K-Pop, Purity Culture, and Fan Service with Erin Shapland (Part 1 of Purity Culture and Pop)

My Gen Z friend Erin Shapland, librarian, K-pop enthusiast, and person who has never heard of TRL, joins me for a generational exchange on purity culture and pop. In part 1, Erin takes me through the world of K-pop: the management companies that sign kids at 12, the fan communities that send funeral wreaths when an idol is caught kissing his girlfriend, and the ways patriarchy manages to victimize literally everyone. Meet us on Patreon for part two, where I take Erin through the absolute chaos of how we treated women pop stars in the 90s and 2000s, and try to describe the beauty/mess that was TRL. Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Get the weekly newsletter and biweekly podcast episodes FREE! For $5/month, get ad-free episodes, a monthly bonus episode, a weekly newsletter of pop culture recommendations, and more! Timestamps00:00 - Intro: TRL, K-pop, and a generational knowledge gap that keeps me up at night08:06 - How Erin got into K-pop and the short version of what the "celibacy police" are10:33 - How K-pop groups are formed: the four major management companies and the making-the-band pipeline12:11 - control and contracts: how idols are signed as young as 12 and go six figures into debt before they ever debut16:08 - The no-dating clause, dating scandals, and what happens when a paparazzi photo ruins everything before you even debut22:05 - Fan service, the male gaze, and the weird contradiction of hyper-sexual performances from people who are publicly not allowed to be sexual beings29:17 - Queerness in K-pop: fan fiction, fetishization, and the idols people just sort of... know42:50 - Fan communities vs. management companies: who's actually in control here?50:37 - But where's the joy? Photo cards, fan meetups, and why K-pop is genuinely a great time55:18 - What's next: Erin's starter playlist and a preview of part two on PatreonResources & Links MentionedRadiolab's 2016 piece on the first K-pop paparazzi scandal involving Jonghyun of SHINee (transcript: https://radiolab.org/podcast/kpoparazzi/transcript )Jenna Gibson, Ph.D. on fan communities and idol image management (select media: https://jennargibson.com/media-appearances/ )Stray Kids — the 2017 JYP survival show that formed the group Stray Kids (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stray_Kids_(TV_program)) XO Kitty on Netflix — Mary's gateway K-pop-adjacent contentKi (Kim Ki-bum) of SHINee's collaboration with John Cameron Mitchell, "Sugar Daddy" (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stCKYgiu9-0 ) Stray Kids' Han and Lino / Min Sang — for the rabbit hole Erin mentions (link: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Han/Lee_Know ) Erin’s amazing playlist: “K-Pop for New Recruits, a k-pop starter pack for millennial baddiesss” (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1O0bVXFWhidBy9HaSTjoyI?si=dcc5270038cd4386)Want even more resources, deep dives, and behind-the-scenes context on this episode's topics? Patreon members get access to my exclusive newsletter with extended research, additional links, and insights that didn't make it into the show. You can get the weekly newsletter when you join for free. Paid members get a monthly bonus episode and a weekly newsletter of things I'm loving in pop culture.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney TranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ipi7KrP2BqnorZoO5VXXvN3-vgo2CZAyzyZn4-cU7_c/edit?usp=sharing Connect with Mary:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Landline is an interview-based podcast exploring pop culture and history, hosted by Mary Mahoney. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.