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What in the World K-pop gets its first gay male idol

BBC News5 hours ago

The K-pop industry is known for being super strict and encouraging idols not to share details about their private lives, especially their relationships. For LGBTQ idols, there's an added layer of pressure, where they can't reveal or talk about their sexuality at all, due to the stigma associated with homosexuality in South Korea. The country is deeply divided over LGBTQ acceptance.
So what happens if you do mention your sexuality as a K-pop idol? BBC Korean's Juna Moon has been talking to Bain from the boyband JUST B, who came out as gay on stage during a show in Los Angeles earlier this year. We hear some of her interview with Bain, who talks about his fans' reactions. And Juna explains why it's so unusual for K-pop idols to disclose their sexual identity.
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Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Julia-Ross Roy and Benita Barden
Editor: Verity Wilde

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Jade Thirlwall makes VERY cheeky quip in risqué speech after being crowned Celebrity Ally Of The Year at British LGBT Awards - following her anti-JK Rowling chant
Jade Thirlwall makes VERY cheeky quip in risqué speech after being crowned Celebrity Ally Of The Year at British LGBT Awards - following her anti-JK Rowling chant

Daily Mail​

time35 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Jade Thirlwall makes VERY cheeky quip in risqué speech after being crowned Celebrity Ally Of The Year at British LGBT Awards - following her anti-JK Rowling chant

Jade Thirlwall made a cheeky quip after she was crowned Celebrity Ally Of The Year at British LGBT Awards at The Brewery in London on Friday evening. The Angel Of My Dreams hitmaker, 32, known professionally as JADE, is an outspoken supporter for the LGBTQ+ community, and earlier this month during a performance led thousands of fans in an anti-JK Rowling chant. Jade, who couldn't be present and accepted the gong via video link, told her gay fans how much she 'adorned' them, before cheekily thanking those who bought jockstraps from her merchandise collection. The singer raised eyebrows when she announced the range last year that also included a butt plug on a keychain and silicon-based lubricant. She said: 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, so so much for this award. It really does mean everything to me. I just want to say that from the bottom of my heart, I really do adore the LGBTQ+ community'. 'I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am now were it not for that community supporting me, and making me the best artist I can be, and the best ally that I can be'. Before quipping: 'And I would personally like to thank my gay fans especially for making my jock strap my best-selling merchandise piece - thank you so, so much'. Jade continued: 'But in all seriousness, I want you to know that my allyship is not transactional. It has always been incredibly important to me, for many years now, to be the best ally I can be, and show up for the community time and time again'. 'And I do feel like at this time more than ever, it really is crucial for allies to speak up, stand up and show support for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly the trans community'. Before adding: 'I'm really sorry that I can't be there tonight, I'm genuinely gutted. But I just want to say congratulations to all of the winners tonight and you have my oath, for eternity, that I will constantly strive to be the ally that you deserve'. Jade is far from the first celebrity with a large LGBTQ+ following to release risqué merch. Following her 2020 dance-pop album Chromatica, Lady Gaga released a hot-pink jockstrap while Cambridge-born singer Charli XCX previously sold a sex paddle alongside a branded douche. For her latest album Brat, she sold a key on a necklace When asked about the X-rated merch, that coincided with the release of her fourth single Fantasy, Jade told Vogue: 'I'm collaborating with a friend of mine, Samuel Douek, on a kind of Fantasy bundle package with some of his products and some of mine. It's fun getting to do stuff like that.' Douek is a filmmaker as well as the owner of CBD-based lubricant brand Howl - a product which features in Jade's collection. The former Little Mix star was performing at Mighty Hoopla in London (pictured) when she sang one of her songs FUFN (F*** You For Now) - using it to take aim at the Harry Potter author She continued: 'Obviously, in Little Mix, there was kind of a ceiling on how far we could push things with our demographic and fan base. 'So I'm excited for my own stuff to have that same element of fun and empowerment, but in my own way as a 31-year-old woman.' As well as the X-rated bundle, fans can buy a series of coloured bandanas - which are typically used as a visual shorthand for the LGBTQ+ community to discreetly signal sexual preference. Earlier this month the former Little Mix star was performing at Mighty Hoopla in London when she sang one of her new songs FUFN (F*** You For Now) - using it to take aim at the Harry Potter author. 'Transphobes,' JADE shouted, as the crowd replied: 'F*** you'. She then turned attention to the writer, yelling ' JK Rowlin g' to which the crowd chanted again: 'F*** you'. A festival-goer shared the clip online with the caption: 'Jade, the legend you are!!!' JK has denied being transphobic, but she previously said she would 'happily' go to jail for misgendering a trans person rather than referring to them by their preferred pronouns. She is also using the new Harry Potter series to fund organisations dedicated to removing trans rights, with her 'Women's Fund' website saying it will offer financial support to those fighting trans inclusion 'in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces'. The author made her first controversial comments about trans people six years ago, and has long claimed their inclusion in spaces such as bathrooms is a threat to women.

