IndexAbstractIntroductionLiterature ReviewHistory of Korean Popular MusicThe Modern K-Pop IndustryK-Pop MusicK-Pop Idol Groups and EducationThe Emergence of K-Pop in Asia and the WestRepresentations of K-Pop Pop from Western Media Western Centrism Internalized Western Centrism and Racism Discourse of “Others” Soft Masculinity of Male Idols K-Pop versus Western Hegemonic Masculinity Gaps in Existing Literature Methodology Selection and Data Collection Discourse Analysis Limitations of the Methodology Results General Coverage of BTS Introductory Phase: BBMA (2017-2018) Mainstreaming Phase (2018-Present) The Narrative of the “Others” Abstract This thesis examines how Western media portray the K-Pop group BTS and how such portrayals reinforce male-centered ideologies of masculinity West, racist and hegemonic. Despite the initial rejection of the Korean wave as a trend, BTS has achieved unprecedented success and recognition in the West. This thesis begins with a literature review that explores the K-Pop industry, Western media representations of K-Pop, and ideologies of Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity. The research uses discourse analysis as a method to analyze media representations of BTS and their effects. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the findings, highlighting the perpetuation of stated ideologies in Western media coverage of BTS and their positive and negative effects. The thesis also addresses gaps in the existing literature. This study highlights the importance of understanding the role of the media in shaping perceptions and reproducing harmful ideologies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay IntroductionIn the 1990s, South Korea's cultural products, such as dramas and songs, began to emerge and become extremely popular in Asia. The Korean wave (“Hallyu” in Korean) was coined to symbolize the global popularity of Korean popular culture in Asia (Jin, 2018). Hallyu's rapid success led some critics and scholars to dismiss it as an unsustainable trend because Korea was considered a periphery in global cultural markets (Ono and Kwon, 2013; Parc and Kim, 2020). Furthermore, many believe that the coverage of Korean cultural products is limited to Asia, where Confucian values ​​or other cultural characteristics are shared (Ha, 2017). However, in recent years, the advancements of Halyu, especially Korean folk songs or K-Pop, have been in stark contrast to such notions. K-Pop has expanded outside of Asia and become increasingly popular in the West, gaining attention from Western media. In 2012, Psy's "Gangnam Style" went viral, especially in the West. After that, many people around the world learned about K-Pop and associated it with Psy. Now, Hallyu has entered another phase with the emergence and spectacular success of BTS, a seven-member K-Pop boy group. Scholars and critics have often mentioned that BTS's music, social media, and robust fandom known as ARMY help propel them to unprecedented success. Indeed, BTS's messages of self-love and mental health in their songs attract and relate to many fans around the world, regardless of their race, gender, and age. ARMY's fervent support led BTS to win Top Social Artist (TSA) at the 2017 and 2018 Billboard Music Awards (BBMA), beating out popular artists such as Justin Bieber and others. They went on to conquer the global music charts, they were invited toperform on American music shows and talk shows and have been nominated for the 2021 Grammy Awards (GA). BTS has gained a lot of Western media coverage as they are the first K-Pop group to successfully gain a foothold in the Western music industry . They have appeared on magazine covers with titles such as “TIME's 2020 Entertainer of the Year” (Bruner, 2020). As much as BTS is receiving star treatment, they have also received resistance to their success in forms of racist and Western-centric commentary and coverage that cast them as the effeminate and irrelevant "Others." Since the media can shape its perceptions and reproduce racism, hegemonic masculinity and Western-centric ideologies, it is important to understand the roots of such perceptions and re-evaluate texts in media coverage and their role in reproducing such ideologies (Van Dijk , 1993). ). This thesis aims to analyze representations of BTS in Western media to learn how Western media portrays BTS to mainstream audiences and how Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity ideologies are reinforced in such coverage. It also aims to learn about the effects of media portrayals on BTS. This thesis begins with literature review that explores existing literature regarding the K-Pop industry, Western media representations of K-Pop, and ideologies of Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity. Next, I justify the use of discourse analysis as a research method. This thesis then concludes with a discussion of the findings that will reveal how BTS is portrayed in Western media and that stated ideologies are present and perpetuated in such coverage. It will also reveal the positive and negative effects of such coverages. Literature Review In this literature review, I will first analyze the existing literature to reveal the origin and characteristics of the K-Pop industry and explore how K-Pop has become global internationally, particularly in the West. This is done to provide a background of K-Pop that can help readers better understand the analysis. Second, current literature analyzing Western media representations of K-Pop was examined. Since the literature shows that coverage of K-Pop has Western-centric and racist undertones, I will then explore the ideologies of Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity to better understand why K-Pop is represented in a certain way by the West. Finally, this section will conclude by addressing research gaps in the literature. History of Korean Popular Music To understand the origin of K-Pop and how it became a successful Korean cultural export, Lie (2014) and Cho (2017) first examined the history of Korean popular music. Traditional Korean music is known as “Kugak” before cultural and musical adaptation from Japan and the West began to emerge when Korea was occupied by Japan in 1910 and continued until Korea regained independence after the Second World War. World War (Lie, 2014; Cho, 2017, p.14). Korea established Korean folk music known as “taejung kayo” under the Japanese occupation (Cho 2017). Under Japan's rule, Japan eliminated