"Roll Deep" - Gender Issues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib_1ATfr8wM

Background

HyunA is a popular singer and dancer in South Korea. Her career started off at a slow pace, but it eventually rose to a big debut single hit, “Hot Issue.” This grabbed the nation’s attention. It was clear that HyunA is a performer of great talent for singing and dancing, but as her career progressed, the focus shifted from her talent to more of her looks. Her next two top singles “Bubble Pop” and “Red” really gave her a sexy image. A most recent hit, “Roll Deep” clearly demonstrates the idea of many gender issues.

It is important to keep in mind that the music industry that she works for decides her dances, lyrics, and the music she produces. There are more men working in the music industry then women. In this popular music video, HyunA is essentially shown to the public by the music industry as a sex object. She and her dancers are all wearing minimal clothes throughout the whole video and dancing in a very sexual way. 

Scene Analysis

In the first scene of the music video, HyunA is holding her dancers close to her with a leash around their necks. All of the dancers have masks that cover their faces suggesting that their identity is not important or that they don’t have one. Their arms and legs are on all fours on the floor, which is a very provocative position. All of the girls are wearing very minimal clothes, showing a lot of skin. Even though HyunA is the one that is keeping the dancers on a lease, it symbolizes a big gender issue commonly seen in South Korea. Women are expected to act a certain way in society. They are expected to be a good housewife, a good daughter, non-provocative, quiet, and submissive. The leash symbolizes how much restrain society has on women, and it shows that women don’t have a lot of freedom or individuality. 

For the rest of the music video, these dancers are free from the restrains of society. Therefore they have more freedom over their movements and dances. This idea is really similar to the Nacni group discussed in MUSS 188 class. These women were outcasts of society for being sexually active, yet ironically they had more freedom over their movements. Nacni’s were out castes and unchaste, but their performance was favorable and liked by the villagers. This same concept is seen in HyunA’s music video. She has gotten a lot of backlash for being so sexual and open about her body, but at the same time, a lot of people like her, and accept the idea that she is very open about her sexuality.

Between times 1:35 and 1:40 seconds, there is a single guy sitting on a block, and he is surrounded by women. These women are wearing short shorts and are lying down on the floor, even very sexual positions. But yet, the guy pays no attention to them, as if getting more girls is the norm or very “cool.” This idea is seen once again in short clips between 1:40 and 1:45 seconds. Here, the girls are half naked, and he still pays no attention to them. These couple of scenes implies a big gender issue surrounding the fact that women should be patient and submissive to guys. The dancers are not saying anything or playing a major role in the scene. They are just background details, waiting for the guy because they are all looking at him. It also implies that all women are the same because no female is standing out. It makes no women look unique, just the guy.

The music in this video is very upbeat and electric. This is a new generation of music that is gaining popularity, and it can be easily assumed that it would be played at parties or clubs. If the public, especially men, are watching this type of content associated with this type of music, it brings forth more gender issues. They will continually expect women to have a really nice body, meaning nice breasts and butt.  This music video essentially raises the expectation that all women should have a body like this. The music video helps to progress gender issue by saying that all women should dress like this to get a guy’s attention. This music video also embodies what guys should expect on a night out, implying that no women is unique, and they are just sex objects.

Lyric Analysis

Even though the song is in Korean, there are close English translations that embody more of this gender issue. Essentially, her lyrics can also be seen as sexual. From scene 1:17 to 1:25 seconds, she is singing “Yes right, Yeah right, You can’t touch me don’t touch me” over and over again. Ironically as she is singing this, she is dancing as if she wants to be touched. HyunA and her dancers are wearing black lingerie. It represents that women can say no or have an opinion about something, but men can choose to ignore this because what women say are not their real intentions or thoughts. This represents a big issue that women all over the world face, especially in rape cases. Men continuously think that women don’t really mean it when they say no or voice their opinions. But by HyunA acting this way, while saying “don’t touch me” further contributes to this gender issue.

Also from 1:00- 1:07 and at multiple times in the video since this is the refrain she repeats “This is because I’m the best. This is because I’m beautiful. This is because all envy me.” While she says this, she is dancing with minimal clothes, making straight eye contact to the camera in a very intimate way. In South Korea, a lot of youth kids and young adults listen and watch HyunA’s music videos. There is a lot of pressure for girls to have a very attractive face, and when they hear that girls are envious of HyunA and guys want her for wrong reasons, they start to believe it. This continues the vicious cycle of how girls are supposed to act and look like compared to guys, reinforcing a lot of the gender issues.

Sources

@KpopLyrics2015. "HYUNA- Because I'm the Best 'Roll Deep' (Feat. Jung ll Hoon) Music Video/ English Translation Lyrics & Pronunciation." Kpoply. N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 11. Oct. 2016.