this is a really sensitive topic for a lot of people, but i decided to speak up on it because i need people to start understanding how damaging comments about someone’s body can be.
watching what’s been happening with sunghoon genuinely breaks my heart.
if you’ve been around for the past few years, especially the last 1-2 years, you’ll KNOW how much hoon LOVED showing off his muscles- bodybuilder poses, flexing his arms, making his short-sleeved shirts even shorter, laughing and giggling whenever someone flexed at him and immediately flexing back. you could see how proud and confident he was!
and i LOVED seeing that. 🥹
because honestly, confidence in your own body is something that SO many struggle with, and the k-pop industry is not exactly an environment that makes it easy.. idols are already constantly criticised over their weight, proportions, faces, skin and every single detail about their appearance.
then people started calling him “fat”, saying he was “gaining too much weight”, his muscles “weren’t attractive”, that he “needed to lose weight“ and eventually, in a live someone told him he “needed to stop eating”?!
it was heartbreaking watching that clip..
cause he seemed so confused. he just responded by saying he wasn’t even eating, and then started comparing himself to the other members, talking about how he ate the most among them. watching that spiral unfold was painful because WHY THE FCK WOULD HE NEED TO JUSTIFY HOW MUCH HE ATE??!
now we’re seeing less and less of that giggly confidence and instead see clips saying he doesn’t have any muscles..
and now, some of the same people who were calling him fat are turning around and saying he’s too skinny?! excuse you??
his or anyone’s body is NEVER yours to criticize. he does’t owe you anything! he does NOT have to maintain a certain appearance to keep YOU happy. WHO ARE YOU?
PLEASE let’s bring back the concept of not commenting on someone’s appearance unless it’s something they can immediately and easily fix in under 30 seconds?
you have no idea what someone might be dealing with. you don’t know their relationship with food, with body image, their insecurities, their circumstances, or how much it might hurt to hear the same comments over and over again. and you also don’t need to know any of those things to understand that keeping your mouth shut is an option!
sunghoon who reassured fans that they didn’t need to diet deserves the same kindness and respect in return.
this isn’t just about sunghoon- i’ve seen this happen to riki too lately, and i’ve seen every member of enhypen receive comments about their bodies at one point or another.
i need people to understand that these are REAL PEOPLE.
i know how difficult body image can be. and how just ONE comment can stick with you. even if you think you’re just “joking”, giving advice, YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW THOSE COMMENTS MIGHT AFFECT OTHERS.
i genuinely hope sunghoon gets to feel as comfortable and confident in his body again, whatever that looks like for HIM. i hope whatever choices he makes about his appearance come from what makes HIM feel confident and happy, not from the “fans” who are entitled and delusional.
sunghoon deserves so much kindness and love. all seven of them do. 🤍
reminder for everyone:
every single person who’s ever looked in the mirror and felt like their body/looks wasn’t good enough because of something somebody said.. it’s YOUR body. you need to feel healthy, comfortable, confident and happy! no one else. 🫂