美国国家公共电台 NPR For Women In Korean Pop, 'Making It' Can Mean A Makeover

For Women In Korean Pop, 'Making It' Can Mean A Makeover

ELISE HU, HOST:

I'm filling in for Rachel Martin this weekend, but usually, you'll find me out in Seoul, South Korea. It's home of Korean pop music, or K-Pop, which is quickly becoming one of Korea's biggest exports. It's a multibillion-dollar industry that, for the last decade, has been dominated by girl groups.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ME GUSTAS TU")

GFRIEND: (Singing in foreign language).

HU: Management agencies churn out groups that look alike and embody¹ a girlish, doe-eyed innocence². But critics say there's a dark side to the bubblegum images being spread around the world, and it's especially hard on Korean women.

PARK BO-RAM: Hi (laughter).

HU: Park Bo-Ram is considered a classic K-pop success story, in a lot of ways, a poster child for an industry ideal. She was a teenage girl who went through various contortions³ to become what she is today.

PARK: (Through interpreter) I went through a trainee⁴ process of four years, and I learned how to dance and sing and how to act. And I also groomed⁶ myself more, my external appearance.

HU: She changed her hair, her face and, most notably⁷, her body - dropping 66 pounds. Now she's singing about it. Her semi-autobiographical debut⁸ single is called "Beautiful," but it translates to "I Became Pretty."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEAUTIFUL")

PARK: (Singing in Korean).

HU: In a video with more than 7 million YouTube views, Park is shown weighing her food and as the tiny, spinning dancer in a music box.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEAUTIFUL")

PARK: (Singing in Korean).

HU: Lyrics¹⁰ include a line about eating only a banana and egg each day. One lyric⁹ says overdoing¹¹ it was worth it. She believes it.

PARK: (Through interpreter) I think a lot of people, after listening to the song, were motivated to exercise more and lose weight and diet. And I think a big reason is because I put my story in it - like, one banana, two eggs, eating just that, and you see the result in me. And that was motivating for people.

HU: Park went through these changes with the encouragement of her management company. Entertainment conglomerates¹² groom⁵ modern K-pop groups and their singers, spending years scouting¹³, training, producing and, finally, marketing¹⁴ the groups. It's worked like this for decades.

HEATHER WILLOUGHBY: They were models, basically.

HU: Heather Willoughby is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. She specializes in Korean music and culture. She and other critics worry that the companies give performers too little control over their identities and that K-pop sends a message to girls that their worth comes from what's on the outside.

WILLOUGHBY: There is a much more deep-rooted sense of still viewing women as objects, and I think that reflects very poorly on the society.

HU: Willoughby says a focus on looks is especially extreme in Korea, possibly because everything's mediated¹⁵ through screens. It's the home of the world's fastest internet speeds, and mobile phone penetration¹⁶ is actually above 100 percent. There's also Korea's traditional East Asian influences.

WILLOUGHBY: You still have a very, very collective society. And so, in order to fit in, you have to be within a norm. And so I think where you have a much more individualistic society in parts of Europe and the United States, but in Korea, I think there's a lot more pressure to still fit in.

HU: The pressure to fit in could explain why as many as one third of women in Seoul have gotten cosmetic¹⁷ surgery procedures.

JAMES TURNBULL: Because of K-pop, there's a big cosmetic surgery tourism industry, there's a huge beauty products industry.

HU: James Turnbull is a lecturer at Dongseo University who's been blogging about Korean feminism for the last decade. He says the strict beauty standards of K-pop are reaching far beyond Korean borders. The Korean government has a ministry¹⁸ now in charge of exporting Korean entertainment.

TURNBULL: The Korean government has a big culpability¹⁹ and responsibility in this state of affairs because it does have a vested interest in exporting and promoting K-pop's soft power overseas.

HU: There are some idols²⁰ bucking²¹ the trend, like Amber²².

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHAKE THAT BRASS²³")

AMBER: (Singing) Here we go, hey.

HU: She branched out from her original girl group. She carved out a tomboy identity and now enjoys a huge fan base.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHAKE THAT BRASS")

AMBER: (Singing) Shake that brass (singing in foreign language).

HU: And it didn't take too many calls to find British-Korean Sophia Pae...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OVER YOU")

SOPHIA PAE: (Singing) Why you call me baby? (Singing in Korean).

HU: ...Who originally took the path of making it by appearing on a reality show. But she's now controlling her own sound.

PAE: I kind of have the freedom to write what I want. And luckily, they're pretty OK with just going with what I do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OVER YOU")

PAE: (Singing in foreign language). (Singing) And I know...

HU: They are exceptions. The market is dominated by performers like Park Bo-Ram. She argues molding herself into the K-pop ideal built her confidence.

PARK: (Through interpreter) I want to show people a more perfect me, which is why I tried to change.

PARK: Just who's behind that idea of perfect? That's not a subject these artists are singing about.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ME GUSTAS TU")

GFRIEND: (Singing in foreign language).

1 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

2 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

3 contortions   

n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Trimeris' compound, called T-20, blocks the final structural contortions from taking place. T-20是特里米瑞斯公司生产的化合物。它能阻止分子最终结构折叠的发生。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 癌症与艾滋病
• The guard was laughing at his contortions. 那个警卫看到他那难受劲儿感到好笑。 来自英汉文学

4 trainee   

n.受训练者

参考例句：

• The trainee checked out all right on his first flight.受训者第一次飞行完全合格。
• Few of the trainee footballers make it to the top.足球受训人员中没有几个能达到顶级水平。

5 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

6 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

9 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

10 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

11 overdoing   

v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
• You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗？ 来自电影对白

12 conglomerates   

n.（多种经营的）联合大企业( conglomerate的名词复数 )；砾岩；合成物；组合物

参考例句：

• At the surface, radioactivity of the conglomerates is locally as high as 30 X background. 在地表，砾岩的局部地段的放射性高达30倍本底值。 来自辞典例句
• The conglomerates failed to understand that books could not be sold like soap. 这些联合大企业不懂卖书不象卖肥皂那样。 来自辞典例句

13 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

14 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

15 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

16 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

17 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

18 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

19 culpability   

n.苛责，有罪

参考例句：

• As if the estrangement between them had come of any culpability of hers. 姐弟俩疏远的责任竟仿佛落到了她的身上！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• The offence, as now defined in English law, covers a wide spectrum of culpability. 英国法律规定，违法包括很多种过失行为。 来自互联网

20 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

21 bucking   

v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• a bucking bronco in the rodeo 牛仔竞技表演中一匹弓背跳跃的野马
• That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin's gut. 那就是说咱们要背这一袋袋的谷子，得把五脏都累坏。 来自辞典例句

22 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

23 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。