BTS is back - but K-pop has changed
BTS is back - but K-pop has changed

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

BTS is back - but K-pop has changed

"I missed them so much," says Stephanie Prado, a die-hard BTS fan who has been desperately waiting for the group to reunite after a two-and-a-half-year love for the boy band inspired her to move from Brazil to South Korea - so it was no surprise that she turned up last Friday for "BTS Festa", a big party held every year near Seoul on the group's time she has spent waiting, has moved "both slowly and really quickly", Stephanie says, waving an ARMY bomb, the official lightstick used by BTS fans, who call themselves the her is a huge sculpture of the lightstick, a must-have in the K-pop year's event is special because a reunion is finally around the corner. The countdown peaked last week, when four of the seven members, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook, completed their military service. And the wait ends on Saturday when the last of them, Suga, is discharged."I hope they rest now," Stephanie says, before adding, "but of course I also want albums, concerts, everything".The 18 months in the military that are mandatory for all South Korean men forced the world's most successful boy band in recent years to hit pause in 2022. Now they are returning, some say, to a K-pop industry that is quite different to the one they knew: faced with stalled album sales, shaken by scandals and increasingly scrutinised over the excessive pressure its puts on absence of a leading band, industry watchers say, was deeply felt."Without BTS, a core pillar was missing," says Kim Young-dae, music critic and author of BTS: The Review. "There have been concerns recently that K-pop is losing momentum. True or not, BTS could change that perception." The ARMY awaits There are no plans yet for all seven members to appear together, but that didn't stop the ARMY from gathering early on a humid morning in long, restless queue stretched to the subway station an hour before the gates for the BTS Festa opened. The snippets of English, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish alongside Korean, threw off a local walking past who asked, "Why are there so many foreigners here?" Inside were more queues - some people were hopping with excitement and others were sobbing after entering the so-called voice zone, a phone booth where you could listen to BTS members' messages. About half of the fans the BBC spoke to teared up talking about how much they missed BTS."It felt like the 18 months lasted forever," said Vuyo Matiwane, a South African who had been visiting BTS-themed venues in Seoul, like their favourite restaurant. "I was crying at every location - it was so emotional."And then she watched the livestream of them being discharged, which was "overwhelming".Being surrounded by all things BTS made a trip half-way across the world worth it, says Fara Ala, who travelled from the Netherlands: "Breathing the same air, drinking the same water, eating the same food as BTS - that's enough for ARMY. If you ask other ARMY, they'd say the same." South Korean military service is a major test for male celebrities, many of whom have to enlist at the peak of their success. In the past, it has proved fatal for some is believed to have staggered it so that all seven members were missing from action for no more than six months. J-Hope, who was discharged last October, has since wrapped up a solo world tour. But the so-called curse can be hard to break. For one, the loyalty of fans could wane as new groups debut almost every week, competing for their attention. Returning idols also face a tough transition because a military stint and a touch of maturity could dampen the essence of K-pop appeal: youthful if anyone can break the curse, it's BTS, Mr Kim of them announced solo projects in the past two and half years, he explains, without hurting their popularity as a group: "It feels like their military hiatus passed by naturally. Their return feels smooth." The shift in K-pop Still, the industry beyond the ARMY can pose a BTS was on a break, the other K-pop sensation, Blackpink, has not dropped an album since September 2022, opting instead for solo releases. These were the leaders of K-pop's third they have been succeeded by fourth and fifth generations that have brought fresh style to the genre. The newer acts - which debuted after 2018 - lack a standout name like BTS because K-pop has become more diverse than ever. The result is a range of very popular and experimental groups. "Most people my age like fourth generation idols these days," says a 13-year-old fan of girl group IVE."Some still like third generation groups, but for teens, BTS kind of feels like they belong to an older generation. A lot of new idols debuted while BTS was away, and they have become popular."But the biggest challenge to BTS's superstar status is what some see as a slowdown in from concerts remains strong, but album sales - a key market metric - have been declining since a peak in 2023. The slump coincides with when BTS and Blackpink were not releasing Korean pop culture critic Park Hee Ah agrees that K-pop went through "some difficult times" while BTS was have also been several controversies, such as the headline-making dispute between hit girl group NewJeans and their agency, allegations of mistreatment by all-powerful agencies and harassment of stars by fans and trolls."Album sales started to drop, and some problems - like questions about companies doing the right thing - came up," Ms Park said. Because of all of this, she adds, we did see more "deeper problems in the K-pop industry". That's also why so many are looking forward to BTS's return, hoping it will bring renewed energy - and maybe even a path forward for the industry."Their return will help people focus on Korea's music scene again," Ms Park says, adding that a BTS reunion is great not just for their fans but also for Korean soft eyes are now on the band's next song. "I will quickly make an album and return to the stage," RM, the group's leader, said on the day he was a new group album may not come until early next year because J-Hope still has domestic concerts scheduled, and Jin is set to hold concerts for fans across the world over the next few months. It's also possible Suga, who landed in controversy after he was caught drunk-driving a scooter last year, may want to lie low for a little millions of fans like Stephanie though, simply knowing BTS is back together is enough - for now."It'll feel like nothing ever changed. The kings are back."

