[DISC] Anti-Hwayoung and Bashing

[klee95]

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 28^th (“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 31^st (“…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]

Wow i actually read em all.phew.long post.indeed.

As usual..T-ara hwaiting!!!

[DanielTan]

@Klee, I see your points, I personally may not agree with all of them, but I understand that we should never do such thing like cyberbullying and bashing ppl around (sorry but I guess I have to exclude KKS here)

[klee95]

@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.

[Mark]

@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.

[maknae23]

@Klee, I understand your thoughts but I'll have to give my personal comments on some of the points you brought up. Again, no offense to anyone.

I admit that I'm bias and I tend to sway a little more towards T-ara compared to Hwayoung as I find it quite hard to balance equally between both sides. I apologize for that, it's just my own personal feelings and yeah I'm guilty for that. But don't misunderstand, I don't hate Hwayoung and I don't deny that she was a victim together with T-ara. I will never call her a xxxx because if Hwayoung is a xxxx, the rest of T-ara are xxxxxes as well.

Beauty Salon : I agree that it's Hwayoung's right to visit the beauty salon when she had her time off. The problem is she did it when the others were practicing hard (I guess) for the concert. Yes, T-ara should have understood that Hwayoung was frustrated and all that but THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A HUGE CONCERT THE NEXT DAY. You just can't expect them to go "Poor Hwayoung, we should let her do her manicure since she's injured while we'll continue to die here" (maybe Qri did that) but normal human beings will feel uncomfortable with her actions.

I don't know about you but I certainly won't like it if I am stressed up like a mad cow and someone is kinda enjoying herself in the midst of my misery. I don't even like it if my parents go for a holiday during my exam period. Although they don't help directly in my studies but I need them to be with me and I need them to give me the support that I need during difficult times. (I know I'm a bad daughter). The same goes to T-ara. They needed her to be there or at least not do some manicure while they were busy practising. I know it's selfish but maybe she can do her manicure err later?

Tweets : Said this gazillion times already. Everybody's at fault including Hwayoung AND T-ara (except Qri). They shouldn't have tweeted. But the main issue here is again with Hwayoung's continuous tweets even after KKS kicked her out. She seemed to know that she would be kicked out since she tweeted "The support of my family and my fans is worth so much to me. Please watch over me." I guess she was just taken aback by the reasons KKS gave and hence came up with the "Facts without truth" tweet. And then she apologized. She tweeted something that somehow went against KKS's statement and then she apologized for giving all the trouble. I would say she was immature but T-ara were immature as well.

I don't expect her to act all depressed but I don't expect her to publicly go to a concert and allow her sister to post happy selcas either. I don't know. Just try to do it secretly. Something bad happened, the other party are in deep xxxx and people expect you to behave as if you are in deep xxxx too. But well, I apologize again cause I should be happy if she's happy. It's just that unfair feeling I got when I saw how T-ara were slowly torned apart and suddenly there was this selca in my fb news feed.

And to sum it up, the reason I tend to side T-ara a tad more is because they are getting all the heat. Hwayoung only gets xxxx from Queen's but T-ara get xxxx from Queen's, the infamous netizens and the drama production teams due to KKS's brilliant decision. I'm sorry but I can't help believing the "fact" that Hwayoung didn't want to perform during Music Bank. I was laughing at Hyomin's cuteness for looking at the cue card while rapping but when I watched back, she was practically struggling to rap even with cue cards. I don't know whether Eunjung was prepared for Hwayoung's rap but the cue card was up when Eunjung started singing so ... I don't know ...

Despite that, I agree that Hwayoung definitely does not deserve that amount of hate from Queen's and if not performing was the sole reason she got kicked out, KKS is a .... (refrain myself from hating) . I see some Hwa stans hating on T-ara too. In the end it all depends on who's your bias in the group and who you choose to believe. But yeah, no bashing please.

It's almost 5am now. I can't think straight. Please pardon me for my language, the long rant and I apologize if I have offended anyone. Here's to wishing a pleasant September for T-ara and the end of their misery. Cheers and peace.

