Dear dongsaeng,
Suppose you brought some Korean food to class and a friend told you it smelled good. Or maybe you were practicing writing in Korean and your seat-mate ogled at the fact you were fluent in two languages (“Hey, can you write my name in Korean too?!”).
You’d probably feel proud to have your culture validated and acknowledged. But what if people started to approach you simply because of the “coolness” of having a Korean friend/girlfriend instead of appreciating you as a person?
In lieu of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to highlight two instances in my lifetime where I felt like the “appreciation” of my culture tended to go overboard. My situations often fell into one of two categories:
Guy #1 in High School waited in front of school to ask for my number repeatedly, and would spam my Instagram photos with botched attempts to write that I was “cute” in Korean. I eventually learned that he was obsessed with a K-pop singer named IU, and was convinced that I looked like her.
Girl #2 in University immediately wanted to be friends when I revealed I was Korean. In a somewhat-creepy way, she told all of her K-pop-loving friends about her new “legit Korean” friend and showed them my picture. She told me she hated her own culture and wanted to “be reborn” as Korean, copying way I dressed, my makeup, and even the things I bought.
These aforementioned people – non-Koreans obsessed with Korean culture to the extent that they may denounce their own whilst fetishizing Koreans – are called Koreaboos. This cultural term (inspired by the term weeaboo to denote Japanese-obsessed individuals) is often used in a derogatory manner.
“Koreaboos idolize Korean life from K-Dramas and Weeaboos take [it] from anime. Admiring only certain parts of a culture (which most of the time are completely fake) can be insulting to Korean and Japanese people.” (source)
The term has become so known that it has even inspired community blogs such as Koreaboo Stories, which thrives on sharing the “cringiest” real-life stories of experiences with Koreaboos.
According to my mother, Koreans should regard this as “flattery,” as she recalls past memories where she was severely ostracized and ridiculed for her “slanted eyes” and “weird-smelling food” after coming to Canada. “Being Korean,” she says, “is now desirable – we’re finally ‘cool’!”
However, I believe that fetishizing an ethnicity is no better than racism. Both share the common trait of dividing cultures rather than treating everyone the same.
So here’s my second tip: fight the power and refuse to have your cultural identities commodified. Why? Let’s face it – you are much more than just a stereotype.
————–
Further Reading/References:
[1] “Koreaboo Stories.” Koreaboo Stories.
[2] Napper, Arkayla. “What Exactly Is a Koreaboo and How Do You Know If You Are One?” VOXATL, 9 Jan. 2019.
[3] “Using the Term Koreaboo Correctly.” Destination K-Pop, 17 Apr. 2017.
Multimedia:
Photo of K-pop singer IU found here
All stock images from Pexels
Header image credit here
✏️ dear dongsaeng 