KLPGA Awards Show

MarinePaul · 12-14-2009, 07:32 AM

You're entitled to your opinion, but I personally don't find Ji Yai, for example, all that attractive. She does look good all dressed up in formal attire, but certainly not what I'd consider a sex symbol.

Blue · 12-14-2009, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by MarinePaul

You're entitled to your opinion, but I personally don't find Ji Yai, for example, all that attractive. She does look good all dressed up in formal attire, but certainly not what I'd consider a sex symbol.

I agree she's not that attractive, especially in that poofy dress. That doesn't make the format of the entire event OK. It's still rather objectifying. This is in keeping with Korean culture. It's OK for women to be successful, to be athletes and to make money as long as the men still tell them what to do, dictate every aspects of their careers, and set them all up in a big 'ol fashioned beauty contest at the end of the year. Didn't they even give out a Miss Congeniality award?

Saint-Just X · 12-14-2009, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Blue

Just my own opinion, and I understand that a lot of American and European men follow the LPGA and KLPGA just to drool over sexy Asian females.

Hey,I resemble that remark.

If it makes you feel any better I think Camillo Villegas is one hot piece of ass,as well.

I take your point,I can see where you're coming from.There is an element of 'objectifying' the golfers in such an environment ;but it's not exactly a Miss World tournament,is it ?

As for the LPGA players thinking something like that would be a joke,didn't three of them get their kit off for Sports Illustrated ?

Or is whipping your knockers out for a magazine somehow empowering and less demeaning than a dance routine ?...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

Blue · 12-14-2009, 09:18 AM

What three of them do voluntarily is different than what's done as part of the official awards ceremony for their profession. It's completely voluntary and their choice. Same with Natalie and her swimsuit calendar.

We have awards in my profession. I assume every profession does. They are dress-up affairs, they hand out plaques, trophies, etc. But there's no one playing Bert Parks and giving out a Miss Most Popular award. That's the difference.

MarinePaul · 12-14-2009, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Blue

What three of them do voluntarily is different than what's done as part of the official awards ceremony for their profession. It's completely voluntary and their choice. Same with Natalie and her swimsuit calendar.

We have awards in my profession. I assume every profession does. They are dress-up affairs, they hand out plaques, trophies, etc. But there's no one playing Bert Parks and giving out a Miss Most Popular award. That's the difference.

But you aren't in the entertainment business. Athletes are.

Blue · 12-14-2009, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by MarinePaul

But you aren't in the entertainment business. Athletes are.

Good point. It was a bad analogy

Here's a better one.

The ESPY awards show doesn't give out a Miss Congeniality Award or involve a song and dance number with the nominees.

bangkokbobby · 12-14-2009, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Blue

I expected my comment to be met with a wave of disagreement because the people on this board are exactly who this is targeted at.

It's degrading because the players are being exhibited for their beauty, just like a beauty pageant, more than for their performance on the golf course.

I don't object that much to the dance number, IF it's done in fun and IF it's voluntary. I don't have enough information to judge.

As for the ceremony, it's fine to have a ceremony, even to get dressed up in nice clothes. But there is a line where the players are being exhibited more for their looks and sex appeal around the world than rewarded for the professional achievements on the golf course. I think this line has been crossed.

Again, I don't expect most people here to understand. And that's fine. But it's also for this reason that you'll never see a ceremony like this in the U.S. The players would think it was a joke.

What I would disagree with is the claim that fans that follow these ladies do so as stated in another post "just to drool over sexy Asian females." So Seoul Sister fans are just American guys who want to look at Asian women?

Well, I know most of the regular people in the Seoul Sister forum. I've been a top poster there for many years and I can attest, whether people believe me or not, that the primary fandom for these ladies is because of their golf skills. If Grace Park, Hee Kyung Seo or Jin Joo Hong were poor players, then we wouldn't care what they looked like.

But do some also find some of the players attractive. Yes, of course. But that's the case with the LPGA American players, too. It's not just some Asian thing. For example, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel. But again, I and a lot of the SS fans won't pay much attention to lesser players even if they are pretty. That is to say, those Wilhelmina 6 players...I couldn't care less about them until they do something on the course worthy (in my eyes) of getting my attention.

