In a translated comment from KARA's appearance on Quiz To Change The World, Gyuri opens up about feeling big compared to Seungyeon and Hara's tiny figures.
She then proceeds to describe the unhealthy ways she tried to emulate their bodies herself.
"Since dieting is so difficult, after an important filming, I look for good food because of stress. I eat a lot, and then I feel guilty and work out immediately. If I do that, I get nauseous and I end up vomiting before I sleep. Because of that, I got reflux esophagitis (AN: aka Acid Reflux, where the valve that controls the stomach acid becomes faulty). I did these kind of dieting methods before, but not anymore. I diet more wisely now"
Source: AllKPop
This is basically the text book definition of Bulimia.
- Binge eating
- The sense of guilt and feeling like theres a lack of control for her diet
- Excessive exercise afterwards to overcompensate
- Vomiting
(for more information on Bulimia you can read here LINK.)
The condition of Bulimia is left as the elephant in the room with no one on the show appearing to address it by it's name (simply considering it as an unhealthy diet method of the past).
On a positive note her conclusion appears to be that she diets more wisely now, indicating she has received help from nutritionists and hopefully doctors too.
The sad thing about this case as well is Gyuri is comparing herself to Hara and Seungyeon, both smaller than her regarding actual body frame. This is also made worse because the already tinier Seungyeon admitted herself to dieting to the point of fainting (source: Soompi)
So you can imagine the pressure on Gyuri, attempting to be as skinny as a tiny girl who is also on an extreme diet.
The ironic moment when KARA released "All About Beauty" in 2011,
A guide book including 2 chapters with advice on healthy eating and exercise.
The problem I find with kpop in general is the strict one body type only definition of beauty in the form of rail thin perfection, often seeing many healthy girls feel the need to starve themselves into unachievable figures.
Another example of scary levels taken to achieve "perfection" combined with admitting to an eating disorder without actually admitting to an eating disorder is Ladies' Code's Sojung.
The link to the full translation of Sojung's comments can be found HERE but the TLDR is she started out at the completely healthy weight of 49 kilos but then dieted to the extreme level of 38kg and not having her period for over a year.
Sojung's diet was so intense that she was only living off of water and eating "5 cherry tomatoes every 2-3 days". Her story gets even worse with the psychology, admitting her thoughts were extremely negative to the point she hated herself simply for wanting to eat.
The term anorexia isn't specifically used but when she's at the stage of being in hospital you know an eating disorder is involved.
At the end however she does say she is on the road to recovery, admits what happened was not healthy, and that she is now over 40 kilos.
This can be seen in Ladies Code's Kiss Kiss comeback where there is thankfully a considerable difference in her weight, with Sojung appearance much happier and healthier.
But what about all the other idols.
These were worst case scenarios involving eating disorders (which are as much a mental issue as a physical) and even then they still don't refer to them by their conditions.
Whilst speaking up to expose the negative effects of unhealthy weight loss is always a good thing, more needs to be done.
Especially when you still have idols obsessing over their height and weight profiles, often lying about their numbers to appear slimmer and then feeling pressured that those figures are the numbers they should truly be
Couldn't find an exact imagine from the time Hyosung revealed her real weight at 50kg when her profile said 45kg
But this image included because Hyosung's "real weight" is sadly often a focus of Secret articles
Consider every diet article that comes out with an idol comeback.
An example would be the amount of times I've seen APink release comeback diet stories talking about how the members lose weight.
Their Pre Debut diet article talks about excessive exercise time compared to the meagre 3 small meals they eat throughout the day. This also includes the girls feeling guilty when they admit to stealing "an extra handful of sugarless cereal"
For Hush their diet involved living off of sweet potato and egg with octopus considered a treat. However instead of discussing the flaws involved due to lack of nutrients and protein from such an extremely limited dietary source, the article praises members for losing 5 kilos. Not to mention including Naeun who has a 20 inch waist at the time of the article describes herself as "chubby".
