Surprising bit of feminism from K-Pop
When I first saw the music video for "Girl President" by South Korean pop group Girl's Day, my eyebrows went up a bit. While South Korean society is not as culturally conservative as it used to be, say, 30 years ago, it's still more culturally conservative than United States. Girls taking off their clothes (even behind the screen) while dancing suggestively looked pretty daring by South Korean standards.
But then, I looked up the English translation of the lyrics.
It started off like a typical love song.
Should I say I love you
My heart aches day after day
It hurts hurts hurts hurts
But why do I feel trivial, standing in front of you
I feel like I’m nothing just a baby, a baby
Oh oh oh oh
It continues in similar vein for the next couplet, but on the third one (emphasis mine):
Come on come on oh oh oh
Come on come on oh oh oh
You go first and say you love him
Now is the time, you can start first
And then, we get to the chorus:
We have a female president
Why so timid? What’s the problem?
If a girl kisses first, she gets arrested or what?
Come up to him and kiss him first
Now is the time, you can start first
Now is the time
Ttarattarattattarattara (x4)
(For those who haven't kept up with South Korean politics, the Republic of Korea has elected its first female president in February 2013.)
Now, by Western standards, female artists calling for girls to take control of their romantic lives may not see that terribly revolutionary. But, like I said - South Korea is more culturally conservative, so it jumps out.
Mind you - it's been years since I've looked into K-Pop in any detail. For all I know, Girl's Day is just one of many K-Pop groups that's been singing songs with empowering messages. Heck, I remember how, back in 2009, rapper E.Via released a song basically telling a guy exactly how she wanted him to screw her (but even then, it was cloaked behind implicit language). So I may be overstating this song's significance. If anybody reading this knows more, please feel free to correct me.
Click to viewBut then, I looked up the English translation of the lyrics.
It started off like a typical love song.
Should I say I love you
My heart aches day after day
It hurts hurts hurts hurts
But why do I feel trivial, standing in front of you
I feel like I’m nothing just a baby, a baby
Oh oh oh oh
It continues in similar vein for the next couplet, but on the third one (emphasis mine):
Come on come on oh oh oh
Come on come on oh oh oh
You go first and say you love him
Now is the time, you can start first
And then, we get to the chorus:
We have a female president
Why so timid? What’s the problem?
If a girl kisses first, she gets arrested or what?
Come up to him and kiss him first
Now is the time, you can start first
Now is the time
Ttarattarattattarattara (x4)
(For those who haven't kept up with South Korean politics, the Republic of Korea has elected its first female president in February 2013.)
Now, by Western standards, female artists calling for girls to take control of their romantic lives may not see that terribly revolutionary. But, like I said - South Korea is more culturally conservative, so it jumps out.
Mind you - it's been years since I've looked into K-Pop in any detail. For all I know, Girl's Day is just one of many K-Pop groups that's been singing songs with empowering messages. Heck, I remember how, back in 2009, rapper E.Via released a song basically telling a guy exactly how she wanted him to screw her (but even then, it was cloaked behind implicit language). So I may be overstating this song's significance. If anybody reading this knows more, please feel free to correct me.