[Taiki]

I'm not hating on Hwayoung but i admit it pissed me off at how she could pose for selcas and go out in public while the other members are taking all the heat for something they shouldn't have. Imagine how members like Eunjung feels when she worked hard for years to build up her career and image (i read somewhere that her acting career started in 1995?) and to see it all go down the drain because of some rumors. I just say that it was insensitive of her to do those above mentioned while everyone else is in a $hitstorm.

[Darkbend]

Well this is a nice and well thought out statement and I salute it!

Now... I just wanted to point out some things.

Deserving to be bullied

I agree to this, no one deserves to be bullied by anyone for whatever reason, its an evil act that doesn't only inflict physical pain but emotional as well. The one being bullied could be traumatized for life without the proper support.

Beauty Salon

This one I've never seen any evidence of but if it was indeed true then it is a bit distasteful to an extent. The team is working hard practicing for a performance, tensions are high, fatigue has set in, tempers are a bit volatile. I understand that maybe Hwa didn't wanna go far from the dance studio thats why she didnt go home to rest. But of course this will be received by the others negatively, I know I would. If this went on to the attention of fans after the controversy don't you think they deserve to be a little miffed about it? I mean it was a time for work, I don't know if she was on the clock but if they did have working hours and she was pampering herself then of course it would be received as negative. By anyone

Tweets

Ah my favorite subject since it is what started this whole mess. Okay first, Hymoin's tweet followed by the other 2 girls. I've read them, dont wanna look for them anymore and quote them here but most of us know what those are anyway. Those tweets without the proper catalyst wouldn't have been used to pin the bullying on the girls, they would simply look like tweets of disappointment or encouragement, but it cant be said that it was directed to someone...until the tweet by Hwa's beautiful little twin sister. You know that, the one where pretty face was mentioned. That along with Hwa's tweet identified a "target" for the 3 girls initial tweets. This fact is often overlooked by gray area people.. without the target the initial 3 tweets would've gone cold, still would've gone noticed but would still go cold.

I don't care if there really was bullying, ostracizing, internal conflicts or whatever. Its irrelevant to the fact that the initial tweets were given a target and thus igniting the whole bullying thing. Call me cold or evil IDC.. I see it as the netizens see it only from the other side. Sure the twins had every right to defend themselves if one was being bullied BUT as professionals they should've known that the response would identify the 3 girls targets was indeed her... I often attribute this to their youth, they might have not known what would happen if they told twitter that Hwa was the target but the thing is it did and it put the whole group in jeopardy.

The next day's tweets were simply fuel to the already raging fire. And could be interpreted y t-ara defenders as hammering down more nails to t-ara's coffin. Believing KKS' statement is also irrelevant since no one believes that mofo anyway, the fact is the "facts without truth" tweet brought more people to attack t-ara and pin the bullying on them more, with the added bonus of more sympathy for her.

Acting the Victim

This one I have no trouble with as well, she did lose her job, possibly her dreams so she is a victim.

Not Speaking up

One more of my favorites, since it is still not being done until now. Yes CCM has her sister and yes KKS might have asked her or told her to keep silent. But fact is she's not with the company anymore, she is free to do anything she wants at this point or say anything at this point, plus a denial of the bullying from her would at least halve the current hating populace and why would KKS punish her or her sister for that? (unless KKS is purposely punishing t-ara, which is very possible) Anything at all to help clear the allegations against her former groupmates... not doing so proves that she is may really have been bullied and unhappy, and that doesn't help our t-ara's case doesn't it?

In any case that's my point of view, my PERSONAL point of view, you can believe what you want or don't. the fact remains that t-ara is still under fire from the koreans, they're still losing jobs left and right and their activities keep getting delayed or cancelled. Of course some fans would be irked and would want to point fingers, making a long explanation wouldn't change their minds on the contrary it would push them to write their own beliefs like I just did...(and my hands hurt thanks alot )

As long as the fandom is divided like this, then we will never be able to give the support where it is due. Hwayoung is indeed a victim, that much is fact, but blunt as it may seem, she isn't in the business anymore. I'm sure most of the current queen's who criticize her don't really hate her but are rather disappointed in her lack of action to help her unnies. The internal facts are irrelevant what's important is that t-ara remain afloat and this controversy to finally end.

