K-pop Female Idols as Cultural Genre of Patriarchal Neoliberalism: A Gendered Nature of Developmentalism and the Structure of Feeling/Experience in Contemporary Korea

Abstract

As a critical reconsideration of the recent growth of South Korean popular music, also known as K-pop, this paper explores historical continuities and breaks in this musical genre through an examination of its female idols. Given that the recording industry both creates a new culture and is influenced by the broader social environment in which its creation takes place,1 the status of K-pop female idols as a dominant cultural genre in contemporary Korea warrants further scholarly interrogation. As a revival of the girl groups popular in both the United States and Korea during the 1950s and 60s, K-pop idols have…