Ajosshis & Girls’ Generation: The Panic Interface of Korean Sexuality

I'd recommend the 9muses docu for a real BTS look at the lives of a K-pop girl group.

Most are cast in their early teens or younger. At that time I doubt that they knew what they're in for. They mostly wanted to sing, dance, entertain because they were good at it. Once inside the company it's a bit like the hunger games - you want to survive. Day in day out they are competing against each other, are told that they are not pretty enough, not slim enough, not good enough. They make some friends during that hardship and lose some during qualifications for debut. Marketing gives them an image to attract certain target groups. After they debut next to the million other groups for most the public response will be bad or lukewarm. That's when they realize how far they are from their actual goal despite all their sacrifices and thus fall into a depression. SNSD is very lucky to debut under SM and become very successful so they can be milked out by a company known for their slave contracts. Some shadier companies pimp their girls out to business men to get some of their investments back.

In 9muses case, l still remember the one line that really turned my stomach, when one girl said that she doesn't even feel human anymore.

There was also a Reddit AMA of a former SM trainee that said girls would wear long clothings to hide that they cut themselves due to the pressure. I also remember taeyeon did an interview saying that she wouldn't want her daughter to become a singer. So yeah...

/r/kpop Thread