12 September 2008

Lee Hyori: Asia's (Putative) Bad Girl


Sexy Lee Hyori

In a society that still celebrates feminine virtue and elegance, Korean pop sensation Lee Hyori appears to be a misfit. She gyrates, in a nano-skirt and high heels, to Western-style rap-rock (our invention, feel free to use it with proper credit). Of course, in Los Angeles, she would just be another typical high school girl. Except she's not in Los Angeles, and she's not a teenager. She's 29.

But we have a hunch that this "bad girl" image is just a marketing ploy. Like so many supposed "gangsta rappers" in Seoul, Taipei and now even in Beijing, Miss Lee's in-your-face dance and musical routines are not endemic to her temperament and belie the (stereo)typical persona of the sweet Asian girl next door...

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