Amber Liu, K-Pop Tomboy: Reshaping Femininity in Mainstream K-Pop

• Main Authors: Laforgia, Paola, Howard, Keith
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Femininity; Gender; K-Pop; Mainstream Music; South Korea
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss29/11; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/2140/viewcontent/_5BKKv00n29_2017_5D_203.4_ForumKritika_Laforgia_Howard.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

South Korean mainstream pop music, known simply as K-Pop, has become such a huge phenomenon in recent years that it is playing a decisive role in reshaping Korean culture and identity. Indeed, the K-Pop phenomenon is much more than just something musical, intertwining a complexity of sound, performance, ethnicity and gender. A contextual analysis needs therefore to take all these elements into consideration. This paper aims to show how K-Pop plays a crucial role in promoting ideologies, and defining gender roles. It does so by analyzing the music and image of the Taiwanese-American originating singer Amber Liu. Liu goes against the standard gender identification and behavior that Korean society imposes on women, and by doing so she can be said to represent a shift in the portrayal and performance of femininity through K-pop. But, how is her gender behavior tolerated, and to what extent is this a stage behavior required and promoted by her management company as a way to mark out difference?