On October 19th, Sulli (Shirley), a member of girl group F(x), was found dead in her home in Seongnam by police. Her death put spotlight on a worldwide conversation about in South Korea misogyny and cyberbullying in South Korea.
After Korean pop singer Shirley ended her life last month, Goo Hara, also a singer, who was best friend of Shirley, was distressing. Goo Hara said that she hoped that Shirley could live in freedom in heaven. "I will work harder to live after you leave," she said, "Dear fans, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." However, six weeks after Shirley's death, Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul, and police claimed she committed suicide. The two of them are among the most popular stars in the Korean, and their suicide has caused Korean music fans to reflect on what ’s wrong with K-pop, the country ’s most successful cultural output.
Shirley debuted when she was very young and she was famous for her cuteness and innocence like a princess. Three years ago, she became fickle and did things that everyone does not understand, including the photos which were sexy and slightly exposed. As early as 2013, the fame started to turn dark. Rumors spread that Shirley was dating Choiza, a rapper whose stage name slickly alludes to sexual organs. Shirley ‘s fans preferred to think of her as single and refused to accept that she is dating with such a sordid man. With the media record continued to speculate about their relationship, including a false story that Shirley was pregnant. All the things subverted her image of a good girl. Many haters have begun to curse her online, claiming that she did not love herself or even asserting that she was mentally abnormal. Previously, Shirley shared a photo without wearing underwear on her Instagram and was attacked and scolded by netizens. It is even more annoying that every time after Shirley posted some photos of herself, vicious comments came. She responded that "I wear it or not is my freedom."
In the months before her death, Shirley was criticized for a long list of supposed missteps, including: posing in a sweatshirt which prompted accusations of promoting pedophilia, posting a photo of herself going braless, kissing her friend Goo Hara on the lips at a birthday party and Dubbing live eels in the oven.
The recent news always makes me feel uncomfortable, and I hope every girl can be treated well. "No snowflake is innocent during an avalanche", “You guys are murderers”. After the incident, countless similar remarks spread on the internet, which I find ironic. It looks like a complaint, but in fact it is more like shirk responsibility. Cyber violence exists and is very common for a while. As observers, should we be innocent downright? We know that a lot of people hurt others online, but we just flipp through the comments and choose silence instead of fighting back.
Comments
Although I am not a fan of Sulli, I still feel so sad about her death. She was so brave to express herself and fight again all the unfair stereotypies people imposed upon women. I like the quote " No snowflake is innocent during an avalanche." Sometimes our unintended words could cause tremendous harm to others. I hope everyone could realize that all the severe consequences caused by cyber violence.