The Dating Game: How dating camp could help China's millions of single men
The Dating Game: How dating camp could help China's millions of single men

BBC News

time2 hours ago

  • BBC News

The Dating Game: How dating camp could help China's millions of single men

To say China's women are outnumbered would be an understatement. With a staggering 30 million more men than women, one of the world's most populous countries has a deluge of unattached males. The odds are heavily stacked against them finding a date, let alone a wife - something many feel pressured to do. To make matters worse, it's even harder if you're from a lower social class, according to Chinese dating coach Hao, who has over 3,000 clients."Most of them are working class - they're the least likely to find wives," he says. We see this first-hand in Violet Du Feng's documentary, The Dating Game, where we watch Hao and three of his clients throughout his week-long dating camp. All of them, including Hao, have come from poor, rural backgrounds, and were part of the generation growing up after the 90s in China, when many parents left their toddlers with other family members, to go and work in the cities. That generation are now adults, and are going to the cities themselves to try to find a wife and boost their Feng, who is based in the US, wants her film to highlight what life is like for younger generations in her home country. "In a time when gender divide is so extreme, particularly in China, it's about how we can bridge a gap and create dialogue," she tells the BBC. Hao's three clients - Li, 24, Wu, 27 and Zhou, 36 - are battling the aftermath of China's one-child policy. Set up by the government in 1980 when the population approached one billion, the policy was introduced amid fears that having too many people would affect the country's economic a traditional preference for male children led to large numbers of girls being abandoned, placed in orphanages, sex-selective abortions or even cases of female infanticide. The result is today's huge gender imbalance. China is now so concerned about its plummeting birth rate and ageing population that it ended the policy in 2016, and holds regular matchmaking events. Wu, Li and Zhou want Hao to help them find a girlfriend at the very least. He is someone they can aspire to be, having already succeeded in finding a wife, Wen, who is also a dating coach. The men let Hao give them makeovers and haircuts, while he tells them his questionable "techniques" for attracting women - both online and in person. But while everyone tries their best, not everything goes to plan. Hao constructs an online image for each man, but he stretches a few boundaries in how he describes them, and Zhou thinks it feels "fake". "I feel guilty deceiving others," he says, clearly uncomfortable with being portrayed as someone he can't match in reality. Du Feng thinks this is a wider problem. "It's a unique China story, but also it's a universal story of how in this digital landscape, we're all struggling and wrestling with the price of being fake in the digital world, and then the cost that we have to pay to be authentic and honest," she says. Hao may be one of China's "most popular dating coaches", but we see his wife question some of his he sends his proteges out to meet women, spraying their armpits with deodorant, declaring: "It's showtime!"The men have to approach potential dates in a busy night-time shopping centre in Chongqing, one of the world's biggest almost painful to watch as they ask women to link up via the messaging app WeChat. But it does teach them to dig into their inner confidence, which, up until now, has been hidden from view. Dr Zheng Mu, from the National University of Singapore's sociology department, tells the BBC how pressure to marry can impact single men."In China, marriage or the ability, financially