#kkonminam

[findthatpicrew]

X3

少年 update 210314

[k-star-holic]

Wait 'pieceKkonminam Open-source software!'

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[k-star-holic]

"Crazy Perfect Married" Shines Even More on Family Month

[k-star-holic]

Lee Jong-suk, long-haired Kkonminam...'Real edition Terius'

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[k-star-holic]

Teo Yoo 'piece Kkonminam'

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[iamtherose-blog]

The Rose and Other Bizarre Flowers.

My feelings right now are difficult to fathom. I, myself, can’t even figure out how I am feeling so pleased and fulfilled at the same time very apprehensive and perplexed. Let me sort it out for you. Just yesterday, our class had a thesis-defense fest and it was totally consuming considering the fact that we were all just thesis-defense away from graduating and that activity would determine our fate whether to graduate or not. But thank Heavens for blessing us with a very beautiful, intelligent, and considerate Research professor; she is an angel-in-disguise. I don’t know but after we’ve finished with all the thesis-defense last night, you can never describe how we were so massively elated. It was a breath of fresh air for all of us that finally, we can confidently proceed to toga-fitting. Just imagine how we started from working on junked topic proposals and conceptual frameworks, to going places doing interviews and data gathering, to sleepless nights of reading and writing. So much joy fills the air now that we were able to present our works on a very congratulatory atmosphere made possible by our dear professor. I am very grateful to all the people who helped us, and I love my thesis groupmates, thank you for enduring all these with me girl friends. But amidst the joy, the feeling of anxiousness goes on… I can say that I’ve successfully surpassed all the dragons (as how we call our larger-than-life professors), but as how Acemoglu and Robinson argued in their book Why Nations Fail, small differences matter and that history is not destiny instead it unfolds in a contingent way. Haha! The contingency of this life and the fact that the world is not always kind can never assure my success that is why I am very apprehensive and still baffled especially that I am about to plunged into the real and crueler world of life. Yesterday was just first of the many thesis-defenses to come. There will be more in the future which I expect to be more distressing, intricate, and hence more satisfying in the end. This is my last year, my last month actually as a student but ironically, it is only now that I appreciate the value of reading, writing, taking exam, sitting on lectures, sleepless nights and all the other things a student would most likely curse while doing. I want to continue studying now that I am on the verge of graduating. I want to study in the graduate school as soon as I landed a job this June and as soon as I am done with my board exams this September. As to where, I still don’t know. I have plans on applying abroad, but if I don’t pass the screening, I shall try again next year and probably enroll in UP instead. Oh dear, I’m baffled… not again.

After having a late but sumptuous dinner last night, I rewarded myself with a worry-free sleep… And when I woke up my head ached big time!  I was about to clean my ever cluttered room but I came across with some books and thesis I got from the internet when we started looking for research topics months ago. We were (or I was) originally interested in making a research about Korean Wave in the Philippines, as we read through some materials we’ve resorted to doing a study on nation-branding, but it was junked because it was too vague and far fetch… and the rest is history. So what I got here are bunch of pdfs regarding the Hallyu and stuff. I think this is one of the very interesting topics under Korean Wave to work on (I would love to in the future hopefully when I do my MA studies), and I know you fan girls like me will love it. How about an intellectual discourse on...  꽂미남 kkonminam or Flower Boys? I told you, this is gonna be interesting.

There have been numerous articles concerning꽂미남 kkonminam, having said that we obviously can derive several societal implications regarding this matter.

*Newsflash: I’ve just been texted by a school to come on Friday 8 am for an interview when I have also committed an interview with another school at 9 am, same day… See what’s baffling?*

Gender roles, gender equality, Confucian ethics, love, ideal beauty, conformity, homosexuality, economy, popular culture, and plastic surgeries, are just some of the debatable issues we can derive from the concept of a male dressing like one but portraying a degree of effeminacy. I love them, okay?  *may sound like I’m a Korean (for the lack of better term) ass-licker* It is not only me though who got hooked up with these flower boys, if so why are they even popular (especially among the ajummas)… I am perfectly aware though that these guys, in the name of beauty and image, have to literally face the knives and scalpels in order to achieve what I am currently and unconsciously taking for granted… double eyelids. I feel you guys, that is why kudos to the growing industry of cosmetics and plastic surgery in Gangnam… Truly Gangnam style. Currently I am reading articles from this website: http://thegrandnarrative.com Just see for yourself, James Turnbull has very interesting take on gender and Korean pop culture. And here is what Roald Maliangkay from Australian National University has concluded in his article, “The effeminacy of male beauty in Korea”:

The kkonminam phenomenon was born out of a combination of many factors, many of which are still active today. Whatever led to its emergence, it has now come to reflect both a male and a female ideal. It is ironic that even though the phenomenon may have arisen at least partially out of working women’s disillusionment with traditional male roles and that today’s young girls prefer a softer, less sexist male figure, these can hardly be seen as triumphs for women. Kkonminam have been unable to ease the pressure on women to conform to a beauty ideal either. While couples may increasingly share the beauty burden, this modern day shift has little to do with the underlying predicament of the many men and women who remain disillusioned with the social roles assigned to them. For those roles to change, much more is needed than a cosmetic make-over.

I wonder what Confucius has to say upon learning about these flower boys… What do you think? Traditional culture versus the popular culture, interesting! Nevertheless, to me machos are so passé - I prefer guys who can be my best friend, shopping buddy, and as emotional and soft as I (or even softer than I). But that is only to me. Most of my girl friends however still prefer manly guys and I think most Filipinas still prefer those kinds of guys. However, with the growing number of teenage girls in the Philippines getting hooked to Super Junior, and some other Korean boybands I am not even interested in, if this hallyu continues to hit the country, a change in perspective can be expected. The next generation would probably prefer flower boys over macho guys. I don’t have the numbers yet but I shall go back to this and make a research paper out of it, don’t worry.

  Hello, cute stuff. In this picture I see nothing but flowers - roses, and some other bizarre flowers. Let’s take a look at the physically obvious one. He is one 꽂미남 kkonminam I truly adore regardless of his gender preference, number of plastic surgery receipts, or brand of lip gloss he uses. There are flower boys who are too effeminate and others who are too manly, but this guy just hit the right spot (G or C? WHATEVER! Haha!) What I mean is that, he is on the very fine line between cuteness, effeminacy, and sexiness. He is damn charming and when he laughs, smiles, or cries, he is at his best appearance. Kill me now if you want but let me hold this guy first. I just hope that he wouldn’t be engulfed with the꽂미남 kkonminam trend because he is more than that. He is a very good actor and I think he should focus on that.

Now notice the background of the photo. I just came to know, that flower is called 무궁화 mugunghwa, and I thought it was just the name of the restaurant in Lotte Hotel where I got this photo from. Apparently it was a kind of hibiscus that is mostly abundant in East Asia. It is Korea’s national flower. According to what I have read, 무궁화 mugunghwa or the rose of Sharon, unlike most flowers, is remarkably firm and able to withstand both blight and insects. The flower’s symbolic significance is that it reflects the enduring nature of Korean culture, and the determination and perseverance of the Korean people. Here is the closer look of the 무궁화 mugunghwa.

  Speaking of flowers and that other 무궁화 mugunghwa photo where my favorite 꽂미남 kkonminam is holding a bouquet, my blog url is called iamtherose, and it is because I am the Rose. My first name is Rose, which was after my grandma’s name said my father. But there is the particle ‘the’ that precedes my name, blame Antoine Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince and this part of the book when the Little Prince saw the garden full of roses on earth…

“You are not at all like my rose,” he said. “As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.” And the roses were very much embarrassed. “You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he went on. “One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you– the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.”

What a tearjerker. The time and effort you spent with someone is what makes that someone special. Likewise, this blog will contain all that makes my life special and those are the time and effort I spent learning things in every experience I endeavor, from my head-over-heels fangirling over Kim Soo Hyun, to my Korean scholarship application (which I will be posting next), to my thesis and its defense, to the books I read, movies I watch, songs I listen to, etc. Hence the rose for that matter is not me but my learning. And hopefully this blog will scribe those learning.

I must have gone crazy, right? I am currently juggling books to read, movies and series to watch, and forms to fill up. So please, bear with my long blog post of nonsense musings. I shall come back with a more cohesive and sensible post. Annyeong!

[metallikita666]

My favorite Korean boy EVER. His face is perfection.