PS: I am by no means a Hwayoung hater, I friggin love the gal, she's my 4th bias as everyone in the SB already knows. So this is more of an explanation as to why the some of the t-ara fans are currently on her case.

[Elienore]

I'd just like to say in advance, that I seem to agree awfully much with you, klee.

Deserving to be Bullied

Well, on this case it really end up depending on how we define "bullying!, since it seems like Koreans take seniority very seriously. If there are certain expectations or requirement placed on the newest/youngest member, then it'd be hard to change that.

However, if it goes on to ostracizing or actual bullying then a line has of course been crossed but that's the part we don't know. There aren't really any proofs for any bullying or lack of bullying.

Beauty Salon:

I do understand why the others would feel it was unfair and that's really what it comes down to.

There isn't really anything wrong with her going to the beauty salon, she said she was going to rest and I can imagine you can get some quite nice rest at that place.

The thing is though, that is most likely gonna give your group mates a bad taste in their mouth. They're working hard for a pretty big concert with lots of things going on and the person who is going to be able to do the least is relaxing in a nice beauty salon while making good use of their services.

There wasn't really any wrong-doing on Hwa's part but the reaction of the rest of T-ara is understandable and should have been something Hwa should have kept in mind. A particular bad taste it could leave on Soyeon, Eunjung and Jiyeon who have all performed while injured.

Tweets:

I pretty much agree with you on this.

Even if, as Dark says, that the whole thing only erupted due to Hwa and Hyoyeung's tweets, then the seed of the Twitter scandal lies in the tweets started by Hyomin and followed up by the others.

It doesn't mean I say it's all their fault, Hwa and Hyoyeung certainly didn't help to contain any damage wrought forth by this, and the misunderstanding with Hwa's rap teacher only made it worse.

I would also like to say that CCM's early handling of the scandal was really, really poor and the first few attempts at damage control didn't give the girls any leeway of trying to sort it out themselves.

So many things went wrong with the Twitter issue, that I don't feel you can blame any single part in the development, Hyomin started off the thing with giving it ground to grow in, Hwa and Hyoyeung (especially Hyoyeung) nourished it and CCM decided to just break everything.

You cannot put blame on Hwa on this without putting blame on the others in T-ara as well.

Acting the Victim:

Everyone got slapped hard in this scandal, so it's not really possible to say anyone is playing a victim.

I would also like to add, that I personally don't think Hwa's future prospects in kpop are that great now that she's no longer in T-ara. T-ara can (and will) recover and they'll gain popularity again, this is a (very bad) temporary setback, but it's not the end.

Not Speaking Up:

Hwa have not said anything to clear it up but neither did the rest in T-ara.

Thing is, until Soyeon's interview none of them said anything whatsover, and that only happened something like 2½-3 weeks after the scandal erupted.

CCM haven't in any time during the scandal giving them much of an opportunity to sort this through personally in the public, whether it's via some sort of reply in Twitter or other outlets.

Hwa is pretty much the only one who has said anything in regards to that matter (until Soyeon's surprise interview), and she did tell netizens to stop what they're doing and said she was fine. As far as the "Truth without Facts" tweet goes, it's so ambiguous that we can't really say what it's about. Is it about KKS' kicking her out or is it about the false evidence made by the netizens? I don't know.

All in all, no one said anything until the scandal had time to grow.

That's pretty much what I think about this, first time I've actually condensed them in one post where everything is given it's space, been giving pieces here and there in the SB whenever I felt like it was needed.

[xxKazManiaxx]

@klee95 i agree with some things u said especially bout the "people are using

[albee_s2_minnie]

I see your points but sorry, I can't support Hwa any longer..( I used to stan her before)..

If she has any problem,could she speak out after " our anniversary"? She choose the right time to destroy that day!

I think if she still think she's a part of T-ara,a Queen of Queen's,She didn't act like that..

But anyways, Thuz I won't support her anymore but I won't bash her of say something bad..

