Music / Idols
20110915_seoulbeats_jiyoung3

Another Female Idol drops Pounds

16
Written by On September 16, 2011

Recently news has surfaced that Ji Young of Kara has joined the ranks of idols who have noticeably slimmed down. During the showcase and Kara’s press conference for “Step”, Ji Young was seen wearing an over-sized blue dress with a large belt that emphasized her new tiny waist. She looks great, a bit mature, and most importantly, her weight appears to be a healthy weight loss. She looked lovely before so I couldn’t help but to wonder, did her weight loss come out of pressure to be thin? She was always known as the chubby member in Kara so questioning the reason behind her weight loss is legitimate.

Let’s not forget that in Korea the pressure to be thin is very intense. Remember Yuri from SNSD whose ‘ Perfect’  diet worked a little too well. Yuri was a beautiful girl but now, she looks a bit emaciated.  In my opinion, she had the best figure in SNSD with  curves in all the right places. Then everything changed during “Hoot” promotions.  My immediate reaction after seeing her was, somebody get this girl some fried chicken. Yuri’s hot body was her trademark and the skinny look was reserved for Yoona and Sooyoung.  It’ s sad that Yuri had to succumb to the pressure to be thin and quite honestly it doesn’t suit her. The Unfortunate fact is that she is not the only one shedding weight. 

The case of the Piggy Dolls’ weight loss was even more shocking because the group was intended to be big girls with big voices.  As expected, the reception of there weight was less than stellar when they debuted.  In order to make it in the industry, the Piggy Dolls members started an intensive diet.  Only within months, they came back with a completely new figure, which begs the question, how did they loose weight so quickly?  Was it done all naturally or did they receive some medical help?

Unfortunately, female idols are under the constant pressure to look a certain way and in order to meet the high standards of beauty, many idols engage in extreme diet plans to shed some pounds.  For example, consider Park Bom’s lettuce diet.  Nobody would argue that, that diet is healthy by any means.   It appears that Ji Young is benefiting from her weight-loss, in terms of press coverage and her appearance, however, should female idols always change to fit the “norm”?  Or should Korea learn to appreciate a healthier body image that doesn’t equate to chop sticks?

(Naver)

Related Posts

TAGS: , ,
  • maldita

    I think Jiyoung looks great now. I’ll probably chalk it up to her just shedding baby fat. She is 17, after all. Lots of girls her age are going through the same thing. At the very least, her weight loss isn’t as drastic as Yuri’s.

  • em

    i would take this article seriously if the writer actually knew the difference between “loose” and “lose”. you don’t realize that if you are heavier, you actually lose weight faster if you just change a few habits. i always considered gyuri the chubby one out of kara and she still is. if only i was a writer for seoulbeats, i would have written a better article.

    • Chloe W

      I do know the different between loose and lose, I was a typo and I’m not in charge of final editing. Why don’t you submit a piece in to Seoulbeats and see if you can write a better article. Until then lets try being respectful and not attacking the write of the article. your supposed to attack the facts not the person. have a nice day!

      • Chloe W

        * it, * writer

      • em

        i suggest for you to double check everything before submitting it like your article and your reply. it’s plagued with typos. why shouldn’t i “attack” you? you are the writer of the article. it’s your article that i have a problem with and it’s perfectly valid that i direct my dislike towards you. you want to talk about facts? how about doing some research before writing a half attempt about weight and body image in korean pop culture? there’s so many more examples you could have used and it could have been more concise and effective. by the way, piggy dolls were endorsed for their weight loss. i would rather not write for seoulbeats. it’s been going downhill for a while now. i only read it because it used to be good. let’s face it, it’s not a very good article. there’s not enough substance in this article to even argue it could be good. if you don’t write good articles in your spare time, what’s the point of writing them at all?

  • A M

    Honestly, if anyone was publicly called the “chubby” one in KARA, it’s Jung Nicole. She’s talked about losing weight multiple times on shows, and there’s even a famous incident where SHINee’s Key called her out on it. I think Gyuri tends to just ignore those kind of things, knowing that if you draw attention to it, people will talk about it. She has good business sense.

    Ji Young, I think it has more to do with the fact that she’s maturing than the fact that she lost weight. The only notable difference is that she lost her cheek fat, something most women lose as they enter their late teens/20s and even earlier.

    But the bigger issue here is the weight loss in general, as OP has mentioned. I dont think there’s as big a push as we think for singers to be skinny. Mostly singers debuting as idols, because they’re supposedly supposed to have a “glamour” image.

    It is an issue though. Just look at Shinji, Jo Jung Rin (she, imo, looked cuter with the weight), etc. But, it’s not just a female issue though. Imo, males go through a tougher time trying to achieve that perfect image :(

  • Kira Xue

    Please fix your grammar.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FS52P3WGP37JJ6YJNRLPPBVS4E A

    She looks the same.

  • Oh Ji’s Ho

    I guess Korea will learn to accept a healthy body weight – not too thin, not too fat – around the same time the States do.  I will say that I feel the pressure on the general Korean public to be one certain type of pretty is, quite frankly, scary.  At least here we have different standards of beauty that girls can look up to from Beyonce, J-Lo, Kim Kardashion, Sofia Vergara and Christina Hendricks to Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Lucy Liu – all different body sizes, shapes and cultural backgrounds.

  • Gigi

    Baby Jiyoung looked prettier and healthier with the chubby cheeks!  Yuri has actually gained all the weight back and more!

  • miss

    Interesting topic. However, I think it needs to be run through an editor before it goes up on Seoulbeats. Not attacking the writer, but the typos and awkward phrasing are obvious.

  • Pingback: Korean Gender Reader « The Grand Narrative

  • Theone

    Jiyoung has been losing her “baby fat” since 2010 though. It’s your fault if you didn’t realize how bangin’ she is until today, and you’re looking back at her 2008 pictures.

  • Anonymous

    Korean females who are famous, or who want to be famous, are under extreme pressure to be dangerously skinny, almost bony. While being overweight isn’t healthy either, emaciated to the point where a person is just a mere skeleton is not exactly the image of a healthy body (at least not mine). I hope girls realize they don’t have to be a skeleton to be accepted.

  • Pingback: fashion institute of technology ranking

  • Pingback: Scrapeboard