Us K-pop fans are known for being the loudest, proudest but sometimes the scariest fandom, ever. We give our favorite artists and idol groups our undying love and support, but sometimes the "Stan Culture" could be taken too far. Making fun of a K-pop fan's favorite idol in front of them is like a guaranteed death wish. Some fans are insensitive and disrespectful, and say hurtful things like "If only (insert name) stanned (insert idol name here), then she wouldn't have died." or "This tragedy wouldn't have happened if (insert name) stanned (insert artist). Sometimes we're associated with being "toxic" and "extreme" when we take things too far. Not all fans are like that, but the rude K-pop fans made a bad reputation for K-pop fans. But what if we used our power for the greater good?
We made headlines recently with our passionate, if somewhat unique way of supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement. How did we do it? We flooded the white supremacist hashtags WhiteOutWednesday and WhiteLivesMatter with videos of our favorite artists, essentially burying the hateful content. We spammed the Dallas Police Department’s “iWatch Dallas” website, which was originally used to snitch on the protestors at the Black Lives Matter protests, with fan-cams and photos of K-pop idols, rendering the system useless. Even despite our unfading love for the idols, some of us K-pop fans have censored the names of our favorite idols on our tweets, so that the #BlackLivesMatter movement can carry on as trending as number one, instead of the idols. We've united and donated money to important causes, under the name of our favorite K-pop artistes. When we stick together, we are a force to be reckoned with.
Being part of the K-pop fandom is like belonging to another family. Us K-pop fans are dedicated, determined and diligent, united by our love for the genre of music. Even for the smallest things, we help each other. Bilingual K-pop fans take the time and effort to complete the tedious task of writing subtitles for fans who do not understand Korean. We stick with our favorite idols through thick and thin, watching them grow as musicians. We stream, buy albums and promote our favorite artists, because of sheer loyalty and admiration in what they do. When Blackpink's Lisa donated 100,000 baht to the Flood Relief Fund after a natural disaster occured in her home country Thailand, many Blinks (Blackpink fans) were motivated to do the same. Mamamoo's Hwasa was shamed over and over again for not fitting into the rigid beauty standard, but she didn't let it drag her down. With the fan's love and support, she created her own beauty standard, becoming an role model for self-love, and inspiring people from all around the world to love ourselves, and be confident and proud of who we are. K-pop fans learn and grow from their idols and from each other. We can change the world. So let's start now.
Help us show support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Please take the time to donate, sign petitions and raise awareness to the cause. Read up on the discrimination the Black community are facing, and also the rising issue of police brutality. Buy from Black-owned businesses. Help register and educate voters during the pandemic. Let's use our platforms to speak up for the better.
For more information on how you can help, please check out the link below.
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