Is Porn Manly?

Porn. It’s such an awkward thing to admit to watching — even to your friends — because it’s a dirty secret that you don’t want other people to know about. It’s something that is almost a taboo to talk about freely among your friends, especially when you are with female friends. That said, I get so confused when K-pop idols talk about watching adult movies, especially with the whole image of being an “idol.” It’s obvious why people in general watch porn, but do we really need to know that you watch it? Watching porn is normal among teens, so it’s not something to be mad about. It’s just that it is kind of bizarre to discuss such things on television so openly, unless you are a sex channel or are already discussing porn or sex. But for the most part it just seems really weird and awkward to talk about the topic.

My personal feeling to why these K-pop idols talk about watching adult movies is because these idols want to exert a masculine image. The people that are mentioned in this article have an image of being “feminine,” and these idols probably know that they have a certain kind of image, so by talking about watching porn, they give themselves a more masculine image.

The first example is Soohyun from U-Kiss. In this old clip (back when Alexander and Kibum were still in the group), skip to 1:32 where they ask the question, “Who likes porn the most?” — which, to be honest, is a really weird interview question to begin with. The person who immediately raised his hand his Soohyun. During this time of this interview, Soohyun had a “scandal” for potentially being in a homosexual relationship with Jo-Kwon. As stupid as it sounds to most of us (we knew that there was no legitimacy in this claim), there were some people who legitimately believed that these two men were homosexual. Because of the homophobia of Korea, these two were getting some backlash, so when this interview was released, I had my suspicions about the intentions of the video. Was this supposed to be some kind of redemption from that scandal?

Speaking of Jo Kwon, just this past month Jo Kwon and the rest of 2AM were on the March 19’s broadcast of “KBS 2 Star Life Theater.” During this broadcast, 2AM’s dorm is revealed. When the camera crew came into Jo Kwon’s room, there was a zoom in on his mouse pad. His mouse pad is an anime character with her boobs being the wrist rest. To be honest the wrist rest does look really comfortable, but having that in a broadcast seems a little too scripted for me, and the desktop being scantily clad women does not help. When most idols show their cribs, for the most part these idols clean up as much as possible. Jo-Kwon’s place is clean, but having that mouse pad seems like it was meant to be shown on purpose to prove or to show something.

The last example is a little different. Here we have Nichkhun. 2PM generally has a masculine image, so one wonders why Nichkhun is here. In this clip, Nichkhun is not exactly boasting about watching porn, but when he gets the question “Do you watch porn?” he replies with “I’m a man too.”  I originally thought the reason for this was to show that Nickhun is not an angel, but now I’m not so sure. Now it just kind of feels like his intentions were the same as Soohyun and Jo Kwon’s intentions.  Since when does being a man imply that he watches porn?

In conclusion, does admitting to watching porn make someone anymore “macho?” No, it doesn’t; instead it can have a reverse cycle than what was intended. When you watched the clips from the videos, what was the first thing that came across your mind? Did you think “wow, so-and-so is such a man by watching porn movies.” If that was the first thing that came across your mind, then you might have a case of Crazy Fangirl/Boy Phase 2. In the end, what are these idols trying to prove by openly admitting their porn-watching habits? Are they trying to prove that they are manly, because to me it seems non-authentic. I feel that they are trying really hard to have fans perceive them as manly guys, and I can understand that, really. Sometimes guys want to show others how “manly” they are, but there are other ways onto doing that.

What do you guys think about this? Why do idols talk about watching porn?

(naver , ukissrocket, kimbopeepoppas3)