Table of Contents
Introduction
In East Asia, the popular culture has spread remarkably. Individuals in the regions have shown interest in popular products such as movies, TV dramas, pop music, animations and comic books. The Asian countries consumption has led to the increasing regional exchange at the society levels which have been recognised to be different from the inter-governmental operations with regards to gender and sexuality sensitivity. By the consumption of foreign products, East Asian countries have led to the growth of regionalisation as opposed to regionalism. The gender roles and representation has impacted the cultural exchanges among K-pop fans by creating social perception changes on the pop music industry, decreased the TV stations that endorse imitation-K-pop live auditions shows, and increased the amount of finance they receive from the Korean national government.
K-pop in Korea
Most Korean popular songs also known as the Kayo have evolved from the musical genus that was created and only done by the Koreans to K-pop. It is enjoyed worldwide but produced by the Korean as a new development that presently revolutionised the discernment of the pop music in the Koreans post-development culture of gender and sexuality (Yarber, Sayad, & Strong, 2013, p. 91). Children have been observed to be having dreams of becoming K-pop idols instead of pursuing the traditionally admired professions in medicine, politics, or academic circles. The entertainment industry seems to get much support due to it flashy lifestyle, an issue that every growing child admires to posses as an adult. The Korean administration has taken the lead in promoting K-pop and Hallyu.
Several studies have determined and analysed the accomplishment of the Hallyu popularly known as the Korean wave which later followed the Hollywood path with the inclusion of its labels, the global music distributors, and record companies (Louie, 2012, p.935). Choosing Hollywood as a torchbearer was wise moves since they were later on forced to understand the role of the female in all parts of the popular culture. Hallyu also became an affiliate of the organisation for monetary co-operation and expansion. However, the Korean economic development had brought social, gender, and sexuality affluence problems, the K-pop came up with social change revolution that focused on gender, sexuality, perceptions of the pop industry, television companies, and government policies on the pop music industry.
A case study conducted on the Korean students in secondary and primary schools concluded that they are not in need of working for salaries at the chaebol companies in contrast with what many guardians and parents prescribe for as a brighter future. The telly production is notably trailing viewers to other Koreans societal medium sites and YouTube for K-pop use that allows women and men to participate equally on the popular music culture (Weintraub, 2011, p. 65). Most of popular Korea’s music was being dominated by television and radio stations while playing the Kayo popular music that had much of sexuality and harassment incidents. Due to the government censorship, the television and the radio stations were used as the gatekeepers for popular gender culture and sexuality. In addition to that, they determined which songs and singers were to be candidly advertised to the mass communal and who was to be barred.
Gender roles in the Korean admired tune prior to the K-pop
The conventional Korean Kayo comprises of chanson, the ballads, and the t urot u that are argued to have been copied from the U.S martial localities throughout or following the Korean War between 1950 and 1953 (Leheny, 2006, p. 220). Many advantages on songs were given to men and not women since the female gender in Korea was assumed to be only good with household chores, for instance, Cho Yong-Pil and Lee Mi-Ja both of whom had the mass public support performed hundreds and thousands of songs for the Japanese and Korean audience. The Koreans’ in general insight of the Kayo musicians and singers had the popular music business largely conquered with consideration of sexuality which allowed vulgar images of sex scandals, night banquets, and gangster agents (Chou, 2012, p. 92). It often happened between the military dictators and female fans by bribing to compose a song, hate from the television producers, and emotional exploitation on female singers by their managers due to gender. At some point, it was virtually impossible for the pop music female genres to create currency from their documentation sales due to the common and illegality of music piracy through the LP records and audio tapes (Lau., 2008, p. 67). It forced the female pop singers to jump on buses that headed to remote villages and cities to get chances of live concerts in tented stages and movie theatres. To make it worse, military dictators were almost everywhere and often demanded sexual favours from the pop female popular singers.
K-pop comes up in Korea
The predecessors to the K-pop started arriving around the late 1990s with a new breed of singing groups. Such musicians made it by being successful music idols in spite of diverting from the Kayo conferences; they sang on a pentatonic scale and had less dancing while on stage. Despite hailing from susceptible and low-income family backgrounds, the new pop singers overcame it all despite the gender sensitivity and sexuality (Tsai & Shin, 2013, p.19). However, in around 1992, the legendary Seo Taiji boy band came to the realization of how the Kayo world faced a challenge of changing completely due to the hegemony of the dance music style. The legendary boy’s band was forced to introduce new genres that included electronic music, hip-hop, and reggae which were unfamiliar to the Korean audience. Experiments with various Western genres increased while the number of upcoming artists accommodated both genders who played rhythm and blues, some rock renditions, present folk, and jazz (Heryanto, 2008, p. 16.) On this note, the bang of the biased liberalization and the forthcoming westernization of the Korean civilization on popular music were no longer overlooked.
Despite that, the youthful Turks in the Korean tune business similarly met similar problems of shortage in monetary chances, sexual harassment, piracy, and exploitation by politicians. There was an increased demand for new mass media and markets for the Korean popular music other than the Korean television and radio stations. While scholars were busy investigating the major cause of the K-pops unprecedented global success, they also noted the social consequences of the K-pops success in the Eastern Korea (Dube, 1997, p. 96). To start with, the opportunity structure for the rise of K-pop included the exogenous and endogenous factors. The Korean economic development and political democratization welcomed in the youthful Turks who were in need to try out the western melodies since the military restriction was rescinding regardless of gender roles and sexuality. A factor that stood for a new opportunity in the new configuration for K-pop was the introduction of the digital tune business that was enhanced by video streaming and internet technologies (Blackwood, 2005, p. 870). With piracy and limited media opportunities, it led to escape of many recording companies and artist to foreign markets.