[CryXCry]

Daebak. I actually thought through a little and ut made so much sense. I still hope Hwa will speak up soon though:(

[klee95]

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.

Beauty Salon : I agree that it's Hwayoung's rights to visit the beauty salon when she had her time off. The problem is she did it when the others were practicing hard (I guess) for the concert. Yes, T-ara should have understood that Hwayoung was frustrated and all that but THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A HUGE CONCERT THE NEXT DAY. You just can't expect them to go "Poor Hwayoung, we should let her do her manicure since she's injured while we'll continue to die here" (maybe Qri did that) but normal human beings will feel uncomfortable with her actions.

I don't know about you but I certainly won't like it if I am stressed up like a mad cow and someone is kinda enjoying herself in the midst of my misery. I don't even like it if my parents go for a holiday during my exam period. Although they don't help directly in my studies but I need them to be with me and I need them to give me the support that I need during difficult times. (I know I'm a bad daughter). The same goes to T-ara. They needed her to be there or at least not do some manicure while they were busy practising. I know it's selfish but maybe she can do her manicure err later?

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.

I don't expect her to act all depressed but I don't expect her to publicly go to a concert and allow her sister to post happy selcas either. I don't know. Just try to do it secretly. Something bad happened, the other party are in deep xxxx and people expect you to behave as if you are in deep xxxx too. But well, I apologize again cause I should be happy if she's happy. It's just that unfair feeling I got when I saw how T-ara were slowly torned apart and suddenly there was this selca in my fb news feed.

I'm not hating on Hwayoung but i admit it pissed me off at how she could pose for selcas and go out in public while the other members are taking all the heat for something they shouldn't have. Imagine how members like Eunjung feels when she worked hard for years to build up her career and image (i read somewhere that her acting career started in 1995?) and to see it all go down the drain because of some rumors. I just say that it was insensitive of her to do those above mentioned while everyone else is in a $hitstorm.

Tweets: IMO think that they really shouldn't have done that becuase..well it lead to this whole situation sadly and they should have dealt it within themselves...plus netizens then interpreted they bullied* Hwayoung which i don't believe

LOL when i saw the tweets i thought it was encouragements ^O^

And i didn't like it when her n her sister were posting selca's n 'thnx to Solji i don't have a lot of stress blahblahblah etc' coz ...i dunno...maybe coz she's all happydappy like 'me kicked out?oh no big deal' while T-ara's the most HATED group being attacked here n there....... I'm still sensitive bout all this sooo much thoughts ><* n again I'm not saying Hwayoung shouldn't be happy.

"the fact is the "facts without truth" tweet brought more people to attack t-ara and pin the bullying on them more, with the added bonus of more sympathy for her."-Darkbend

exactly, also her tweet isn't clear..she could have been talking about the netizens attacking T-ara with their so called 'facts' ...but u knows

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.

Tweets

Ah my favorite subject since it is what started this whole mess. Okay first, Hymoin's tweet followed by the other 2 girls. I've read them, dont wanna look for them anymore and quote them here but most of us know what those are anyway. Those tweets without the proper catalyst wouldn't have been used to pin the bullying on the girls, they would simply look like tweets of disappointment or encouragement, but it cant be said that it was directed to someone...until the tweet by Hwa's beautiful little twin sister. You know that, the one where pretty face was mentioned. That along with Hwa's tweet identified a "target" for the 3 girls initial tweets. This fact is often overlooked by gray area people.. without the target the initial 3 tweets would've gone cold, still would've gone noticed but would still go cold.

I don't care if there really was bullying, ostracizing, internal conflicts or whatever. Its irrelevant to the fact that the initial tweets were given a target and thus igniting the whole bullying thing. Call me cold or evil IDC.. I see it as the netizens see it only from the other side. Sure the twins had every right to defend themselves if one was being bullied BUT as professionals they should've known that the response would identify the 3 girls targets was indeed her... I often attribute this to their youth, they might have not known what would happen if they told twitter that Hwa was the target but the thing is it did and it put the whole group in jeopardy.

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.

