The Wannabe-aboos

Hi guys!

Today I wanted to talk about something that I know a little about, experianced and that I think might become a problem in America. In the last couple years, Korean Pop Music (K-pop) has really taken off in the states and the genre has made a name for itself in the eyes of Americans. With this rise of K-Pop in America also comes a rise in something much more harmful... Koreaboos.

For those who don't know, a Koreaboo is a person is who is basically obsessed with the idea of Korea. You should not confuse Koreaboos with people who are generally interested in Korean Culture or Language. Koreaboos generally do not care about Korean Culture or History or Language, they simple care and obsess over Koreans. These are the people who like to use Korean words in sentences because they feel like that makes them more Korean, or begin to change things about themselves because they want to be more Korean. In short, they put Koreans on pedestal and often dehumanizes them. And there are these people for many other cultures.

For organizational and educational purposes, I like to group these kinds of people into a group called Wannabe-aboos. The way I understand it is that Wannabe-aboos are people who obsess over something so much that they want to be apart of that culture or believe that they are apart of that culture. In addition to Koreaboos, there are Weeaboos (who are generally obsessed with the Japan, Anime, and Manga) and Teaboos (People who are generally obsessed with Britain) and probably many more that I don't know about. Across the board, these people a person's culture into their own fetish and it's not okay. There is a difference in appreciating a person's culture and making it into your fetish and the difference is having respect for the culture.

When I started high school, I was known to most of my classmates as a Koreaboo or Weeaboo. I liked to listen to K-pop and watch anime and I talked about going to Korea a lot. I had a small phase where I was a Koreaboo but I got out of that when I started learning the language. As I started learning Korean, I began to learn a lot about Korea and I realized that Korea wasn't just cool because of their music and fashion, but their culture is amazing in of its self. There are things that I like about Korea and there are many things I dislike about Korea but I understand why things are the way they are and I respect that.

I am not saying that having and in rest in a culture is bad. You can have an interest in a language or trend if you want. You like what you like, but when you get to the point where you are offending people by trying to be something that you are not, that's when the trouble starts. You shouldn't strive to be on of these kinds of people and if you already are one of these people, all you really need to do is to learn that no matter the ethnicity, people are people. You shouldn't make them feel like they are anything less than human.

Until Next Time!