Siwon Choi, member of the pop sensation Super Junior, is considered by many to be the quintessential ggot-mi-nam. (Courtesy Siwon Choi)

The movie drew a record 1.23 million Koreans to theaters. Its success was universally attributed to the effeminate beauty of the actor playing Gongil, whose newfound fame also drew attention to the Ggot-mi-nam boom in East Asia. Literally translated as “Flower Pretty Boy,” the idea behind the Ggot-mi-nam boom, prominent in Korea, Japan, and other Asian nations, is that males with feminine features are especially attractive and deserve prominence in popular culture.

In Korea, the media, fashion, and entertainment industries heavily reflect the social climate. In addition, Korean popular culture often reflects a broader East Asian culture as it is currently the dominant popular culture throughout Asia; Korean pop culture, referred to as Han-Ryu or literally the “Korean Wave,” tops all Asian music charts, box offices, and television ratings. And today these new trends regarding androgyny in Korean pop culture indicate the current gender identity revolution in Korea, and more broadly, in East Asia.

Fascination with Androgyny

For millennia, strong Confucian norms have been engrained into Korean society. For Koreans, it has always been of the highest importance that every individual knew how to play his or her part in society. Korea’s traditional ideal male image has been that of strong, dominant masculinity, while the ideal female image has been linked to submissive tranquility.

Siwon Choi, a member of the Korean pop sensation Super Junior, made his international film debut starring in the 2006 movie A Battle of Wits alongside renowned Hong Kong actor Andy Lau. At 20 years old, Choi enjoys tremendous popularity throughout Asia and is ranked as one of Korea’s most successful and prominent celebrities.
Choi, considered the quintessential Ggot-mi-nam, told The Yale Globalist that he defines a Ggot-mi-nam as “an attractive male with pretty facial features, but someone who still retains his physical masculine appeal and characteristics” as opposed to a psychologically androgynous individual, “who is not necessarily good looking, but feminine in his actions.” Choi went on to say, “It seems that fascination with androgynous features is true in all Asian nations. However, it is my personal impression that each Asian country has a different taste for pretty males. In China and Taiwan, people prefer sharper features, while in Japan, people like men who are manly but gentle at the same time. In Thailand, they seem to enjoy a mix.”

Choi’s observations of popular sexuality in East Asian cultures today are perhaps supported by psychology. According to Professor Marvin Chun of the Yale Department of Psychology, fascination with feminine male faces is true all around the world. As he told the Globalist, “Evolutionarily speaking, women tend to favor men who are likely to be good caregivers, and feminized facial features are viewed as one marker for such traits. The increased exposure in the media reflects Korea's positive move towards a more liberal, open, and tolerant society.”

The Boundaries of Androgyny

Choi believes that globalization brought many changes to Korean culture. He thinks that while Koreans of any given era favored good looking males, there was no freedom to express such fascinations in a society which clearly differentiated male-female roles and expectations through Confucian values. Choi said, “Contact with Western culture, spearheaded by American pop culture, which began around 1945, greatly influenced culture and ideals for many Koreans.”