Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption by Sun Jung

Author:Sun Jung [Jung, Sun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cultural Studies
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Published: 2010-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

As the above fans’ comments regarding Rain’s post-adolescent momjjang masculinity indicate, the fans demonstrate open attitudes towards his highly sexualized performances. According to Peter Pugsley, this receptivity is partly because Singaporean women are “completely au-fait with the sexual morals and ‘Western values’ advocated by TV programs such as Sex and the City and transnational magazines …” (2006). Singaporean fans are already familiar with sexualized depictions and expressions of global popular culture due to the transcultural flows of media content, which is, in part, driven by their trans-pop-consumerist lifestyle. These transcultural flows are also evident from the way in which the sexy image of Rain is influenced by global pop icons such as Usher and Justin Timberlake. As Ni stated earlier, Rain “adopts the stripping act” mainly from American artists and “made an impact with it in Asia.” As Ri stated above, “it is about selling the body” and “he knows what the fans want.” Ni also explained that after adopting it, Rain “practically owns the stripping act in Asia.” These fans’ comments demonstrate how Rain actively adopts sexually explicit visual elements of American popular culture to appeal to wider audiences. In this sense, the Singaporean consumption of Rain’s post-adolescent momjjang masculinity can be conceptualized through the framework of the pragmatic conjunction between two different regional Asian desires for globalization: Rain’s globalized desire to adopt the sexy aspects of momjjang masculinity from American pop idols and the globalized desire of Singaporean female fans to pursue trans-pop-consumerist lifestyles, by which they can pragmatically consume and perform simulated sex.

As Ri said, “Rain is a little boy in a man’s body,” where Rain’s male body is perceived as containing both an innocent boy’s immaturity and a fully grown man’s sexual maturity. Rain, with the image of “a little boy in a man’s body,” satisfies the ambivalent need of Singaporean female fans who are asked to be sexually more open in the sexually oppressive society of Singapore. The above analysis shows that this ambivalent need is fulfilled by the trans-pop-consumerist practice of the Singaporean female fans, where they pragmatically embrace Rain’s globally amalgamated kawaii and momjjang masculinities; it is during such a pragmatic embrace that South Korean global masculinity is constructed.

Conclusion

The Singaporean female fandom of Rain can be conceptualized through the pragmatic conjunction between two different desires for globalization in the region: the desire of the South Korean popular cultural industry for globalization, as exemplified by the manufactured global popular cultural product, Rain; and the desire of the new rich in Asia for globalization, as signified by the trans-pop-consumerist lifestyles of Singaporean female fans. Such a pragmatic conjunction is most evident in the way that Rain’s hybrid global masculinity is reinforced by Singaporean fandom based on the mixed cultural practices arising from mugukjeok and trans-pop-consumerism.

As observed, due to South Korea’s socio-economic context of turbo-capitalism, Rain strategically adopts various global masculine forms such as American-pop- idol, momjjang, and Japanese kawaii masculinities; through such an adoption, Rain represents hybridized, globalized, and mugukjeok masculinity. Singaporean fans,

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