BLACKPINK’s ‘Lovesick Girls’ Called Out for Sexualizing Nurses by Korean Medical Workers
By Carl Samson
BLACKPINK has come under fire for its portrayal of nurses in its latest music video “Lovesick Girls.”
The objection is headed by the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU), a Seoul-based labor group composed of medical professionals, technical staff and more, employed in various hospitals and medical clinics.
The union, which is 78.1% women, takes offense in a scene involving a nurse, portrayed by BLACKPINK member Jennie.
As seen in the video, Jennie dons a hair cap, a tight and short skirt, and a pair of red high heels.
The union reportedly slammed the part as blatant sexual objectification and a derogatory portrayal of nurses. Jennie’s ensemble, they said, was “far from a realistic nurse’s attire.”
As of this writing, “Lovesick Girls” has amassed more than 115 million views. KHMU called out YG Entertainment, BLACKPINK’s management, to take action.
“Even though nurses have been fighting for a long time to improve this, YG Entertainment sexually objectified nurses in BLACKPINK’s music video,” KHMU said, according to Allkpop. “This situation gets worse the more pop culture repeats its distorted image of nurses.
“Now that BLACKPINK’s new song is ranked at the top of various global charts, we urge YG Entertainment to take responsible action to match its popularity and influence.”
The criticism has since sparked discussions on social media, giving rise to the hashtags “#NursesAreNotCostumes,” “#Stop_Sexualizing_Nurses” and “#nurse_is_profession” on Twitter.
In response to the backlash, YG Entertainment explained on Monday the context of the song and announced that the scene in question is being considered for removal. It also expressed its “deep respect” for nurses staying on their patients’ side and fighting on the COVID-19 frontlines.
The label argued that the scene has led to “distorted views” and asked the public to see music videos as an “independent genre of art.”
“In the ‘Lovesick Girls’ music video, the scene with the nurse and the patient reflects the lyrics, ‘No doctor could help when I’m lovesick.’ There was no specific intention to it, but we are concerned about the distorted views. We ask that you think of music videos as an independent genre of art, and we would appreciate it if you could understand that each scene was made with no other intention than to express the music. The production team is currently deliberating and discussing whether the scene should be edited out,” the company said, according to Soompi.
Feature Image Screenshots via BLACKPINK / YG Entertainment
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