Hell, why not

[dreamer_easy]

Have some more random things from Asia.

Social media, compare and contrast: I read today that that idiots on Twitter thought the SFO crash was a hilarious opportunity for racist jokes. But I also read about the immediate response of SHINee's Key when his blunder in tagging an Instagram from Japan was pointed out by a fan.

The first time I summoned the courage to speak to staff at Morning Glory - long before my Kpop addiction - they were at pains to explain they were from South Korea, not North Korea. Being a historical and geographical ignoramus, I was puzzled at the time. These days, Tweets about how the crash was a North Korean attack come as no surprise. (Even better were the tweets a while ago about how the US should take revenge on the DPRK for Pearl Harbour. You'd think patriots would at least know their own country's history.)

Anyway. I continue to absorb small morsels of Korean culture, mostly by watching silly TV shows and reading possibly dubious online things (like many "international fans" I am dependent on other peoples' translations.) While boys touch each other affectionately with great freedom (to the delight of Western fangirls!), there's still a lot of reticence about boys and girls showing affection where others can see.

In fact, there is such a thing as "manner hands", where a young gentleman holds a lady while keeping his paws off her. Two examples from SHINee are Onew, in a sports competition thing, piggy-backing a young woman while making his hands into fists to avoid holding onto her thighs. He was praised for his chivalry. Poor Taemin, however, was teased mercilessly for putting an arm around his reality-show "wife", but hovering his hand above her shoulder.

I think that, through South Korean eyes, the West must look not just relaxed but downright sleazy. Here's an interesting account of Korean-American comedienne Margaret Cho, her tattoos, a health spa, and some unimpressed ladies. (There's a happy ending.) OTOH, in the West, certain tatts on women are called "tramp stamps", indicating that old-fashioned Korean ladies are not the only ones with issues about sex and class.

Here's an article about "westernising" cosmetic surgery actually written by An Asian Person (specifically, Chinese-Australian Benjamin Law). It's insightful and also very funny: Law quips that his asymmetrical eyes mean he "can give that David-Tennant-as-Doctor-Who quizzical look without much effort" and "I've got one of those classically flatter Chinese noses, the kind that makes it hard for me to wear sunglasses."

Also from Australia: Artistic expression helps overcome years of repression. "'Mum, I'm not Chinese, am I?'"

NetizenBuzz warns us: Don't look at strangers in Korea. Since staring is also considered a threat by Westerners and IIUC most of the great apes, I am not quite sure where this is coming from. Alas, Google Translate makes an absolute dog's breakfast of the actual article.

Finally, a small but poignant moment of Korean colourism as Kai gets fed up with the friendly teasing. (Keep in mind I'm reliant on someone else's translation and interpretation of events here.) I'm still trying to figure how just how serious it all is. Are the cracks about Kai's colouring on a par with gingerism (ie annoying but pretty much harmless), or do darker-skinned Koreans suffer prejudice and discrimination, as these remarks from a TV talent show judge suggest? (I'm partly cautious because if you simplistically cut-and-paste one country or culture's experience of racism onto another, you get confusing and misleading results.) (ETA: Cf the similar preference for lighter skin in Kenya.)

Comments

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

A preference for paler skin is a pretty universal preference (modern tanning culture to the contrary). I know it's been a big deal in India, where "whitening" products with often dangerous ingredients are an issue. It pre-dates Western contact in many areas, though I can't imagine us palefaces have helped any. One theory I've read is that it implies social status in many cultures because working outside (manual labor, peasant status) darkens the skin.

I've just read The Orphan Master's Son, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about North Korea. I'm a little dubious about the cultural appropriation, but the author has good things to say about looking forward to a time when North Koreans will have the opportunity to tell their own stories to the wider world. He seems to have done his research (and, actually, to have left out some of the more horrific things he heard of) and crafted a compelling work.

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

I read where the social status thing also explains tanning, since now everybody works indoors, and the leisured classes spend their time at the beach. :)

I have a few partly-read books about the DPRK floating about the house - I'll keep an eye out for Orphan Master's Son. *tips hat*