Piggy Dolls; New Image of Fatness

Piggy Dolls (image source : Herald Economy)

Seriously, I've held myself for a few hours before writing this post. I've sworn to myself that wouldn't write too much about K-Pop since 2011 which has been passed nearly a month (yeah, a month!). But as you're reading this right now, you know I've failed and that is NOT an achievement.

So, what makes it so difficult for me to not write about K-Pop these days?

Try Google "Piggy Dolls". If the pictures are still showing pinky piggy banks, add "Trend" after "Piggy Dolls", and thou shall know what I mean. But if by any chance you're too lazy to open another tab, let me give you a brief explanation about them then.

These Piggy Dolls we're talking about is a newly debuted K-Pop girls group from Korea (if it was from Indonesia it would be Indo-Pop then, moron!). Don't be scared with the name 'piggy' since they're still sane enough for not putting real pigs into the screen. The group actually consists of three members; Park Ji Eun, Kim Min Sun, and Lee Ji Yeon--and I swear they're not pigs (or dolls)!

What makes them so rocking is the fact that they're different from any other girl groups from Korea. If you by now are thinking about the sexy T-ara, undeniably cute SNSD, or whatever pretty girls with flawless faces, please kick out those thoughts now because like I said before; they're different--have I bolded the word 'different'?

The image their agency wants to show the world I guess is clear enough; 'These girls are fat, but look they're amazing!'. When most big sized girls are usually not confident enough--even bullied and teased by schoolmates, with wonderful talents and tremendous efforts these girls are capable of showing themselves who they really are. Not only singing, they also can dance very well. They're like telling every girl--especially the ones with excessive body weight--to boost their self esteem and be proud of themselves. Because if they can, then you can! (sounds like a social campaign eh?)

From the first start, they've had stolen many people's hearts. It doesn't matter if they're fat and not as skinny as the adorable T-ara's Hyomin, but as long as they keep producing hit songs and promoting 'Go Fat Girl Movement'--as if it really existed--they will go well for the rest of the group's life.

But seriously, THEY CALL THESE GIRLS FAT?!

I don't know what is the K-Pop standard of fat. But if they're calling these girls fat--yes F-A-T 'FAT'--I don't know what we should call Pretty Asmara with (no offense though).

To be honest, the first time I read the news about them, I kept thinking that they're the girl version of Roni Dozer multiplied by three. But after I saw their pictures and music video, I was simply dissapointed. THEY ARE NOT FAT, for mother nature's sake! In Indonesia, we don't call them fat. We call them 'semok'--sorry I don't have any proper English version of this. Let me eat six times a day and in two months I'd be signing up to their group.

Or maybe my expectation of fat was misled. From The Biggest Loser show until Miss Big competition--even Martin Lawrence's Big Momma's House, my idea of fat is what we usually call people who look at least like doubled Saykoji.

But by the way, I’m just kidding. They ARE fat. The rumours say each of them weights almost 200 kgs. We know it’s obesity and we pray to God they won’t be diabetic soon

So what's with this 'I'm fat, I'm amazing' slogan? 

At the beggining, It's pretty sweet though. And it surely works--if you look at their video comments.

But isn't it a liitle bit misleading showing three not-so-fat girls eating a giant chunk of pizza in front of the television and then sing a song about it? If you lay on the couch eating pizza for hours it's not the ******* fat being your problem! It's your mind! Rather than sitting there like a real pig, why don't you stir your mind, go out and start working out?! 

Don't get me wrong. These girls are talented. They're--in fact--pretty. And I like the message they're sending to the soon-to-be-fans. At least, they aren't encouraging other girls to go to the toilet and throw their food up after eating in order to own Chanel Iman's shape.

But it's the FATness they're emphasizing what bugs me the most. The 'Piggy Dolls' name makes it worse. They even claim to eat almost 20 kilograms of rice every three weeks. So what? You’re proud of that?  

Other than that, I don't really think letting the girls keep swallowing the foods regardless of health issue could be a good idea. Being big--especially if it's genetic--is okay and you have to be proud of how you are. But getting a heart attack in your 30s wouldn't exactly be your wish either. 

Maybe it's just a marketing strategy. People are starting to get bored with the idea of perfection. (I'm even getting tired of scratching Leighton Meester's face on my PC's screen too anyway) And especially on the girlbands teritory, it seems like they're targeting wider range of fans--not just high school boys drooling over skanky legs. Once again, it works though. 

It's too early to tell if they'd be succesful in the future. Following the paths of previous K-Pop groups is not an easy task. I don't know how far they are planning to go, but I hope it'd be as far as possible. They have packed themselves well enough and though it's hard to be consistent in a world changing everyday, they should keep spreading positive influence among the youths.

I just wish people don't get the wrong message from these girls. After all, they are a gold digger machine for the agency. Constant suspicion might be too much, but being critical is not a sin.

But anyway, just relax and don't overthink more about this. Let't just listen to their music to see if you're interested. And if you don't, you can switch back to Mike Mohede anytime.

By the way, I'm secretly waiting for the boy version of this group. Super Pig maybe? Anyone? 

Cheers!