What is love? Kpop idols, dating, and toxic fan culture

When a dating rumor was announced about Twice's leader Park Jihyo and Kang Daniel, soloist, former Wanna One member, many Once said "I'm like TT!!"

Park Jihyo and Kang Daniel.

Is Dispatch simply grasping for straws? Is this a publicity stun?

The more important question is; are Jihyo and Daniel okay?

Dating in the idol world is sadly, deemed a taboo by fan culture. While there are many supportive fans of both idols, there is still an underlying streak of jealousy and irrational reasoning that is boiling under the surface of support.

As a Jihyo stan, the support of Onces really makes my heart warm!

While there is tomato throwing from both sides, there is a significant culture of Twice and Jihyo fans that are stirring the pot. Specifically, the LGBTQ Once community.

I consider myself to be a casual member of the Twice Twitter and Instagram communities. Through both these sites, I've cultivated a feed of posts and users that are in the LGBTQ community and share my love of south Asian girls dancing and singing on stage.

I mean, come on, Twice is adorable.

But anyway, when the news broke, I saw a trend among the LGBTQ fans that ultimately left a stale feeling in my mouth. Here are some tweets.

"today is a sad day for women all around the world...nothing happened we just lost jihyo to the hets." @hansbit

"to be honest, i'm really happy for jihyo but i'm simply not ready for heterosexual twice. saida, michaeng and namo. pls be gay." @dubmyoui

"SO IS ANYBODY IM (sic) TWICE GAY AT THIS POINT??? HAVE WE BEEN LIED TOO. JIHYO WITH DANIEL AND MOMO WITH HEECHUL. I FEEL BETRAYED." @jaquiemulti

Do we see what's wrong here? I felt sick and out of touch while scrolling through my feed. There are many, many more examples of this type of behavior; of LGBTQ fans feeling like they've been lied to. I'm sure this has happened in other fandoms during other dating news releases, however, this instance hit me pretty close to home.

This instance makes a parallel to the exact struggles LGBTQ people go through every day. You cannot force a sexuality on someone, gay or straight, idol or everyday person. If the situation was reversed, there would be extreme backlash for making such comments.

Being gay in Korea isn't any more uncommon as it is in the United States and other western cultures. However, some may believe homosexuality holds the majority in South Korea and their music industry by the way the idols interact with each other. But, what fans tend to forget is that South Koreans and other cultures have different norms surrounding personal space and same gender platonic affection.

Never mind the fact that even supporting the LGBTQ community is taboo.

Westerners value personal space and only give same sex affection (quite sparingly) to family or significant others. So when a young, western, LGBTQ K-pop fan is introduced to boy group or girl group dynamics, they will instantly regard these types of relationships as homosexual.

While worshiping these idols and shipping them is all fun and games, there needs to be a line drawn in the sand. These idols are real people. And I can admit that I've had my fair share dabbling in K-pop shipping culture. However, there is a distinct difference between fantasy and reality.

These fans are proclaiming their fantasies and trying to take away the freedoms from real life people.

It's already tough enough for idols to even step outside with one small blemish or to even be seen standing next to an idol of the opposite sex. Let's not make it harder for them, eh?

My advice to all those in the LGBTQ community that might be feeling off put by the news; go outside, touch some grass, find something that makes you happy, live your life. It's what Twice would want. You should want the same for them too.

Remember, don't ever stop stanning this beautiful talented queen. Let's always keep her smiling.