Music / Idols

Piggy Dolls “piggy” No More

Written by Ashley On July 20, 2011

Yup, you heard me. The group whose sole existence was to defeat outside social pressures over body image has lost weight in anticipation of a comeback on the 21st.

Supposedly, while The Piggy Dolls wanted to be able to express their image, their weight, the epicenter of their concept, was reportedly holding them back from performing to their fullest.

Which is why I can’t climb too high on my pedestal regarding the weightloss-by-late night practice sessions. Formerly, two of the members were really what I consider (especially in the U.S.) average size, so the weight loss is very noticeable on them opposed to the token “big gurl with shades.”

If handeled carefully, they could make it work without too many questions. It looks like the song could be titled ”Hakuna Matata” (just the title, I hope) – it gives a sense that the group could still keep a distinctive “love yourself” image. And I think the company wants to keep the focus off the weight loss as much as possible.

Thankfully, they could shave their heads bald, become monks and still have those beautiful voices. Hey, a new concept…

What do you think? Are the Piggy Girls hypocrites for slimming down ? Does talent really trump all?

Nate

TAGS: Piggy Dolls

elsieds

WTF? Thin piggy Dolls?
em

i thought their name was stupid to be begin with. i can’t believe they were even okay with it. they should change their name. i can’t believe their company thought they would be fat forever. maybe the girl with the sunglasses would actually dance now that she isn’t too big. she looked so uncomfortable and so unhealthy during their debut. she just stood there in the back then move up for her parts. they have great voices but they should’ve taken more notice to their health before they debuted and try to promote self-confidence in another way. i hated how they promoted their unhealthy lifestyles when they first debuted. it isn’t about loving yourself. it’s about killing yourself through food.

gonzalo

In case you didn’t know, for MANY people being fat is a disease, not just the result of their unhealthy lifestyles. Even if this is not the case, many things other than just eating a lot and lack of excercise can influence your weight, such as genetics or metabolism. For people who have these issues, “don’t kill yourself through food” is just not enough.

That said, the whole Piggy Dolls concept is gimmick, and the girls aren’t to blame – their management realised that the gimmick didn’t work, so now the girls need to look a little more like the rest of the girl groups. The girls must’ve dreamed years about being singers, so they just put up.

lhuiying

I believe that for most people, being fat is a buildup of a long-term unlealthy lifestyle. Yes, genetics and metabolism can play a role, but the bottom line is that for most people, especially the average person 10-20 lbs. overweight, eating less and exercising more means you shed weight. It’s a simple math equation. If you burn more calories than you eat, you’ll lose fat.

Alixana

Amen to that.
yue

My mom is overweight while eating the same as me and moving the whole down without having a minute to sit down and doing a lot of physical work still not being able to loose weight, while I eat even more and dont move at all and stay as skinny as one can possible be. not everyone can loose weight through eating less and exercising. as the person above you already said, sometimes there are other factors which play the role and not the persons unhealthy life style. please be careful generalizing all overweight people. of course there are a lot of people who has nothing to blame but themselves for their unhealthy body, but there are also a lot of exceptions, who cant loose the weight as easily even though they try and exercise more than a normal person.

yue

I meant moving the whole day without having a minute to sit down.

kallissi

I have to say, it kinda sucks that they’ve abandoned the strong curvy woman image, which had such promise… but they can’t be criticized for doing something that’s healthy for them, I suppose.

(This is, of course, assuming that it WAS in fact a healthy way that they went about it, and that they did it for health reasons and not because Korea is imagecrazy, although I despair that it is the latter.)
Bday

It’s a kind of peer pressure? Comparing ourself with better-look girls, wanting to attract attention r normal habits of every girl lol. There’s nothing wrong if they lose weight properly. It’s good for health. Hope they have a solid single.
kc

if this is what they wanted good job to them, but if they were forced in, by their company or their own insicurities… well I can’t really see how their “strong” image discribes them…
I wanted to bring something up, the MOGEF recently put a 19+ rating on BEAST’s “on a rainy day” because they mentioned drinking, yet aren’t these extreme diets even worse for our “inpresionable” teens then drinking? what the hell is wrong with being normal, what is wrong with being your self?
I didn’t much care about Piggy Dolls when they first came out, I thought their song was ok but their management wasn’t very good at a serious promotion… if anything their first promotion was in a way making a mockery of fat people. fat people ususaly aren’t fat because they want to be fat, yet this idea that they had pride in their own weight was tatooed all over their MV…
as someone who probably should loose a bit of weight, I’m not proud of the flubber that’s on me, I wouldn’t mind it being gone, I still love my self greatly but I know having it is bad for my health and is likely to turn others off… loosing weight’s pretty hard though, especialy if you enjoy food and/or aren’t motivated to exercize.
The Piggy Dolls, it wasn’t a group that impowered big girls, it was a group that was given a song that mocked everything that they’ve lived through.
one of the things I think Korea lacks at times is the ability to love it’s self, they worry to much about their image that they forget that sometimes it’s ok to just be your self…
I’m tired of images really, I’m tired to people commiting suicide because they don’t love them selves, I’m tired of people starving them selves because they don’t fit the social norm, I’m tired of people putting others down because they don’t fit the social norm…
with all that said, if they did loose weight because “they” wanted to, then good for them, not so much if they did it just because everyone else wanted them to though.