Not Speaking up

One more of my favorites, since it is still not being done until now. Yes CCM has her sister and yes KKS might have asked her or told her to keep silent. But fact is she's not with the company anymore, she is free to do anything she wants at this point or say anything at this point, plus a denial of the bullying from her would at least halve the current hating populace and why would KKS punish her or her sister for that? (unless KKS is purposely punishing t-ara, which is very possible) Anything at all to help clear the allegations against her former groupmates... not doing so proves that she is may really have been bullied and unhappy, and that doesn't help our t-ara's case doesn't it?

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 see your points but sorry, I can't support Hwa any longer..( I used to stan her before)..

If she has any problem,could she speak out after " our anniversary"? She choose the right time to destroy that day!

I think if she still think she's a part of T-ara,a Queen of Queen's,She didn't act like that..

But anyways, Thuz I won't support her anymore but I won't bash her of say something bad..

I can understand, but I have to say this anyway - why couldn't Hyomin speak out after the anniversary?

[-o0Winifer_mto0-]

ok, I'm not going to say that I AGREE with everything that you said but I'm going to say that I UNDERSTAND for everything that you point out.

Everybody will have different perspective so I totally understand how you feel about this.

Deserve to be bullied:

I totally agree, nobody deserves to be bullied. Sso already said sorry that she didnt notice that how Hwa really feel. You can see it (if you go along with T-ara long enough) about Hwa. She really does talk much. Yes she does mess around and joke alot, but she doesnt really talk her opinion and what she thinks. Watched many time T-ara receive award and trophy, she never cries before, and if you watch SLT when she went out with her sister, she cried after her sister after a while. And the one who really said things out is her sister not her.

I agree that T-ara should pay more attention to her, but I also understand that they're already really busy, and they also just hear and mess around with Hwa and dont really know that Hwa feeling sad inside. They unfortunately assumed that Hwa was doing fine with them.

The beauty salon:

I understand how you said that she can use her free time to do whatever she wants. And I will tell you why I can understand for T-ara when they don't really agree with her action. Do you remember when EJ want to go to Paris with T-ara with her crunch on? Or when she has to do the shuffle dance with her injured ankle and un-fully healed knee? OR Jiyeon had to take painkiller to perform Roly Poly?

The point is, Hwa cant work over everything like that like T-ara. T-ara forces and requires from themselves too much to be at the point that they are right now. They dont allow themselves to have any rest, or free time.

Maybe, you dont feel like T-ara but I do. When I'm practicing my a** off, and get scold by the producer at the rehearsal concert (if you watch SLT). Will you get mad if you know that other member is relaxing when you are suffering?

That's what called GROUP. Suffer together, have fun together.

Maybe, with her injure she doesnt have to practice with them but at least she can sit and watch to know what is going on and can join if she really want to on the performing day, right?

None of T-ara members want her to get injure, so it's not their responsible to allow Hwa to go to the beauty salon.

They get mad because Hwa said that Hwa wanted to rest at the hotel, and she end up to relax at the beauty salon. They got more sensitive because they had to practice so much at that time.

Tweeting:

I totally agree that, this is their fault to bring this out to the public (Twitter). But if you read over their tweets, you can see that there is really nothing wrong. All of them added Hwating! Fighting in their tweets to cheer each other up. T-ara did that all the time. They joined in the conversation all the time, not just this time.

Even with Hwa's tweet is nothing bad too. She just showed her sadness that she can't work as hard as other.

I also dont think that she was immature at that time.

But things got immature when her sister and her rap teacher joined with her. Is that also called ganging up to bully T-ara?

and I admit, all of the tweets (include Hwa's) had nothing wrong.

The one who really blew things up is the stupid netizens, her sister and the teacher also fill up the fuel.

Honestly, I didnt hate on Hwa when the controversy started, until now, I still dont.

But you have to understand for all the bashing on Hwa right now is because QUEEN'S reached their hopeless point.

They don't know who to blame on. Blame on netizens? Too wide, it's like an invisible target. They choose to blame the one who get the stronger side = Hwa. The one that they really know and really can see who is she.

