Sunday, May 13, 2012

What the ... K-something?!?!?!?


I originally wrote this in November of last year. For one reason or another, life was and is keeping me busy, I never got around to either finishing or posting it. So here it is. Late but maybe still relevant.

A blogger, who shall remain nameless, once wrote that she felt the terms "K-boy" or "K-girl" were derogatory. Another one joined in agreeing. It always struck me as, well, a strange thing to say.

I have used the term K-Girl and K-Boy in the past to refer to Korean Women or Men. Why? I am fucking lazy. Hell, English is a lazy language. We often shorten stuff for no other reason than to say it quicker. Why say cannot when you can say can't.

If K-Girl is derogatory is K-Pop? J-Pop? 

I have a hard time trying to understand just how using K-something is automatically and always derogatory. Neither one of them really explained just how it is derogatory. To me it seems like someone was just grasping at straws to try and bitch about anything. Which is all well and  fine if it at least makes sense.

4 comments:

  1. There was a totally compelling argument about this posted by someone on Tumblr (not me...never me) that you should try and find if you have the time. I don't think that it's offensive or annoying in every context...but certainly the post that annoyed me was mostly because the OP annoys the shit out of me...so I was willing to burn that particular torch on that particular day....however...the Tumblr post that followed (3 or 4 posts on...not by someone that I usually follow) was a cracker, and neatly summarised the general annoyance that many people (me included) feel toward the term 'k-boy' or 'k-girl'. To paraphrase....and poorly...the K-League and K-Pop are both THINGS that are consumed, purchased and commodified. My girlfriend is not. She's a person. Not a 'k-girl'. I'm not an 'a-boy' you're not a 'c-boy'. I think your all encompassing term of 'mook' was much better, and served similar occassions.

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  2. Thanks BD.

    K-girl or boy isn't a phrase I often use. In fact I would say I rarely used it. The odd time when I was feeling lazy I may have used k-girl. Maybe 2-3 times in the last 12 years.

    Your distinction between things and people is a good one.

    I will try and find that comment you mentioned.

    Mook ... it serves me well. :)

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  3. I got totally offended last Sunday when I saw a maintenance truck for the Korean water development corporation. They had the gall to put K-water on the side of the truck. Don't they know that that totally objectifies Korean water?

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