In Hollywood, queerbaiting has long been a subject of discussion, and many of its most popular film stars and musicians have been accused of it, besides entire film plot lines. Among them are names such as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Nick Jonas. But the phenomenon is now a subject of controversy in K-Pop as well, writes Eleanor Mikkimchi Sangma.
To the casual reader, the concept of queerbaiting might be completely novel. However, members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community or the Alphabet Mafia might recognise the term that has surrounded pop culture since early 2010s.
Queerbaiting basically refers to a tactic used in media which employs implications of a queer relationship without an actual depiction or representation, in order to “bait” people. It is the use of queer subtexts and promise of a potential queer story to entice the audience.
Now, it is not limited to the K-pop industry. However, with Korean idols having the potential to gain cult-like following, the media industry has taken undue advantage of the concept. “Queerbaiting exists and is widely prevalent in the K-pop community”, says James (name changed for privacy), who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an avid K-pop fan from Arunachal Pradesh.
The phenomenon can be seen in music videos and on-screen interactions between group members.
Idols often participate in well-known TV shows (variety shows) or create their own in order to “showcase their true personality” to their fans. The crowd favourite BTS has more than 100 episodes of their Run BTS, while Seventeen’s yearly Going Seventeen is popular even amongst other idols. Their official YouTube channels also contain behind the scenes look at their studio recording sessions, dance practice and photoshoots. Such shows and videos lay a breeding ground for fan theories and the phenomenon of “shipping”.
Shipping refers to the idea of rooting for two fictional characters to become romantically involved, a concept that became popularized after the sitcom Friends. Within K-pop fandoms, however, it has gone beyond the fictional. Fans are shipping actual people with each other. The majority of such pairings are within the same group and thus result in the fantasy of same-sex couples.
A friend of James’, who was new to K-pop years back, actually believed that the two younger BTS members Jungkook and Jimin were a couple. “Believe it or not but consumption of the entire Min-Kook shipping trend made her fall hard into the K-pop community”, he says.
Companies, recognising their economic potential, encourage such behaviour. Fan-favourite ships are often seen together, either being playful or engaging in downright suggestive physical contact. Music videos feature interactions that border on homoeroticism. In concerts, idols engage in “fan service” which ranges from dressing up in silly costumes to sometimes kissing each other.
This has become a common way of baiting audiences who either feel a kinship with the supposedly queer couples or others who like the idea of it.
Not all of it is fan service and not all idols engage in queerbaiting, but some companies do push certain pairings over others. It leads to the assumption of idols’ sexuality, which essentially robs them of the chance to tell their story and establish their own identity. It also fetishizes the idea of being queer evident from the hundreds of same-sex fanfictions (fan-written stories) available online, of idols who have never disclosed their sexuality.
It’s a complicated web of capital-driven mess, which eventually comes down to the question of stolen identity of members of the LGBTQ+ community. James asks, “If their favourites were to actually come out as queer, would the fans genuinely support them?”
Stating that there are idols who have openly expressed homophobic sentiments, he adds, “It is no secret that the industry uses queer baiting for monetary gains, yet when it comes to supporting or promoting openly queer K-pop idols they do not even bat an eye”.
South Korea is a nation that has not been accepting of the queer community and offers no legal protection for sexual minorities. They have been victims of stigma and discrimination for a long time, being labelled as mentally sick or depraved. The few artists in the Korean entertainment industry who have come out of the proverbial closet, have had to face years of being branded and treated as outsiders. “The experiences shared by Holland, the first openly gay idol, about how difficult it was for him to debut speaks volumes”, he adds. They are shunned by companies and fans alike, resulting in only a handful of idols who have opened up about their sexuality.
“They love the idea of queer people, but not the reality of us”, says James. He has seen fans engage in shipping but actually, end up being homophobic. There are people in our society who still have not accepted the existence of the LGBTQ+ community. “To them, we only exist in films or in Western countries”, he tells me. Queerbaiting perpetuates this fantasy while undermining the actual struggles faced by them.
Queerbaiting, therefore, essentially leads to the appropriation of the queer experience for the sole purpose of making money. In a way, it invalidates their identity, when a majority of them are still struggling to be seen and understood in the real world. Between fact and fiction, it’s clear which one people prefer.