I agree with you we still need to support T-ara and also Hwa.

[xkumakox]

First, excuse me for my English..it's my 2nd language..

I'm forever a t-ara stan. I mean 6-ara. So i might hv no say in this, since I never gv a damn about Hwa. So when all this things happen, I can't help but to blame on her. Not everything though, I believe that bringing things out to twitter is immature, but in this case, hwa and hyo did play a big role in turning it into disaster. Hyo's tweet just conclude it all. So I kind of pissed off..(I'm not hating on her..Its just that I lack of interests in her)

So as I sway towards t-ara(by a lot),my points are pretty much the same as the t-ara stans up there. I wish I can write english that well. I just don't want to mess things up with my incompetent english T__T

[Scatter_88mil]

Holy cow, klee, you're on fire and this is probably the longest post outside the fanfic forums from you I've ever come across to haha.

I've already talked too much over the Hwa/T-ara topic during the earlier weeks so I won't go too much into detail.

First of all, I'd have to say - yes, everything you said, I completely agree, especially when it comes down to 'defending T-ara'. There's definitely a noticeably number of people who are outright flatly denying any form of bullying that very likely occurred as early as 2010 and are flaming the haters/antis and the public in general when in fact, KKS is the one who should be taking the large portion of the blame.

The number of antis/haters and netizens in general also far outnumbers Queen's by a massive margin and throwing mud at them is a endless conflict and if anything, I even feared that the fandom as a whole started stooping down to the levels of Blackjacks, ELFs, SONEs, VIPs etc. when they're on their occasional moments of blinded defense (and regardless to say, it makes the fandom look laughable too along the way)

Putting it simply, both fans, antis/haters and the general public are bombing the wrong people (aka Hwayoung and T-ara), despite that they're not fully exactly innocent of the whole mess. I honestly think it's long overdue people start speaking out that CCM is the one to blame here - the writer of Haeundae Lovers was damn accurate with her words.

[sohotmelody*]

Mind your own business, and love whoever you love, don't put hatred on other members or even any other unrelevant person or websites. that is what i wanna said to all the 'fans'. Support them doesn't mean to hate the others.

[czakins]

All I can say is, I support T-ara and Hwayoung. LOL Joke, I have more to say...

We share the same sentiments in some point. But you can't help those Hwa-antis now from hating her. Just like how T-ara antis are hating on T-ara.

Hmm I'm not sure with the reason why she's not speaking up, it's either she was really bullied/felt an outcast OR enjoying the support of the anti-T-ara peeps, and in just a snap her popularity escalated in a very short span of time. (In kpop world I doubt none of them does not want fame). No efforts needed. Taking advantage in the situation.

And maybe if she speaks up about this, and say she wasn't bullied, people will now hate on her. And she wouldn't want that would she? Hmm this is just my opinion, looking at the two sides of a coin. ^^v

[Jannica]

I actually read your long post LOL!! Goshh! Shocking me. Kekeke. Thanks for posting this. Well some points kinda agree w you

[Grimlock]

I agree with all your points and time and time again have told people that going after Hwayoung or any of the other members is not the right thing to do or productive in anyway. And seriously, whoever points fault at Hwayoung is just legit out of their mind. That's like saying a rape victim deserves it. Sure the idea of supporting a victim of bullying is a noble one but the disconnection that these casual or less-than fans/netizens/whatever have to the group sort of counteracts the whole pursuit for justice they want. To this day I still don't understand how a T-ara fan's enemy is another T-ara fan.

Regardless, the dust has settled and the fact is that Hwayoung is no longer in T-ara. How any T-ara fan can NOT upset, I have no clue.

[maknae23]

@klee, don't be mad, I'm sorry if I offended you .___. I feel like I'm in a debate or something. First of all, I would like to clarify again that I don't hate Hwayoung and I'll be looking for her future projects especially with her sister. Since both of them are so miserable being in a group, they should just form a duo instead.

