Young woman at church is suddenly fascinated by the boy-band BTS. Some of the band's songs show more of a hip-hop influence, especially in the dance moves, but the tune with the most hits - 230 million and counting - sounds like Europop to me.
In fact, it reminds me of this, from Romania 13 years ago.
Androgynous-looking boys practicing masculine displays are age-appropriate viewing targets for girls. Safe pretending to be dangerous. It's been true for some time.
Inappropriate comment
ReplyDeleteI disagree on "Androgynous-looking boys practicing masculine displays are age-appropriate viewing targets for girls. Safe pretending to be dangerous. It's been true for some time."
ReplyDeleteThe disagreement is based on a visceral reaction. First I dislike the deception inherent in the "I'm safe, I just look/act dangerous" notion. Um... no. Sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel.
Second, can you reverse that to "I'm virtuous and just look and act like a slut" and presume it's age-appropriate for teen boys?
I am not saying that IRL, some safe and virtuous boys and girls do not adopt a persona that is the opposite of their real personalities, but I am saying it's not all that common.
Third, all of the music you linked is stomach-churning.
I think "I'm virtuous and just look and act like a slut" is pretty much a high school dance. Which is more dangerous because the people are real and actually do interact in real space.
ReplyDeleteI call it age-appropriate advisedly, and you are right to call me on it. As in reading or watching "Beauty and the Beast," many girls can't really face the dangerousness of boys, so they get their toes wet with faraway boys who won't actually invade their world. That may not be a good thing to encourage, but I think we've already run the experiment of parents trying to prevent it. I probably should have used the more neutral "common" rather than "age-appropriate."
In my junior high crowd, girls who were smart and responsible and went on to get graduate degrees and useful jobs melted in little pools over the Beatles and Monkees. One was still rather embarrassingly so as late as her sophomore year at W&M - currently well-placed at Homeland Security, I understand.
"many girls can't really face the dangerousness of boys, so they get their toes wet with faraway boys who won't actually invade their world"
ReplyDeleteAm I correct that you do not have daughters? I am not saying that raising sons is easier, just that it is different. I think it's inborn that most boys will try to protect and most girls will try to save. The problem is that failure to do either has different consequences and a mindset that thinks those consequences are far away and safely encompassed in celebrity "worship" is not exactly a good thing.
I've noted before that I do not have a "fan" gene and my take on this is certainly shaded by that.