Singaporean youth’s gendered consumption of Korean-pop music.

Abstract

In this paper I will attempt to present a comparative study of Singaporean youth‟s gendered consumption of Korean-pop music. I analyze the gendered differences in fandom activities and consumers level of involvement, utilising Judith Butler‟s (1990) notion of gender performativity. In addition, I explore how fan clubs constitute an “imagined community” (Anderson 1991) and address issues such as the creation of a transnational consumption space as Singaporean youth consume K-pop largely through the internet and social media. I illustrate the extent of which knowledge of K-pop constitute as forms of social and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1977). Last but not least, I show the objectification and sexualisation of Korean pop stars by both consumers and producers.