I'm not saying that she can't go but she should at least give a little more consideration on the others before deciding to go to the beauty salon. As I mentioned, I wouldn't be too happy when someone is kinda enjoying herself in the midst of my misery. Yes, I'm not T-ara and Hwayoung didn't offend me but as fans, we tend to be overprotective (too much sometimes). And you are saying that if T-ara members feel unhappy, it's their business and we as fans have no business with this. If it's so, why are we even "protecting" them against the antis, why are we even fuming at antis' comments, it's because we are putting ourselves in their shoes. But yeah, I'll admit that we have no rights to judge Hwayoung and I'm sorry if I sounded like I'm putting all the blame on her alone. I'll say that all of them are at fault but we can't change what happened so there's no point blaming it on anyone except on some particular owner of the Midas Touch.

I agree with you to a certain degree but I don't want to argue anymore cause in the end as I mentioned, it really depends on your personal views, who's your bias and who do you choose to believe. There's no point influencing the other opposing party to share the same views as you. I'll like to say that a lot of fans in DIadems support T-ara but this doesn't mean that they hate Hwayoung. Hating is too much, I think it's more to the "I don't care about her" vibe.

But anyway, as pointless as it seems, they all should have a press conference. All of them, the T-ara members and Hwayoung. I know it's a bit too late and I know it may be pointless but that's the only way to alleviate the problem. They might be accused of being fake *****es but they should at least shed some tears and say sorry to each other during the conference and at the end of it, shake hands and hug each other (Hwayoung included). And Qri unnie needs to cry. Please UNNIE JUST SHED A TEAR. Use the press conference to clarify themselves and if the haters continue to hate, then I'll have nothing to say. The press conference is not solely used to calm down haters though but it's also for the fans as well. I've been very tired and frustrated about them keeping quiet and not clarifying things. But I'll continue to dream for that day cause unless KKS trips, gets his head knocked on a table and suffers from amnesia like in the dramas, it wouldn't happen.

I'll agree that we should all continue to support be it T-ara, Hwayoung or both and stop the hate on either sides. I.WANT.MY.SEXY.BACK. Again, sorry if I offended anyone. Peace, love and ice cream?

[Elienore]

I'd just like to add, that no one should feel or fear they are offending anyone in a thread specifically made to be a discussion.

Without opposing views, we won't get anywhere

[Emperor Ryu]

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.

Up to this point I agree and more, but on this, another most obvious reason for Hwayoung not speaking about this from her point of view is she wasn't bullied, as Soyeon even pointed out in her interview from her perspective. She could've been unhappy about her injury, and I agree it is about perception, although, I humbly disagree with this assessment.

However, supporting T-ara doesn't mean flaming the haters.

The same goes for the haters going after the supporters.

why sink to their level?

Oh, how many times I've read and heard this question over and over again, when a civil war breaks out amongst fandoms, and if not in countries around the world. I'm not sure if this question will be ever answered in our life time, given how most tend to remind others how faults are the inevitability of humans, and then forget, who started all of this "misunderstanding". The fans? Or the antis?

What's happening here is that people are using "defending T-ara" as an excuse to vent.

Everybody's got issues I suppose. *shrugs*

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.

When I was a mere child, I too struggled with the notions of doing more good than harm. Make mistakes, end up being rather sad and cry, because the heart was in the right place, but just didn't know how to do it in the way everybody is happy, unharmed, and safe. I'm pretty sure everybody went through this, if not, going through with it no matter what sides they are taking on these issues with our dearly beloved girls. Some point out that even the White Knight can be mistaken for the Black Knight, or vice versa, and that murder is murder, even if it was found and proven to be justifiable, especially in the lettering and spirit of the law. Most times it goes unnoticed that both sides try to fight in the name of patriotism and freedom, as well as justice, only their goals are rather different, including their targets. On a social, if not political, nature, some would point out how dangerously we all are in becoming hypocrites, if not one already. It then all boils down to the end of it. How it'll turn out afterwards. Many play the prophet games, and at times make risky bets for ego boastings and bragging rights, even though that doesn't really matter when the dust from all the shelling and bombing has ended, and everyone else are still counting the dead. If there's a peaceful way to do things, especially when it comes to protestings, we sure haven't found it yet.

