klee95

^ Every author does it at one point during their lifetime. It's perfectly normal. Sometimes, you just gotta be extra-aggressive when it comes to promoting

Using the girls misery for your literary purposes. You fiend!
(I'ma check it out if I get time.)

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

Shindong as an MC? O.o Lawdy hell, I'm well aware of Kim Shinyoung being a very capable MC on her own (along with Yoo Jaesuk and Kang Hodong), but Shindong? I'll buy earplugs
Anyways, just a question - does Eunjung have any experience as an MC? From what I can tell, this is probably her very first time as an MC since her experience in major shows in TV seems quite limited (and it doesn't help T-ara's not very well known for variety, Soyeon being an exception). With the K-public still not so welcoming, the PDs are putting quite a bit of risk and everyone else will probably have very high expectations on her too.
Eunjung's looking at a very potentially stressful situation there, guys and girls.

And yet another instance of CCM being inconsistent coming back to haunt them. Can't they make up their damn mind and stick to it? I admit netizens are probably looking for stuff to be annoyed about, but seriously CCM - either promote both, or none at all. Also, I agree with @iAmEd. I just hear this line "Hallyu actors and KARA have also done advertisements for pachinko machines" as being said in an unbelievably annoying, whiny voice .____.
And yes, apparently pachinkos are often used for gambling purposes - seems like they're pretty much the Japanese version of slot machines. Direct gambling for money is illegal, but you exchange the balls for prizes and then can exchange that for money at a separate vendor so...basically, gambling.

LOL, Eunjung's reaction..."OHHHH!" And then she's standing up and leaning over to get a better look...not sure if Jiyeon's dad gave her a thumbs up, lmao
So touching T_T

I actually made a post about this earlier, so here it is:
Objectively speaking, I really do think there was bullying going on - I can't say for sure if there was anything physical going on (and I would very much like to think there was none), but bullying doesn't have to be physical. Being ostracized for a long time, feeling alone and unwanted...I personally think that feeling's even worse. Being an outcast for two years is torturous, even if it was just being ignored, and this alone is enough to merit any complaining on Hwayoung's part.
I'm not going by those stupid gifs and whatnot, like Boram and the umbrella (like wtf is that). But if you seriously just LOOK at all the tweets and look at outside opinions, it becomes fairly obvious something was going on behind the scenes.
First of all, people are arguing that they seem friendly on variety shows. Well, guess what - it's a variety show. Under no circumstance would T-ara actually show that they're bullying Hwa, unless they really have less brains than a rock. The sheer fact that we can observe 6Ara being less than comfortable/flat out awkward with Hwayoung tells A LOT. If that's the way they are while acting, you can imagine when the camera's not going.
And if you look at the tweets. Okay, you can argue that Hwayoung was over-exaggerating, that she's being a drama queen. But guess what, it wasn't just her. Hyoyoung tweeted in support of her, rap instructors tweeted in support of her, a SBS PD tweeted in support of her. These people obviously know more about the situation than we do, and they're all rooting for Hwayoung.
On the other hand, we have Lord KKS telling us there was no bullying going on. Pardon me for assuming this, but none of you liked him before this. I was part of the rather large group saying he was a liar and a creep, and there was maybe one or two people who said otherwise. So why are you all suddenly believing him? It's absolute delusion and hypocrisy to start going with what the man is saying just because he's protecting your precious idols.
I mean, does he even make any sense? Why would CCM staff members complain about Hwayoung, when everybody else has nothing but praise? And for that matter, why would they complain about Hwayoung specifically when there're six other girls who I refuse to believe simply has so much better manners. I am a Jiyeon-stan, and even I will admit she has some attitude issues sometimes.
Furthermore, KKS changes his story so often he has little to no credibility. First, their accounts were hacked - then he started explaining it. Now, it's actually all Hwayoung's fault, and he begins mudslinging like an elementary student; what he's saying isn't logical. Hwayoung wasn't popular enough to start acting like a diva without immediately getting kicked out. Also of note is the famous 'throwing crutches' business. Try throwing crutches when you can't stand without them, it doesn't work.
That being said, I think the 'bullying' is true, though I wish it weren't. Still, I'm going to support T-ara and Hwayoung, and I hope others can do the same.

