The Pretty Side of Slavery

When you think of slavery, you might think of manual labor or sex as well as terrible living conditions, the smell of human waste, and a variety of other unpleasant images. You might think of some dirty, dank location tucked away in some seedy back alley or a nondescript building in which . Well, slavery can have a pretty façade and be hidden in plain sight. K-pop stardom is akin to slavery, especially during training. Stars have no creative control over the music and are subjected to something known as a "slave contract".

On top of learning etiquette, foreign languages, dance, voice, and otherwise how to carry themselves as an idol, they have to deal with strict and unrealistic limits on their weight, undergo extensive plastic surgery, and some may even suffer from physical abuse. Some justify it as being trained the "Korean way", but these stars are often found fainting onstage, falling asleep on toilets, and even hospitalized for exhaustion.

To give an illustration of how Kpop takes weight seriously, one idol (Hyosung) eats one banana in the morning, two boiled eggs in the afternoon, and drinks one soy milk in the evening.

1 banana: 105 calories
2 boiled eggs: 156 calories
1 Soy milk (8 oz) 131 calories
Total: 392 calories

Changmin's diet is the most reasonable and understandable one. However, it still doesn't look like enough food--and he has to maintain a weight of 70 kg (150 lbs).

1 potato: 163 calories
1 boiled egg: 78 calories
1 multivitamin: (not counting this)
1 chicken breast: 231 calories
1 potato: 163 calories
1 chicken breast: 231 calories
1 salad without dressing: 33 calories
7 boiled eggs: 546 calories
4 boiled eggs: 312 calories
1/2 sweet potato: 90 calories
Total: 1,847 calories

Let's look at MISS A Suzy's diet next. She initially didn't plan on extreme dieting, but this is what she eats now.

1 potato: 163 calories
1 boiled chicken breast: 231 calories
2 (8 oz, 1% fat) glasses milk: 206 calories
Total: 600 calories
With Whole Milk: 690 calories
With Skim Milk: 560 calories

Keep in mind that they are undergoing 12 hours of rigorous physical training while eating fewer calories in an entire day than most people do for one meal. Even so, some of them are still "too fat" for the camera, as was the case with MISS A Suzy. Ex-SNSD trainee Stella Kim told of weigh-ins where their weights were announced to the entire group and they were berated if their weights didn't go down. She was also pressured into plastic surgery as is common in K-pop but didn't undergo anything she was pressured into as others have.

Kpop stars also have to forgo romantic relationships to maintain a "pure" image and one star had to shave her head as a public apology. This shows how much control entertainment companies have over Kpop stars and it does get to them as shown by the 40% of Korean actors who were said to have considered suicide due to lack of privacy, cyberbullying, and having an unstable income. Jonghyun, a member of SHINee, died from suicide at age 27 and had suffered from depression all his life. His suicide prompted many to examine the dark side of kpop; some people attribute his death solely to depression rather than the kpop lifestyle.

Lee Joon tried to end his life as well and his agency calls it "fake news". (Sound familiar? I think so.) Whether the news is true or not, many stars turn to alcohol, drugs, and other things to cope with the demands of the industry. This is also true of other Korean entertainers, mainly actors, as well as some J-pop stars and idol groups (but to a lesser extent). Rarely is anything as it seems, especially in the entertainment industry. The pretty faces of idols are often used by people an escape from the struggles of regular life whether that's politics, suicide, terrorism, or just a stressful workday, but keep in mind that slavery can have a pretty face.

Sources and Photos:
https://www.dramafever.com/news/kpop-star-shockingly-accuses-industry-of-turning-blind-eye-to-rampant-physical-abuse-of-idols/
https://874422525907122389.weebly.com/blog/how-korean-idols-are-mistreated
https://www.worldofbuzz.com/ex-snsd-trainee-reveals-ugly-truth-kpop-korean-entertainment-industry/
http://coolconversion.com/heath/bmi-metric/Body-Mass-Index_170_cm_-40_Kg-
https://channel-korea.com/kpop-idol-diet-plan-and-workout/2/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/19/k-pop-singer-jonghyun-death-shinee-pressures-of-stardom
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/02/12/lee-joon-kpop-suicide/
https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/bts-jimin-revealed-he-used-to-lose-consciousness-because-of-severe-dieting/