Since the one-hit wonder ‘Gangnam Style’ went viral back in 2012, the global interest of K-pop has increasingly become more widespread. Especially with popular groups like BIGBANG, BTS steering the wheel with their international successes.
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And with the recent release of ‘Bill Nye Saves The World‘ on April 21 on the streaming service Netflix, there’s a short segment during episode 9 which talks about the impact of K-pop. It’s introduced through the topic of gender roles in South Korea and how conservative the society is, however as K-pop is evolving it allows people a medium to be able to express themselves freely.
There are short clips that included an interview featuring f(x)’s Amber, who talked about her own experiences being an artist in the K-pop industry and how when she debuted there weren’t any androgynous girls as there was a certain stereotype for girls to look feminine in order to fit in. But now, she commented that she has seen a growth in girls who have shorter hair and wear comfortable clothes, which indicates that attitudes are changing and that it shows that there’s nothing wrong with being different.
Following from that, there was a brief part showing rookie group NCT’s Johnny who voiced his own thoughts that ‘What I wanna express today, that’s how I’m gonna wear it’. which showed his own level of confidence in himself and stressed the viewers to ‘Be yourself, I feel like that’s a big point‘. K-pop has helped to change stereotypes and attitudes globally, helping the wave of progress to sweep through. What are your thoughts on the episode?