To the author of this thread...
First I would like to say I admire your courage for speaking up about this topic....My self don't have a guts to do that since I've seen many people bashing/ blaming Hwa nowadays and I'm just sicking tired of telling them why they shouldn't....
Honesty I thought of making a thread like this and clear everything up but then again.....I might get a bunch of bashing comments towards me...and more bashing comments towards Hwa.
Defend one side doesn't mean you bash the other side....that is so true....When I defend Hwa in front of Queens...that does not mean I don't love T-ara anymore.....
The people who blaming Hwa and such....I see them no different than the antis and haters.... Don't ask me why I feel that way....It's obvious in all their actions.....even though we're standing under on roof.....it still doesn't change the fact that I now realize how many of us are actually love all T-ara no matter what happened.....
Everyone made mistakes in their life, no-one is perfect, you have to accept it and move on.....
Who are you to judge anyone if you're no better than them???
Second I agreed with all your points, because they are similar to my points of view about this whole thing too....
Thank you again for speaking up....really admire your courage...

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

If there was no harm mean't in their Twitter comments when Hwayoung responded to them, they should have explained right then that their intention was not to harm her and that they apologize if there was a misunderstanding and then went on to clarify the true meaning of what they said. That could have been nipped in the bud in a matter of minutes. They are all grown women, some of them close to 30 in age, they should have been able to reconcile amongst themselves. If they had an issue with her, they should have addressed her either in person or on the phone. Using Twitter (or any social networking website) as a means to air out your dirty laundry with other people is very immature and unwise for anyone. In my opinion, the behavior displayed in the Twitter situation is inexcusable and can only be chalked up to being a poor decision that was obviously not thought through before posting.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

I'm having a rather hard time figuring out how to respond to so many people at once xD Seeing as the beauty salon does seem to be the most debated point, I'll talk about that first. I'll just quote maknae23's post on it.
Aa, it was her right to visit the beauty salon - but you're saying that she still can't because the others were practicing? That seems a little contradictory; it would be impossible for her to wait until everyone had time off, and for that matter, what else would she even do in the meantime? But let's say she doesn't go to the beauty salon and instead heads home to rest - this wouldn't make the T-ara members feel any better, as Hwayoung is still getting time to rest. If they truly were upset, it wasn't by the fact that she went to a beauty salon specifically, it was by the fact that she could rest and they could not.
In that case, it's a lose-lose situation for Hwayoung. She's practically trapped in a situation where she can't please anyone, and it would be entirely unreasonable to expect her to give up her free time, which is no doubt precious to any idol.
Either way, I don't see why we as fans should be upset. If the T-ara members feel unhappy about it, it's their business and it's understandable - we, on the other hand, really have no business with this. As fans, we're in no position to judge Hwayoung because, as you say, it's her right to do what she wants on her time off. She didn't offend us.
Long story short, I won't contend that maybe Hwayoung's actions may have led to some conflict within the group; however, this is an entirely inter-group matter and should not be used as an argument against Hwayoung. I mean, sure, one could say that this indirectly led to the whole controversy. However, conflict exists in every Kpop group, think about it - the groups are put together by a company as a way to make a profit, and generally members don't know each other beforehand. The issue is whether this conflict manages to negatively impact the group's image, and unfortunately the conflict was made public.
Hwayoung's not on house arrest; if anything, she's regained her freedom. Exercising said freedom is no doubt a first priority now that she actually has time to do what she wants; going to a friend's concert isn't anything wrong. Furthermore, if you find Hyoyoung's actions to be unsavory, that's another thing altogether - it shouldn't become Hwayoung's fault that her sister is posting selcas of the two.
And honestly, it's not as though Hwayoung is parading around with sparkles and glitter galore. It would be insensitive if Hwayoung was obviously delighting in the situation, but that isn't the case; she was just seen doing highly normal activities. To be frank, with how big of a news story this is, anything any of the T-ara members do is news. We can't expect Hwayoung to go into hiding.
They can't be said to be directed at anyone, but we now know they were indeed targeted at Hwayoung. In the end, those tweets were still what started everything.
And you say that "as professionals [Hwayoung and Hyoyoung] should've known that the response would identify the target," but consider that as professionals, Hyomin/Jiyeon/Eunjung should've known not to tweet that in the first place. This was what put the group at jeopardy, not Hwayoung's response. If there had been nothing to respond to, nothing would have happened.
It is highly unlikely that Hwayoung is free to do/say anything she wants. CCM/KKS have more clout in the entertainment industry than most people realize, and if Hwayoung wants to be able to pursue her dreams in the future, she won't say anything incriminating.
Honestly, I doubt that the situation would get that much better even if Hwayoung came out and say there was no bullying. Once something like this starts, it needs to be taken care of promptly. As that wasn't the case, it's grown out of control - at this point, nobody cares if there really was bullying. If Hwayoung says otherwise, netizens will just interpret that as Hwayoung being forced to speak. Remember the supposed encrypted message in her apology?
And as to why KKS would prohibit denial of the bullying - why didn't he let the T-ara members say anything until so far into the controversy? The silence policy seemed to apply to everyone until recently. Anything we hear is most likely filtered.
I can understand, but I have to say this anyway - why couldn't Hyomin speak out after the anniversary?

