liking someone does not give them a free pass to being a bigot

What G.O. said about Heechul was homophobic.*

Yes, it is reflective of a much greater societal problem regarding the views and treatment of homosexuality in South Korea. His views might not be uncommon. That does not make it okay. That does not mean he should not be held accountable for his homophobic views; societal influence is not a free pass to being a bigot or an asshole.

I can't remember if I ever explicitly apologized for or defended what Yesung or Siwon or Taeyeon said - but I know what I thought at the time, that they shouldn't be blamed wholly because they live in a society that perpetuates that kind of belief. I've learned a lot since then and I retract that viewpoint. I know I was at least a little biased by the fact that they're in groups I like.

But just because I like a group for their music or antics doesn't mean I have to defend individual members for holding viewpoints that are, in fact, bigoted. Whether or not they intended for those views to be bigoted. Intent is rarely a requirement for being offensive or being bigoted; prejudice is so often ingrained so deeply in our subconscious that if we don't try to check ourselves and our privilege, we end up being a lot more sexist or racist or homophobic than we ever thought we'd be.

I was wrong and I apologize. I am learning and I hope that continues unhindered by my own biases.

But I would like to point out that what G.O. said was homophobic. And I don't think it should be defended or justified as if it's not.



*Link to sf_d because I refuse on principle to go to omona, even for news.

let's talk about kpop.

I thought I was going to spend today coding up my SPN/J2 pimp post. Sadly, that looks like it'll have to wait for another day.

Today, I'm going to meta.

I figure a lot of you don't know what's going on with the Wincon08 drama and don't think you care because it's in SPN fandom and you're not in the fandom. The fact of the matter is, it's not fandom drama - it's about the realities of what constitues sexual assault and what kind of attitudes and actions perpetuate that (both inside and outside fandom).

But I get that a lot of people reading this journal are more in-the-know about kpop. So let's talk about kpop. Let's talk about what I find problematic with kpop and how it - like every other fandom in the world, fictional or real person, Western or not - contributes to problems of sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, lots of other -isms, lots of other -phobias, and so on. Because all fandoms do not exist within a vacuum and the things we say and do in fandom affect (and are affected by) Real Life, which includes our own innate prejudices as well as society's prejudices.

Disclaimer: this post will focus heavily on my experiences within SJ fandom in particular because that is what I know. Thus there is more emphasis on fans who like their boysex and discount women; I'm not trying to dismiss the existing and very much active girl group fandoms. And yes, while these are mostly my own experiences and observations, I do think that what I'm trying to say does apply beyond just my corner of experiences. (And thank you so much to peachgirldb, mardisgrasmaven, 2naonh3_cl2, and transitorial for being soundboards.)

( Because you know it got long. )