and socially, to get married as the primary breadwinner, is still largely expected from men," she says. "As a result, the difficulty of being considered marriageable can be a social stigma, indicating they're not capable and deserving of the role, which leads to great pressures and mental strains."Zhou is despondent about how much dates cost him, including paying for matchmakers, dinner and new clothes. "I only make $600 (£440) a month," he says, noting a date costs about $300. "In the end our fate is determined by society," he adds, deciding that he needs to "build up my status". Du Feng explains: "This is a generation in which a lot of these surplus men are defined as failures because of their economic status. "They're seen as the bottom of society, the working class, and so somehow getting married is another indicator that they can succeed."We learn that one way for men in China to "break social class" is to join the army, and see a big recruitment drive taking place in the film. The film notably does not explore what life is like for gay men in China. Du Feng agrees that Chines society is less accepting of gay men, while Dr Mu adds: "In China, heteronormativity largely rules. "Therefore, men are expected to marry women to fulfill the norms... to support the nuclear family and develop it into bigger families by becoming parents."Technology also features in the documentary, which explores the increasing popularity of virtual boyfriends, saying that over 10 million women in China play online dating games. We even get to see a virtual boyfriend in action - he's understanding, undemanding and undeniably woman says real-life dating costs "time, money, emotional energy - it's so exhausting". She adds that "virtual men are different - they have great temperaments, they're just perfect". Dr Mu sees this trend as "indicative of social problems" in China, citing "long work hours, greedy work culture and competitive environment, along with entrenched gender role expectations"."Virtual boyfriends, who can behave better aligned with women's expected ideals, may be a way for them to fulfil their romantic imaginations."Du Feng adds: "The thing universally that's been mentioned is that the women with virtual boyfriends felt men in China are not emotionally stable."Her film digs into the men's backgrounds, including their often fractured relationships with their parents and families."These men are coming from this, and there's so much negative pressure on them - how could you expect them to be stable emotionally?" Reuters reported last year that "long-term single lifestyles are gradually becoming more widespread in China". "I'm worried about how we connect with each other nowadays, especially the younger generation," Du Feng says."Dating is just a device for us to talk about this. But I am really worried."My film is about how we live in this epidemic of loneliness, with all of us trying to find connections with each other."So by the end of the documentary, which has many comical moments, we see it has been something of a realistic journey of self-discovery for all of the men, including Hao. "I think that it's about the warmth as they find each other, knowing that it's a collective crisis that they're all facing, and how they still find hope," Du Feng says."For them, it's more about finding themselves and finding someone to pat their shoulders, saying, 'I see you, and there's a way you can make it'."Screen Daily's Allan Hunter says the film is "sustained by the humanity that Du Feng finds in each of the individuals we come to know and understand a little better", adding it "ultimately salutes the virtue of being true to yourself".Hao concludes: "Once you like yourself, it's easier to get girls to like you."The Dating Game is out in selected UK cinemas this autumn.

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