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

We should look on the bright side; it wouldn't go over well with the public if the clip was released with Jiyeon and Eunjung recording happily and joking around. At least this way, there won't be even more backlash - and when they are aired, they can repair their images first by clarifying on the issue.
...optimism I almost want to puke from the rainbows.

We should look on the bright side; it wouldn't go over well with the public if the clip was released with Jiyeon and Eunjung recording happily and joking around. At least this way, there won't be even more backlash - and when they are aired, they can repair their images first by clarifying on the issue.
...optimism I almost want to puke from the rainbows.

We should look on the bright side; it wouldn't go over well with the public if the clip was released with Jiyeon and Eunjung recording happily and joking around. At least this way, there won't be even more backlash - and when they are aired, they can repair their images first by clarifying on the issue.
...optimism I almost want to puke from the rainbows.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.

@xkumakox - Haha, thank you for reading through it; I know that was a long rant. Umm, any thoughts?
@DanielTan - May I ask what you don't agree with? I'd be up for discussion; no worries, I won't take offense. Thank you for understanding about the bashing - I hate to see Queen's stooping to the same level as the haters. But...yes, KKS haha. We can't really mentally traumatize him, and seeing as he's the man behind it all - go for it.

@klee95 I agree with all your points, especially your final thought. The idea of "bullying the bullies that bully the bullies" is ridiculous because it's a never ending cycle of hatred and anger. We're here to support every single member, despite which of us like particular members.

