Hey! I saw your post on the Instagram following percentages thin and I had a few questions.
1) Why do you think Tae and Jungkook have the most followers out of all the members?
2) What is your opinion on why Tae seems to have the most solos and akgaes?
3) This question is biased because Jimin is my ultimate bias, but, why do you think Jimin is the least popular member? I genuinely don't understand why? He has such a loving and kind personality, he's beautiful, funny, smart and extremely talented. He's humble yet confident in who he is. I guess I dont really see why he would be disliked.
I have thoughts, lots of thoughts sometimes. Hopefully I'm eloquent enough to string together a coherent answer. 🤞
Trigger warnings: wording used for homophobia and misogyny
1) JK is the most popular member globally. I had a post on this....
@keeperoftinyarmy
I have my suspicions that they are the biggest m/f ship. So here's anecdotal and quantified data.... 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
I h
VMin also enjoy a lot of popularity globally.
Ships might have something to do with why they have the highest follower counts, but I tend to suspect that personality of the "fan" has more to do with ships. It's about what people can project onto the members and what they get out of belonging to the community more than anything they're actually seeing when it comes to ships and shipping.
As to why they're popular: I think both are objectively good looking and good singers and performers and very, very talented with cute sides to their personalities. OT7 can recognize these qualities and appreciate them as the people they are. People who aren't part of the fandom might follow at first because of their looks or maybe performance stages. I think anyone trying to get to know them and become their true fan needs to watch original content and hopefully they become fans of the other members through that method.
I also heard rumors about "buying followers" and can't say I've seen the proof so this doesn't affect how I present my opinions. (It's only opinions here on what I've seen anecdotally as part of this fandom for a few years now.)
2) Here's where I get into some speculations as to their solos and a little bit more about why their counts are higher:
Tae and JK have very masculine looking features. Square jaws, taller frames, Tae has a deep voice, both with wide shoulders and narrow waists....they're pretty perfect looking men. In fact they've been voted as some of the most handsome men on the planet. Now JK has tattoos. That obviously makes him super masculine, right? 🙃
Do I think there are cultures where toxic masculinity is preferred over the soft masculinity BTS presents? Yes I do. I also think that these two members, in particular, have those traits projected onto them the most. There's a lot of wish fulfillment involved and projection.
Just look at that chart above and the list of countries there....how many of them are conservative? How many put women into traditional roles? How many have toxic masculinity as the prevailing masculinity mode?
Their solos project personality traits onto them that they don't have while not supporting who they've actually shown themselves to be as people. They don't listen when they talk about their love for their members and what they do as artists. They see only what they want to see. Do I think solos are into their looks more than their personalities? OF COURSE THEY ARE! Solos get mad at their own faves all the time: "#member x go solo," "they don't appreciate you," "only I can support you like you deserve," and "you're being held back from your true potential," etc. 🙄
They also victimize them. "I don't like how the other members treat my fave" and then whining and cursing at the other members, forgetting 1) they're adults, 2) they can manage their own relationships, 3) they love and respect each other and have stated so MANY, MANY, MANY times, and 4) they don't know jack or shit about what goes on behind the cameras in their personal lives. They have no clue how many times they've held each other and cried, bandaged knees or iced ankles, held deep talks, had fights that brought them closer to understanding each other, fed each other, bought gifts, tucked each other in, called to check in on each other....they will never know or understand the depths of each of their relationships. Nor do they try to understand. It doesn't mesh with their worldview of their member being the most mistreated, held back the most, given the least amount of time/lines/parts, deserving of more love than they receive of which only the "solo fan" is capable of meeting, and generally being the only one deserving of the spotlight in a group of 7.
Are there some people out in the world that simply enjoy their music as solo artists? Maybe it's about the type of music and they prefer the rapline over the vocal line as an example? Maybe it's the type of ballad they sing or timbre of their voice? I suppose there are people out in the world with very specific preferences 🤠. It's possible they aren't involved in the petty fandom shit too and don't know about all this craziness.
As to why there's more for Tae than JK, it could be because JK has tattoos and often does have dainty expressions. Tattoos aren't accepted in every culture. And that masculine fantasy is kinda hard to maintain when he's in "baby, dainty, hitting on Jimin mode." 🤷♀️
Alternatively Tae has been pretty vocal about shutting down his m/m ships and dating "scandals" (idols can date and people need to leave their partners the fuck alone 😡) and wanting kids....it's easier to project onto him the perfect male partner role.
(he's beautiful inside and out and no troglodytes following him on IG will ever degrade his shine 😤)
3) Jimin is very popular globally and has the third most followers on IG. He's nowhere the least popular member. Just among the solos that follow the members (except for Tae) he's the least popular. I think some of it has to do with his less masculine/more androgynous features, perhaps his higher vocal capabilities, perhaps it's the competition that solos project onto him. There's a reason he has so many terms associated with misogyny thrown his way: "homewrecker," "slut," "flirt," "he does that with all the members," etc. It's tiring. 😩 Then there's the homophobia: "he keeps pushing himself onto JK," "he's out of control," "he needs to leave BTS," etc. He's seen as competition. He is definitely someone that looks after the members emotionally as they've all said and that's usually a feminine associated trait. His looks are beautiful, he's kind, nurturing, intelligent, funny, great body, hard working, artistic, polite....sex on two legs 😳. Do solo/akgae y/n treat him like a threat to their fantasies? YEP! Does it make logical sense? NOPE!
But anyone hating on any of the members and refusing to see how amazing they are as humans just has to have emotional, intellectual, and psychological deficits. 🤷♀️ I don't make the rules.
TL:DR - y/ns are projecting their stunted human issues onto the members and they include things like toxic masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia.
