According to Ten Asia, there was a backlash from the public after announcer Lee Young Ja and Song Eun Yi asked Le Sserafim group members about their waist measurements.
Appearing on MBC’s entertainment show Point of Omniscient Interfere broadcast on the evening of February 24, two members Kim Chae Won and Sakura received the question: “What is your waist size?” from MC Lee Young Ja and Song Eun Yi. In response, Sakura said, “I recently measured and it was 17 inches (about 43 cm).” After that, Kim Chae Won gave the same answer and explained further: “It seems to be smaller because we measured it while we were hungry.”
The revelation immediately shocked and shocked the guests on the show. After that, it also became a topic of discussion on social networks. A series of articles have been published on this topic. One of them reached nearly 100,000 reads with hundreds of comments on the Theqoo forum.
Outdated question
The controversy that followed did not stop at whether Sakura and Kim Chae Won were confused about their measurements, but involved many other issues, such as the increasingly toxic appearance standards of the Kpop market. Many other viewers directed criticism at MCs Lee Young Ja and Song Eun Yi.
They think that asking about guests’ waist size or body shape is too outdated. “Public opinion is extremely sensitive when the issue of forcing idols to lose weight and have cosmetic surgery is constantly raised,” Ten Asia newspaper assessed.
“I just feel confused when TV shows still ask women about their body size and compliment them on how small and fragile they are. Times have changed. This is no longer the time to ask those things” was a comment on the Theqoo forum.
Many other viewers agreed. “That’s an outdated question”, “Why do you ask girls about their waist measurements?”, “This is not good information for teenagers”, commented Ten Asia newspaper.
What made Lee Young Ja’s seemingly simple question cause such controversy?.
According to Korean media, a famous girl group like Le Sserafim can become a role model for the younger generation, including teenagers. Therefore, many opinions say that the measurements of the two members and the overwhelmed expressions of the guests on the show further stimulate feelings of admiration or jealousy from the audience.
A slim waist can even be seen as evidence or a symbol of an idol who knows how to take care of and manage himself. From there, their fans can imitate extreme diets to get the physique they consider desirable like their idols.
In addition, public sensitivity is increasing as the issue of forcing idols to lose weight continues to cause controversy. In fact, the fact that female idols apply harsh diets, such as eating only one apple and four quail eggs per meal, once became a hot topic in Korea.
Kim Chae Won and Sakura shock with their 43 cm waists. Photo: SBS.
Idols have faced extreme stress since their trainee days. They are forced to diet to stay in shape, despite their poor health leading to exhaustion and having to temporarily stop working.
Hankook Ilbo reported that in a program, the girls of Sky Girls revealed that the girl group needs to subtract 120 from their height to find the weight that the company considers normal.
“If you are 1.65 m tall, you can only weigh 45 kg. Every meal, I take pictures to show my manager what I ate and how much I ate. I also measure my weight in the morning and evening and send it to my manager. I only ate a quarter of a bowl of rice. Because of the harsh diet, I felt severe dizziness and nosebleeds every day, but they didn’t even give me time to rest,” the band revealed.
Seolhyun of girl group AOA appeared on an entertainment show and confided: “I am 1.67 m tall but my management company’s allowed weight is 48 kg. I eat very well so dieting is difficult.” to the point where I even thought about giving up being a celebrity.”
AOA’s Chan Mi also recently confessed: “I’m extremely hungry. At that time, I cut an apple into 4 pieces and only ate one a day. Otherwise, I would eat two boiled eggs and drink carbonated water.” continuous”.
The problem of many entertainment programs
Not only does the above MBC program exploit stories surrounding the physique and measurements of female idols. This topic is exploited in many Korean programs.
MC Kim Sook once received a lot of criticism for the video she posted on her personal channel. Park So Hyun and Sandara Park were guests appearing in the video at that time.
In the description, Sandara and Park So Hyun are introduced with their clothing sizes. Meanwhile, Kim Sook was described as having to “resign because she couldn’t wear matching outfits with Sandara and Park So Hyun”. After that, on social networks, the audience pointed out that the crew mentioning clothing sizes to describe the guests was unnecessary.
Recently, Yuna (ITZY) also received sensitive questions about her body. In MBC’s Radio Star program broadcast on the afternoon of January 31, the MCs mentioned Yuna’s famous U Go Girl performance taking place at the end of 2022 at the KBS Song Festival. After that, they directly mentioned that Yuna is often questioned about using accessories to support her hips and asked ITZY’s youngest member if this debate ended after the performance of U Go Girl.
Yuna often gets into controversies about her body shape. Photo: SBS.
According to Ten Asia, Seoul City has passed related ordinances to prevent excessive competition in beauty standards and sexual commercialization in the idol industry.
The purpose of the ordinance is to prevent damage to the physical and mental health of young practitioners, such as pressure to lose weight or undergo cosmetic surgery.
Returning to MBC’s controversial show, the surprise of Lee Young Ja and the guests about the waist sizes of two Le Sserafim members is not much different from the general public reaction. The two idols’ too small waists are truly a curious thing.
However, fans love their idols for their music, talent and sincerity, not their waistlines. Therefore, exploiting this topic in television programs is considered even more unnecessary.
Minh Hao