This will contain some sensitive topics, so if I offend you, please be aware that that was not my intention. Furthermore, because I’m sure that members of this forum are reasonable people, most of this will not even apply to you. However, there are some things I’ve noticed around the fandom that I believe require addressing – namely, anti-Hwayoung sentiments and “defending” T-ara from haters.
First of all, there’s one thing I’d like to make clear – Hwayoung is a victim. I’m not saying she was the sole victim in this controversy, like she was a perfect angel and the rest of T-ara are complete monsters that bullied her and forced her in a cupboard like Harry Potter or some farfetched story like that. BUT, in the light of recent news, a lot of people have forgotten one thing – Hwayoung was actually kicked out of T-ara. She is definitely a victim.
As such, it is very upsetting to me when I see fans bashing on Hwayoung; she is entirely undeserving of it and should instead be supported like the member of T-ara she is. I will list here the general things I’ve seen and make my rebuttal:
Deserving to be Bullied: This one is undoubtedly the rarest, but also the most disgusting. I am not kidding you – I have actually heard (or read, really) that because Hwayoung was the new member, any unhappy things she may have experienced were entirely justified. I honestly feel that I shouldn’t have to counter this one, but suffice to say that that belief is so vile I’m not going to get into that mess. No one deserves to be unhappy, and anybody who says otherwise…I recommend counseling.
Beauty Salon: This is a little more ambiguous. Because of Hwayoung’s injury, she was handicapped and unable to practice, and as such she was granted time to rest. The general belief is that because Hwayoung chose to go to a beauty salon, this generated ill feelings between the members – leading to the tweets that started all this.
However, in this case I don’t see any fault in Hwayoung’s actions. Note that she was handicapped and that staying for practice would have been highly illogical when she could finally rest for once. The argument against this is that Hwayoung should have been at home resting and not at a beauty salon, implying that she was lying/faking. However, Hwayoung had a hurt ankle. She didn’t have both her kneecaps shattered or something; she was not immobile, and resting does not have to be lying in bed 24 hours a day. Hwayoung can do whatever she wants in her time off.
Another argument I hear is that doing so was “bad timing” and that Hwayoung didn’t show “team spirit.” Again, this is fairly illogical – what could Hwayoung have even contributed to at the practice? Not to mention it’s hard to rest in a dance studio, as that was what she was supposed to be doing. When a highly overworked idol is given time to herself, she rests. The only bad timing in this is that we happened to find out now.
Tweets: Aha, the tweets, one of the things that most aggravates people for some inexplicable reason. The reason these tweets upset people are because they are considered, and I quote “immature, hateful, arrogant, etc. etc.”
Of course, a lot of us forget that the whole tweeting fiasco was actually started by Hyomin with the determination thing. I firmly believe that any problems between the members, if dealt with maturely, should not have been solved (or vented) on Twitter, but once someone starts…you can’t exactly just blame someone who follows. If Hwayoung’s tweet was immature, then so was everybody else’s, no?
As for Hwayoung’s other tweet on the 28th (“The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me.”), the same logic applies. Furthermore, most of us say that idols have the right to tweet about their feelings too, so I don’t see why this only doesn’t apply to Hwayoung. Now would probably be a good time for me to say I do believe Hwayoung was unhappy – and no, this does not mean I think T-ara are evil (do not be black and white about this, I can support both sides). The T-ara members might not even have realized they were ignoring Hwayoung in ways that hurt her, but nevertheless, she was unhappy – hence that tweet.
The tweet on the 31st (“…facts without any truth”) was NOT immature, in any way. I am still incredulous over the fact that some people actually believe the crap KKS spewed, especially as most of the people who choose to believe him this instance are the same people who hate on him the loudest. KKS is a horribly incompetent liar, and seeing as he was flat-out slandering Hwayoung in his statements, Hwayoung had every right to fight back.
Acting the Victim: I admit I don’t entirely understand this one, and I am definitely slipping into sarcasm here, but – sure, Hwayoung is acting the victim by throwing herself out of T-ara and quite possibly getting blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Read that to yourself and say you agree. Can’t do it, right? It’s just like saying that Eunjung’s acting the victim by throwing herself out of Five Fingers. It doesn’t make any sense.
Again, Hwayoung is a victim, and T-ara is as well. There is no acting involved.
Not Speaking Up: A lot of people argue that Hwayoung, if she really loved the T-ara members, should speak up and dispel all the rumors so everything clears up. I see this type of thing a lot: “Why doesn’t Hwayoung say something so people will like T-ara again?” or “The bullying isn’t true, so if Hwayoung would just say that then everything would be okay.”
The most obvious reason Hwayoung hasn’t said she wasn’t bullied is – she was bullied, or was unhappy about bad communication within the group (more likely). Now, before anyone flies into a rage, I’d like to say this is all about perception. Hwayoung didn’t feel happy, ergo she doesn’t say anything. This is a very understandable reaction.
Also, we can’t be sure Hwayoung even has the ability to speak up. Seeing as Hyoyoung is still in CCM, and combined with the fact that the company is a lot more powerful than Hwayoung, she may not be allowed to speak on the issue. Just because she hasn’t come out to clarify the issue (just like how the T-ara members didn’t until just recently) doesn’t mean Hwayoung’s some evil monster who enjoys seeing the group suffer.
And again, I understand that some people are upset that Hwayoung’s fortunes seem to be better than T-ara’s, especially with her selcas and such – but, would you really rather see Hwayoung act all depressed?
With that being said, I hope people can continue to support both T-ara and Hwayoung.
However, supporting T-ara doesn’t mean flaming the haters.
I wholly advocate stepping up and calmly and logically defending T-ara; but there is one thing I’ve seen that should not happen – fans banding together, intentionally seeking out the “haters,” and then attacking in a group. This is practically the definition of cyberbullying, and seeing as that is precisely what fans accuse the haters of doing…why sink to their level?
There’s nothing wrong with defending T-ara, but the way it’s happening isn’t going to change any minds. I’m not going to name any names, but a large majority of the “defense” is comprised of vulgar insults and immature bashing, like calling them retards or b*tches. This. Isn’t. Helping. If anything, it makes us fans, and T-ara by extension, look even worse. What’s happening here is that people are using “defending T-ara” as an excuse to vent.
I realize that fans are angry about these antis, but that isn’t an excuse. If I’m supposed to just let it go because fans are doing this out of anger, then that would mean condoning haters as well, and I try not to be a hypocrite.
Please stay calm. And I apologize for this super-long post; I realize I’m being very verbose.