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Jo Kwon embraces his 'genderless image', fans misconstrue his words and remain divided in supporting K-pop star

The singer has gained fame over the years for embracing his femininity, embracing a 'genderless' identity, and dancing in high heels

Jo Kwon, a member of 2AM and the star of the musical 'Jamie', recently opened up about his insecurities in an interview with Kyunghyang News, specifically discussing his nonconformity with regards to embracing his more feminine side. His character in 'Jamie' is a 17-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a drag queen, and Kwon likened the experiences of Jamie to that of his own in the music industry. Unfortunately, some of Kwon's words have been misconstrued, leading to the inaccurate perception that the singer has "come out" as gender nonbinary.

In Kwon's interview, the singer shared, "My life isn't much different from Jamie's." He delved into the significant backlash he faced when he first began appearing on variety shows, often playing up his persona for laughs. "I was so tired of it... In my twenties, I thought that I had to do everything they asked me to do. Even though that's not the answer at all. Now, I know that you can't please everyone." He continued, "When I danced on variety shows, I would over-exaggerate girl group dances. That's what the viewers want. But then, women would ask me, 'Why do you have to turn girl group dances into such a mockery?', and I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a hammer. That's not the way I normally dance. I can do the same dances much better, more artistically. I realized that I wanted to relieve myself of the pressure to make people laugh."

Since then, Kwon has gone on to demonstrate his skills as a dancer, no longer the butt of the joke but instead, a male idol that embraces his feminine side and slays any dance routine he picks up. And he does it all while wearing high heels. Kwon also revealed that his first pair of high heels were gifted to him by none other than Bang Si-hyuk, the CEO of Big Hit Entertainment. In the interview, Kwon also shared that while he was sorely hurt by malicious comments in the past, he is making 2020 the year he accepts himself completely. He stated, "In the past, I was afraid of the genderless image. When people talked about celebrities I looked like or acted like, they were all female celebrities. I used to pretend like I was offended. But now, I like it. Nowadays, high heels aren't just for women and soccer cleats aren't just for men. There are drag queens and drag kings. It's the age of the genderless, and I think this is a concept that I can use to my advantage for a lasting career."

The K-pop industry is notorious for being unaccepting of LGBTQIA+ folks, owing largely to South Korea being a conservative country. As such, representation is scarce, and the issues faced by these communities continue to be severe, despite the tireless efforts of activists working towards change. And while queerbaiting occurs rather frequently within K-pop in the form of fanservice and as an "aesthetic", it hardly counts as progress. Kwon's embracing of the "genderless image" is, therefore, a massive step forward for an industry that has rarely been comfortable with any aspect of the queer identity. Unfortunately, Kwon having a "genderless image" has been mistranslated, with many reading it as him coming out as "genderless" or gender nonbinary, and this has led several in the international K-pop fan community to automatically change pronouns for Kwon from he/him to they/them. One tweet read, "If I see anyone misgendering or hatin on Jo Kwon I'm gonna hunt u down."

As more fans began tweeting in support of the artiste, stating, "Congratulations Jo Kwon for their coming out as genderless!!", others raised alarm with one user sharing, "This is not a new interview and the translation of that interview is iffy Jo Kwon did not say anything about pronouns or gender identity please be aware of this."

Some, however, thought this was a win for the LGBTQIA+ community either way. "My hot take is that I think nb people are allowed to be excited about a crumb of representation and it doesn't really feel good to see people gotcha-ing how Jo Kwon isn't nb actually. Still means a lot to hear someone say genderless presentation makes them feel powerful."

Another user responded, however, that the issue wasn't with Kwon being nonbinary or not, but with fans rushing to change his pronouns when he never made a statement about the same. "There aren't even really gendered pronouns in Korean so it's a weird tone-deaf thing to do period," stated one user before adding, "Still find this info overwhelmingly powerful & I personally rly wanna bask in it."

Beyond the mistranslation error, one other issue is causing people to speak out: the hyperfocus on Bang. BTS fans have been sharing how happy they are to hear Bang is an "ally" and embraced Kwon's identity years before others did. But for some, the focus on Bang is uncalled for, because it takes the conversation away from LGBTQIA+ issues. One Twitter user shared, "POV you're making Jo Kwon coming out about someone else as if being an ally was something to congratulate anyone for and not just basic decency." Another tweet read, "...f*** those Armys in the comments praising a CEO."

Some ARMY were naturally confused with the backlash they were receiving, leading one to ask, "What's wrong with them being proud of the fact that bang pd was kind enough to buy him a pair of heels and not judge him for it?" One user responded, further clarifying the situation, "Bang PD is a bad person & has a history of mistreating the boys, and one kind act shouldn't mean this much praise, especially when the article was about Jo Kwon, not him."