In NoNoNo era, the members address their past habits of skipping meals, and now claim to be the kind to eat a lot but exercise away the calories. Whilst this is an improvement it is sad to see them referring to their past already thin figures as "chubby". And Eunji also makes the depressing comment
"Girl Groups these days are so skinny that if you have a more healthy figure, you end up looking chubby in comparison. So we end up having no choice but to diet"
Recently as of May earlier in 2014 Apink admit to an unbalanced diet where they either eat take out and junk food or are on a diet of salad and sweet potatoes. The nutritionists on the show they features in are quick to point this out as unhealthy.
But instead of comments on the unhealthy manner they go about their weightloss the majority of fan comments on their figures are praising Chorong's weight loss or Naeun's waist size.
Kpop is essentially an image based industry where people don't care about the methods you take to fit the beauty standards, just so long as you get there in the end.
Whilst this is unhealthy for the idols involved it extends beyond them to the fans as well.
A majority of kpop fans I encounter are young and impressionable teenage girls who idolise (as the term "idol" would imply) these celebrities and want to be like them. To these girls and boys too, they want to be like their bias.
Exo's Xiumin lost weight to the point of being under 60kg and shows extreme standards apply to males too.
I'm sure we've all seen friends in our kpop circles who got their haircut like a member from their favourite group.
Bought an outfit because they like an idols style (or tried to cosplay a stage outfit)
And done their make up like a comeback.
The thing is whilst some fans draw the line there, others can also take the desire to be like their celebrity to further levels, comparing their bodies.
You know you're in a sad world when you see comments from 13 year olds who compare themselves to these idols and openly say they wish they could be as skinny... and then proceed to go on completely unmonitored diets and exercise regimes to try and meet this standard.
Extreme dieting is unhealthy enough when it's done by anyone, but at least in an idols case they are surrounded by nutritionists and a manager who will rush them to hospital when these lines are drawn. Often they are also in their late teens and early twenties, past the major stages of body development
For younger and impressionable children their thoughts aren't in the fact their body is changing naturally, nor would they be consulting health care professionals along the way. And that's where it becomes dangerous.
To me the narrow minded acceptable standard of beauty needs to change (not just in Korea but the rest of the world, however this article is specifically addressing Kpop)
Idols who discuss eating disorders, should refer to them by name and work on removing the stigma behind the labels. Instead of focussing on the negative association with the disease take pride in saying they've overcome them.
News sites and "journalists" need to stop pressing for celebrity diet secrets knowing that when published impressionable fans are going to attempt these with no real thought behind whether this is actually a healthy way to lose weight.
Fans need to stop praising girls (and boy groups too) for being at unrealistically low weights. Place less of an emphasis on the circumference of a waist and more of a focus on how they got there.
Honestly I'd be happier if my bias put on an extra 5 kilos if it meant they were full, not starving and healthy as opposed to seeing them faint on stage due to exhaustion.
If at any point of this article you found yourself relating to the symptoms of eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia, or even if you related to the feeling of being "fat" compared to your bias I encourage you to do some further research
For those in Australia see The Butterfly Foundation a website that addresses body image to eating disorders for all people of all ages and offers services to get help, ranging from online counselling, emails, a call line and arranging face to face services.
Global readers, a quick google search of "eating disorder/body image support" should hopefully come up with some sites in your country. And it would also be worth discussing this with parents, trusted friends and a health care professional.
Regardless of whether you personally feel you may need help, when viewing kpop be sure to remember they are following an unrealistic expectation of beauty and those standards do not apply in the real world.
A clean diet and moderate exercise is more important in living a healthy life.
Weight loss is different for all people with factors varying in genetics, metabolism, height, weight and many other things. What works for a celebrity in another country very likely won't work for you. Should you be looking to lose weight be sure to consult a health care professional first who can then work with you to set healthy and achievable goals.
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