But to say we're fans of the KLPGA and the LPGA just so we can look at Asian women is an insult and not true. I am a big Ji Yai fan. I am a big Ai Miyazato fan. I am a big Sakura Yokomine fan. I am a big Jee Young Lee fan. Each of them has something about their game (Jee Young Lee can just rip it when she's on) or their background (Ai Miyazato struggling so much with the weight of an entire country's expectations and finally breaking through here) that made them appealing to me...Ji Yai and her complete record shattering dominance of the KLPGA, plus her mother's tragic accident and her historic run of winning a Major, an event in Japan and the LPGA's year end event in limited starts before she was even a member! But I don't drool over any of them in that way.

The SS fans have different reasons for paying attention to the ladies in the first place and I can tell you that looks are not the #1 reason. I hope they don't mind me talking about them, but for example, a poster named Chigger (his real name is Bert) has been a martial artist for decades and is deeply involved in Asian culture including Buddhist study. A few posters like SeoulBrother and shungkim are Korean and take pride in their accomplishments.

For me, I am half Thai and half African American. I first started paying attention to women's golf in earnest when Jenny Chausiriporn was challenging to win the 1998 US Women's Open. When she lost on a 20 hole playoff to Se Ri Pak, I HATED Se Ri Pak...couldn't stand her...because she beat the Thai player. But as I kept checking in on the LPGA and researching (you know I dig through media to find all these stories and videos) what Se Ri's win meant to South Korea in what at the time were deep financial straits, I started to discover what an amazing person Se Ri was and slowly but surely, I became a fan...a BIG fan. Then Mi Hyun Kim and my favorite, Grace Park, came on the scene and I figured...they aren't Thai...but they are Asian, so I'll pull for them.

Do I point out from time to time a player's attractiveness, be they Asian, American, Mexican, etc. Yes, I do. Some of the players I find attractive. I'm sorry if that offends. But's it's certainly not just some Asian fetish. I posted a picture of Paula Creamer in one of her threads here in a denim skirt because I found that particular picture attractive. I have commented on how I liked that Lorena was wearing skorts, and looking good. BUT...BUT...BUT...you gotta have real golf skills and a high level game for me to pay attention in the first place. If Paula Creamer or Lorena were 120th on the money list, I wouldn't care what they looked like. I do think they are attractive, but whether people believe me or not, it is ABSOLUTELY A SECONDARY, ANCILLARY benefit...you gotta have game to get my attention in the first place...

...Hee Kyung Seo has game...she won six times last year...almost won the KLPGA Grand Slam this year...she is a favorite of mine primarily for her play...but I don't think I should have to apologize for thinking she is cute, too...so long as that's not the only reason I follow her...

...and it goes both ways...I remember them asking a group of LPGA rookies a few years back about their dream foursome and the usual suspects like Tiger, Annika, etc were there...but a lot of them put Adam Scott in their fantasy foursome...and I don't think it's a stretch to say it's because of a combination of his play and his looks...

...same with how some female NFL fans like Tom Brady...or some female baseball fans like Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez...

As far as the show is concerned, the dance came about because last year there was an extremely popular song in Korea called "Tell Me" by the group Wonder Girls. It was so popular that groups of people in Korea, both females and guys (sometimes dressing up as the Wonder Girls), were getting together to perform the song with all the dance moves from the MV, videotaping it and posting it online:

These are Korean Army Soldier doing Tell Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mAT6vwPxg

Korean High School Boys Doing Tell Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWqv5_Q-ZT0

These are Korean traffic police doing Tell Me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPS3BSqFeDY

Tell Me by Wonder Girls was a National Craze...like the Macarena here...EVERYBODY was doing the dance moves from Tell Me...it became so popular on YouTube that American High School students started doing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nExHR238SJo

...so somebody thought to have the KLPGA players do it too...it was a big hit with everybody...so they thought to do another dance this year...

The "Most Popular" award has actually become like consolation to whomever finishes second on tour. So Yeon Ryu is not the most popular player...but since Hee Kyung swept the awards, the sense was that they wanted to give So Yeon, the second best player and four time winner this year something. The same thing happened last year when Hee Kyung Seo won six times but was overshadowed by Ji Yai Shin who basically won just about everything else...so while Ji Yai was sweeping the awards, they gave Hee Kyung "Most Popular" more or less to just give her something...

...and don't look at all the pomp and extracurricular activities at the KLPGA awards show as something bad...exploitative because they are women...they are FAR more popular than the male Korean players and their Awards show is a big televised event...so they kind of make it like the Oscars...people getting awards but also dancing and singing numbers...

bangkokbobby · 12-14-2009, 11:22 AM

..by the way...here are the real Wonder Girls doing Tell Me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NCtSjyMxGw

Blue · 12-14-2009, 11:27 AM