Mary Rosado

I love you so much for saying this. And I agree, I’m on the same boat as you are in terms of body, and this group… oi. *claps*

Mary Rosado

Big Mama did it right. Not these girls. These girls weren’t embracing their curves AT ALL, in fact, they were promoting such an unhealthy image… They are in fact, incredibly talented, and I hope they are doing things HEALTHIER now… (not SNSD healthy… because that isn’t any better than stuffing your face). I hope they follow the path of Big Mama… I also hope they don’t use this as a publicity stunt.

marmar

“Big Mama did it right. Not these girls. These girls weren’t embracing their curves AT ALL, in fact, they were promoting such an unhealthy image…”

THIS. I totally agree.. Big Mama worked with their talents and totally made it work for them.. the comments these ladies made regarding weight, etc just seemed more like excuses than a healthy self-image. After their first performance I was like.. “damn.. watch how quick they lose weight.” Good for them: as long as it was for the right reasons.

-

Hrm, well… All of them need to step back and rethink about the image they wish to project. Right now what they’re trying to send is a complete mess. It was a mistake to capitalize their weight in order to send a powerful message (“Love yourself,” “We want to break stereotypes” [as one member said], w/e). Their debut (MV+song) did not “break stereotypes”; it fed them: “Fat people are unhealthy,” etc. They are quite talented and it was brave to debut in that fashion, but they did it wrong and it ended up backfiring in the end. Despite whether it was their choice or not, I think their weight loss is going to come across as being hypocritical either way.

In the end, I’m left indifferent to this group as a whole; I’m not interested in what they look like or care about how proceed from here. To be honest, I don’t think they needed to change their appearance, just the way they approached subjects like weight, beauty, and body image—topics that are already sensitive as is. A reason why people think they looked unhealthy is because of their debut MV. Their approach asked for a rehaul, not their looks.
asianromance

Even though they had talent, I was never really taken with them because I had felt that they used their weight as a gimmick to sell music.

I hope they lost weight because they had worked really hard with practicing their dancing instead of dieting. It’s been about 8 months since they debuted (~36 weeks), and it’s plausible to lose a pound or two a week with their exercise and schedules and maybe healthier meals (lean meats and proteins versus pizza). When you’re already really heavy, the first 20-30 pounds or so is easy to lose compared to someone who is really skinny already.
Rai

I heard that these girls were forced to gain weight for their debut. They were much thinner before their debut, but their management forced them to bulk up. Rapid weight gain and loss is really unhealthy. :/ Poor girls. Their weight really was a gimmick that their management company forced upon them. We don’t even know how much they weighed before their management forced them to gain weight. I don’t think the name ‘piggy dolls’ is flattering or apt at all.

*-*

I don’t see how someone could force them to eat. I mean seriously, they could have walked out and sued the company if they didn’t want to stuff food into their mouths, but no they did all that because they wanted to be “idols”. So at the end of the day it was their choice. The company isn’t the only one to blame.

Rai

Not all contracts allow them to leave scot free. Most small company contracts have a penalty for walking out [I'm assuming they aren't from a well known company]. So they probably made a choice between following the management’s decisions or paying a hefty fine. Suing in korea is a lot different than suing in countries like America [America has a huge culture of being able to sue]. Going to court over an issue is stigmatized, I believe.
They probably had a hard time becoming idols in the first place. They have amazing voices, but not conventional looks [not considering their figures]. It was their choice as well, but they were probably stuck between a wall and a hard place.

cat

if it’s all about the image, how they look, then the music starts to not matter anymore and you focus on just their looks. ultimately, redundant concept.
tan

talented girls under a horrible company. hopefully it all goes well for them
lalapaloli

It’s good to be healthy and all but if they lost all that weight for just image it just aint right. They did promote themselves the wrong way but they could have tried again till they get it right. People are so used to seeing skinny celebrities but it could have changed if they were strong enough to go against the stream the right way and be up your face. In the end people would get used to this new image, new self. Obesity is unhealthy but a weak mind is not healthy either. Maybe they should have become healthier while they were still singing and performing in front of a crowd. Could be that their company is dictatorial though.
Heyhey

They actually look HEALTHY now. Before they were WAYYYY to unhealthy! This size is a better size to promote in and to love yourself. Their size is easy to maintain, and I’m sure they didn’t diet as crazy as the other idols….ex half a cup of rice and five eggs whites WHICH IS NOT HEALTHY NOR A MEAL!!!! I’m sure they just ate healthy with a few junk snacks here and there, oh and exercise!

benny

are you serious? or are you trying to be funny? but what should I expect with grammar like that

eboy07

Agreed.

whoo

their voices are good, but i didn’t mind if they were overweight, but what i did mind is that when they debuted, it showed them eating unhealthy food like pizza and etc…

they do look healthy now. i’m not against big girls, but there is a lot of health issues if you’re obese or overweight.

if you eat right and do some exercise, then you’re healthy
benny

there is nothing right about that picture; don’t they realise the message they are sending to their fans, plus what the hell is the deal with the “hakuna matata”. this is very disappointing.
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