Besides, success was also attributed to apparent originality in some parts of Japan and other countries (Toth, 2008, p. 120). The K-pops originality lies in concurrent singing, genre fusion, and dancing which creates room for both female and male musicians equally.
The social perceptions of K-pop on gender and sexuality
The Kayo singers had to endure a stumpy communal eminence over the post-war era though their songs were accepted on all stratum of the Korean civilization. The tag ddandara was specified to individuals concerned with the pop music business, mostly on influential players and singers by the children and adults on different levels (Jackson, Liu & Woo, 2013, p.54). However, the new K-pop status with an export good has redressed the public’s perception of girl and boy band singers, mostly on the K-pop business. The celebrities are today professed as imaginative, specialized, gender-free, and sophisticated. Both young female and male children are having positive images about the K-pop stars and studies show that they have embraced the life. Researchers have named the solitary most issue of children’s sustenance to the K-pop as cosmopolitan striving. The major quarrel is that the Korean civilization that endures from “melancholia” recognises sports and economic gain scholars as compared to similar achievements in the domestic competition where both genders participate equally (Huat, 2004, p. 219). K-pop increase in social legitimacy has openly defused the older political subjugation as the mainstream politicians have embraced the present era of the Korean pop tune. For instance, the 2011 presidential contenders Jae-In and Keun Hye used K-pop as part of their campaign songs. Alongside the raised discernment of the K-pop business amongst politicians and Korean brood who joined to support the new international genus, politically and financially.
Government hold for K-pop
Despite the department of civilization, sports, and tourism issuing instructions of forbidding the Kayo melodies in 1951 to 1990s, it’s now pouring large sums of money to the K-pop commerce to equally cater for both genders under strict rules. A line entry financial plan given to Hallyu is notably the best in the new budgetary item representing a budget increase from the ministry. The K-pop industry has criticized the Mammoth budget on Hallyu since the K-pop firms are not benefiting from it (Inglehart & Norris, 2003, p. 90). Despite the rapid confusion over what Hallyu was all about, the Ministry was completely convinced of its fiscal donation to Korea’s sell overseas that led to notable profitable growth, a situation the ministry used to validate the budgetary augment offer. The government policy makers and the K-pop managers have been having obvious differences over what Hallyu is and what agency deserves financial support from the policy (Galbraith & Karlin, 201, p. 24). Nevertheless, both have equal treatment as per today since the Koreans have fully embraced the K-pop culture both at home and in their working environments. At the moment, despite the contradictions, the government and the Korean youths are openly supporting both K-pop and Hallyu which accommodates all and sundry.
Television business and live auditions in Korea
The advancement of the K-pop has negatively impacted the radio and television since the new pop songs are distributed to the globe via YouTube and the user-generated content. In fighting the declining audience of the K-pop music, the televisions and radio are doing their best to maintain the necessary volume that accommodates both female and male idols while paying the commercial sponsors. The television stations, mostly on cable channels have had challenges especially on the recorded or live shows by losing large profits due to increased charges on the appearance by managers and K-Pop charges (Petersen & Hyde, 2010, p. 26). To brawl imminent and apparent bereavement of TVs, the show moderators have come out old and new with shows that weekly advertise the pop music charts with hopes of getting the K-pop music audience. It portrays the urge for the audience by permitting them to participate in voting for their preferred singing group or individuals throughout live shows.
Many and capable networks proffer the new type of program to fight the declining TV popularity, for instance, the introduction of the K-pop audition shows. The K-pop audition program has risen unexpectedly with some of them experiencing overnight success. M net has mentored and produced the heroic Cinderella story that features Huh Gak, a ventilator repairman and a middle-class dropout who made to be a superstar by contributing in the live auditioning show. As per to date, the try-out show advert has become soaked as spectators have noted that it has little as compared to the genuine K-pop market and industry (Iwabuchi, 2010, p. 200). K-pop has overwhelmingly made a change to the fate of idol bands and singers in Korea both for male and females. It has become difficult for television entertainment programs to operate without the inclusion of the K-pop idols and they often appear in dramas as actresses and actors in programs.
Conclusion
To conclude, much of the Korean popular songs once only done by Koreans have become a worldwide variety that is loved universally. The fresh expansion has led to the revalorisation of the accepted music business perception in Korea and the post-development civilization that gives room for both of the boy and the girl child. Children from Korea presently dream of becoming K-pop stars more than going to join the traditionally encouraged and respected professions in medicine, the government, and academic circles. The administration of Korea is additionally endorsing K-pop and Hallyu as an element of their duty to reinvent the whole Korean social, financial system towards productive originality. As the K-pop evolution is majorly a product of the other digital devices and YouTube on the worldwide scale, the Koreans TVs’ are with much anticipation of tapping in the booming market. There have been several observable showcases of the live K-pop auditions that are trying to avoid the declining TV allegiance among the K-pop fans that are used and love to watch composition videos that are streamed on YouTube. K-pop has welcomed the social perception changes of the pop music industry, decreased TV stations that are vigorously promoting the pseudo-K-pop subsist try-out shows and increased its share from the government support budget by enacting rules that address gender and sexuality issues on the East Asian pop.
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