the *NSync audience had embraced Destiny's Child and *NSync were staying in business by crossing back to r&b with stuff like "Gone." "Gee" makes me think of Hi-NRG Stock-Aitken-Waterman perhaps as reimagined by various Swedes aiming at the North American market, but that's just a first impression that obviously has nothing to do with the group in its own context (or maybe it does
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By no means I’m an expert in K-Pop (and maybe some of my prejudices come from listening to J-Pop, but not all of them), but seems like this groups are like omnipresent in the media so the public kind of make factions, still not sure about this, but the mechanics that one appreciates in forums and blogs is that people are very obsessive and gossipy (usually to such a high degree that pisses you off) about the groups they love (also boy bands, but usually I don’t listen to them so I can’t talk about that) and kind of work as haters for the rest (or at least of the ones that can work as competence). About the music I think is great when is great and usually (at least in my case) is when it works in a “superficial” mode, this naïve (but very charming) vision of relationships that also works in the consumerist mode of love/hate reactions, and not so much when they are set in a “sentimental” mood. But also, I think, I see what you said about the groups searching for spaces to express themselves in the musical styles available at the moment
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During the Dream Concert held on June 7, 2008 in South Korea, a silent protest was held against Girls' Generation by various other fan groups, notably E.L.F, Cassiopeia, and Triple S.["Girls' Generation" is, I guess, the best English translation of their name, but the group are known as SNSD internationally, SNSD being the initials of their Korean name: So Nyeo Shi Dae/So Nyuh Shi Dae. This according to Wiki, anyway
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Not really sure about the demographics and much less about the class divisions. Here is an article in a fansite with a couple of news about a concert where 14 people get injuried running to the front line or fighting with other fan clubs for the seats. There are also videos of the “boycott” on YouTube (1, 2). So probably, in this case, females between 12-16. But I suppose this is a kind of behaviour that is accepted by society and that loses its meaning when you grow. But probably the public is more a mixed bag, with the girls acting on TV series, having radio shows, appearing on ads or getting spreads on fashion magazines, so there should be more mix between boys and girls on their teens, kids that love the looks, young people that still have care or like the fashion style or with whom they are dating, mothers and fathers, and probably being cute as a pop star works in the same way as in Japan, as a safe form of being different without getting in trouble with the community (and also the “adult” pop I remember hearing on TV channels
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The dispute began when DBSK's fanclub Casseopia, SS501's fanclub Triple S and SuJu's fanclub ELF (CaTriEl) demonstrated a 10 minutes of silence during the performance of SNSD as a retaliation against the mostly male based SNSD fanclub.
It was also found that a male-based fanclub of Wonder Girls (Wonderful) indirectly supported the demonstration which lead to a battle between the fanclub cultures. Also, using the variation of "otaku", SNSD fans are being referred as "SoTaku" and Wonder Girls fans as "WonTaku" by its rival fanclubs.
K-pop has the most insane and deeply frightening fanclub culture ever, and I say this as someone with a full-blown otaku background. It's as much crazy hate of "rivals" as crazy love of the idols in question, said rivalries seem as random in provenance (from an outside perspective at least) as hip-hop beefs, and are sometimes as damaging - people have poisoned the water bottles of and thrown acid at pop stars they dislike.
Confession: I had to look up "otaku" on Wiki. (I also have little knowledge of anime, though my local library has a surprisingly large collection. Was your "otaku" anime related? Music related?)(Of course, "fan" is derived from "fanatic.")
Do you know if there's a class component or an ethnic component to the Korean fanclubs? Would the Korean equivalent of a preppy girl join one (if the social map in Korea even contains equivalents to "preps" and "skaters" and the like)? (Actually, I don't even know the current high-school terminology in North America.)
Re: Gender wars?petroniaJune 10 2009, 04:58:53 UTC
Caveat that I haven't followed K-pop for a while; my best period is circa Shinhwa, Baby V.O.X. (one of my favorite girlbands of all time despite them not being able to sing), Lee Jung Hyun, and of course BoA.
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And totally unrelated, but also would love to know your opinion about this couple of tracks…
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During the Dream Concert held on June 7, 2008 in South Korea, a silent protest was held against Girls' Generation by various other fan groups, notably E.L.F, Cassiopeia, and Triple S.["Girls' Generation" is, I guess, the best English translation of their name, but the group are known as SNSD internationally, SNSD being the initials of their Korean name: So Nyeo Shi Dae/So Nyuh Shi Dae. This according to Wiki, anyway ( ... )
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It was also found that a male-based fanclub of Wonder Girls (Wonderful) indirectly supported the demonstration which lead to a battle between the fanclub cultures. Also, using the variation of "otaku", SNSD fans are being referred as "SoTaku" and Wonder Girls fans as "WonTaku" by its rival fanclubs.
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Do you know if there's a class component or an ethnic component to the Korean fanclubs? Would the Korean equivalent of a preppy girl join one (if the social map in Korea even contains equivalents to "preps" and "skaters" and the like)? (Actually, I don't even know the current high-school terminology in North America.)
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(Since I don't speak a word of Korean we're pretty much on the same footing methinks.)
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