[chloeownsyou]

I do share quite a few similar sentiments as you in your article. Actually I don't feel any anti-Hwayoung sentiments. I believe people who felt that way are finding a reason to blame T-ara's current plight, to justify whatever that has "sparked off" this controversy. I feel people who like T-ara, will actually like them as a whole. Like what Soyeon have said, she do not understand what makes people feel Hwayoung has been isolated in the group. From all the past varieties and interviews with 7-ara, everyone who've watched the videos watch them light hearted, playing and joking around. It's all pure fun, joy and laughters. It's only after the bullying scandal when the haters started to crop gifs that makes it look as though bullying had taken place. These so-called evidences of bullying then started to spread like wildfire, making everyone who first read it assumed that bullying had taken place. From then, people who may not have followed T-ara started believing in the rumors, and people who were their fans were shocked and started doubting the girls. I must say the haters and the antis of T-ara (towards the group as a general), started to capitalise of Hwayoung's departure. And using "bullying" as a strong backing for their attacks on the girls, they have indeed succeeded in bringing the up and rising T-ara down. I do not know what drives them to want to hurt these girls so badly, but in my opinion, is it not morally right to do so. The haters/antis are probably smirking over all that they've achieved in a period of a month, but I think it is pretty sick to be gloating over someone's misfortunes. Moreover, it's a misfortune that they created and if they do have a conscience, they should be feeling really pricked.

I am not defending T-ara. Nor do I hate Hwayoung for all these that has happened, or detest CCM/KKS because everything happened so fast for anybody to react. All of them are victims - be it Hwayoung being out of T-ara or 6-ara undergoing such tremendous hate, having endorsements cut off, no schedules, zero performances etc. All these are just damages on the surface. Their reputation (which no amount of money can buy) are ruined as well. And it is absolutely clueless when will this saga get over and people get open and willing to accept the girls again. So far, the greatest damages are on 6-ara themselves, especially Eunjung with her recent dropped out from WGM and FF. In this controversy, 6-ara themselves have more to lose as compared to anybody else. In my opinion, they do not deserve all these hates at all. Neither should Hwayoung or the company or any organisations that are dragged into the picture be scrutinized. All the frustrations that I have, are probably regrets of why CCM/KKS couldn't have handled this issue better. But how better is better? Sometimes it is very hard to define. There is always both sides of a coin in everything you do. CCM should never have ended their contract with Hwayoung. If things are settled amiciably amongst themselves behind closed doors instead of displaying it all out under the wary eyes, wild imagination and gossipy mouth of every single person in the public, things might be different. Everything just spunned off from a series of very unfortunate events.

Didn't this incident make life gloomy for people? It made life gloomy for me. Because it's very disheartening to see the world we are in, where people merely think for themselves at the expense of others. Sometimes human beings are just too hard too satisfy in a sense. We don't usually do what we preach. Even though we may know very well what's good, but whether if we do it, it's a question mark. This is somehow applicable to life, not just whatever that has been happening around.

[ddrc]

@Klee...I can't agree with you more,,yess i do believe that the members did pretty bad on Hwa but also i do believe that they also lil bit care for her,,,coz like every relatiionsip there would be up and down,,,n yups no one deserved being bullied,,,but if she couldn't take it,,then she should resign at the first place (*or maybe because any circumstamces she might couldnt)

if we're saying about maturity stuff,,then i agree Hwa should be the one who's immature,,i mean please

1. if she's the one who being bullied then she knew that she shouldnt went to beauty salon when other practically put their ass to prepare for their concert (which must be cancel bcause of the rumour)

2. she knows how the member is doom right now,,but she still do the selca thing,,so it looks like that she is dancing on the T-ara's doom

Yess,,,the member have their punishment,,but should she do something like that?? i do believe she is the key from all these things..

however i'm not bashing or hate her nor T-ara,,,I just regret what netizen done to T-ara,,hopefully T-ara will arise again and make it as valuable lesson in entertainment industry...coz it will be really sad for them if just because one stupid mistake that make T-ara disband....and maybe...just maybeeee someday T-ara will do collaboration with Hwayoung in a special project...