Netizens Believe There Should Be Age Restrictions At Fansigns After Concerns Were Raised Following Recent NewJeans’ Event
It seems as if the issue surrounding underage idols debuting has become one of the hottest topics in K-Pop, especially after the newest girl group NewJeans, under HYBE‘s sublabel ADOR, debuted. Netizens have raised concerns about how the impact the industry can have on those so young.
Like all girl groups, NewJeans has been performing and promoting their recent album. After some controversies in the initial videos, the members have been praised for their more appropriate outfits.
Alongside their promotions, NewJeans are also doing fansigns both online and offline to interact with the fans that are supporting them. Unsurprisingly, the newest idols gained attention for their visuals and charm throughout the events.
220813 예스24 팬싸 #뉴진스
가위바위보로 큐앤에이 뽑는 순서 정하는 중 ! pic.twitter.com/6xz9OkjiOi
— 하트 (@hxxrinn) August 13, 2022
📸 — NewJeans durante su primer fansign presencial.#NewJeans #뉴진스 @NewJeans_ADOR pic.twitter.com/iKBmTwRc22
— NewJeans Peru (@NewJeansPeru) August 13, 2022
However, one tweet from a user gained attention after an image spread of someone at the event. In the image, a man was sitting in front of member Minji and interacting like any other fan at this kind of event.
Yet, the image instantly went viral amongst both Korean and international netizens.
Many explained that while it looked innocent, it seemed odd that a grown man was spending a lot of money to attend an event to meet a 14-year-old idol.
Others explained that it shouldn’t be something confined to NewJeans and male fans and the tweet was making negative generalizations. They pointed out that many older female fans attend male group fan events, many with minors, and the double standards between genders.
Although many focused on the wrongdoing of the fans’ actions, more targeted the problems with the industry itself.
Rather than believing that fans over a certain age shouldn’t attend fansigns or that there should be an age restriction, it should recognize that idols shouldn’t be debuting so young in the first place. In most cases, fans have pure intentions when meeting their favorite idols, and a few instances shouldn’t impact everyone.
In an industry that is so sexualized, netizens said it was inevitable that they would find it uncomfortable seeing a grown adult interacting with such a young idol. Yet, whether the blame should be on the fans or the company is being debated.
You can read more about netizens raising concerns about the age of NewJeans below.
Netizens Raise Concerns That ADOR’s Newest Girl Group NewJeans Has Debuted With Minor Members