what was Korean and introduced what was Japanese, from language to music (Lie, 2014, p. 21). However, Japan was already Westernized in the 1880s before annexing Korea. Therefore, Japan institutionalized modern Japan that was predominantly Western in form and content instead of traditional Japanese content in Korea (Lie, 2014, p. 21). Japan consideredWestern music a symbol of modernization and a way to form loyal subjects and catch up with the West (Lie, 2014). Therefore, control over music was a way for Japan to achieve a state dependent on modern, Westernized, and loyal Japan (Cho, 2017, p. 16). After the end of Japanese colonization, America led the “free world” and widely promoted American academic and pop culture around the world (Chua and Cho, 2012, p. 485). America became the reference point for Korean cultural legitimacy as Christian missionaries in Korea portrayed America as the symbol of modernity and freedom for Koreans (Cho, 2017; Chua and Cho, 2012; Yoshimi and Buist , 2003). Therefore, modern K-Pop has undergone Westernization and cultural hybridization as a result of colonization and the Christian movement and has been completed through globalization. Modern K-Pop IndustryK-Pop MusicThe 1990s were a defining moment for modern Korean popular music with the birth of the first K-Pop idol group known as HOT or 'High Five of Teenagers' (Lee, 2019, p. 23). According to many scholars, K-Pop has little association with traditional Korean culture since K-Pop is a cultural hybridization between Western universalism and Asian exoticism (Shim, 2006; Oh and Park, 2012, p. 368 ). The hybridity and multinational elements of K-Pop complicate the definition of K-Pop because not all K-Pop music is entirely made by Koreans or performed by Korean artists as there are a growing number of global producers, composers and artists producing and perform K-Pop. -Pop music (Lee, 2019, p. 24; Do, 2012). Many K-Pop companies have outsourced Western melodies, lyrics, rhythms, and percussion from countries such as Sweden, America, or England (Oh, 2013, p. 396). The companies have also hired Western producers and composers to produce K-Pop songs. For example, American artist Bebe Rexha composed the song "Lucifer" for SHINee. These collaborations have developed catchy and unique sounds that differentiate K-Pop from other pop songs and have helped increase the international popularity of K-Pop groups. According to the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS, 2011a, p. 33), one of the attractive characteristics of K-Pop uses strong dance beats with repetitive, addictive choruses known as "hooks" that are effective in keeping songs locked in listeners' heads. Songs like “Nobody” by Wonder Girls and “Sorry Sorry” by Super Junior have catchy hooks. K-Pop songs also usually have rapping, dance and singing elements mixed together (Leung, 2012). The most interesting feature of K-Pop is that it incorporates music with dance and fashion (KOCIS, 2011a). K-Pop idols will perform synchronized dance moves with broad facial expressions that illustrate the lyrics and concept of the song (Do, 2012, p. 33; Oh, 2013). K-Pop companies also work with foreign choreographers. For example, Keone Madrid, an American choreographer who developed some choreography for the boy group GOT7. Usually, K-Pop groups will have a different concept for each comeback song or album where stage outfits, makeup and hairstyle are tools to match the concept. K-Pop Idol groups and TrainingIdol groups are the reason why K-Pop is popular. K-Pop producers and companies such as SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and others worry about their artists' abilities to become global celebrities and ultimately generate high profits (Oh, 2013, p. 401). These companies will scout and train teenagers from local and global auditions to debut in idol groups rather than as solo artists (Cho, 2017, p. 20; Oh, 2013). Groups are preferred over solo artists because eachmember is assigned a role as a singer, dancer or rapper to attract more fans. Trainees will take singing, dancing, language, acting, and physical fitness classes for at least 2-10 years before their debut (Oh, 2013, p. 402; Cho, 2017). Visual elements such as fashion, attractive appearance and physique play an important role in K-Pop to attract fans. Compared to Japanese pop idols, K-Pop idols are much sexier and have more sophisticated appearances and figures (Oh, 2013, p. 401). This is because Western beauty standards are idealized in Korea. K-Pop idols, particularly female ones, are usually emphasized for possessing American beauty characteristics that include being tall, blonde, having double eyelids, and a slim, yet curvy, hourglass figure known as the "S line" (Genovese, n.d., p. 2 ). Therefore, plastic surgeries to achieve a more American-looking face and figure and strict diet management to maintain the desired weight are part of the training (Oh and Park, 2012, p. 382; Genovese, n.d., p 1). Training programs are rigid and paternalistic as trainees are prohibited from using cell phones, making appointments, and more (Ho, 2012). Idols are expected to behave well and innocently, refraining from dating or smoking scandals (Leung, 2012; Cho, 2017). Once involved in such scandals, they will withdraw from the group. Most idol members and groups have English names so that international fans can remember them easily. The Emergence of K-Pop in Asia and the WestThe success of K-Pop in the global market may seem sudden, however, it has its roots in the popularity of Korean television programs in East Asian countries (Lee, 2019, p. 16 ). In the 1980s and 1990s, major cultural imports came from Japan (Lee, 2019, p. 17). Japan's huge domestic market and rich resources meant that they did not need the foreign market to produce significant revenue, and the costs of importing their content were high. The cost factor and the small Korean domestic market have worked in favor of the Korean cultural industries. Korea has opened its economy by exporting pop culture content to Asian nations such as China, Singapore, and others (Parc and Kim, 2020). People began to take an interest in Korean songs with the growing popularity of Korean dramas such as "Winter Sonata" in the 1990s. Then, K-Pop began to captivate listeners in Asia. In the late 1990s, Hong Kong-based Channel V began showing K-Pop music videos (MVs), and K-Pop groups such as Shinhwa and Sechs Kies regularly hold concerts in Hong Kong and Taiwan (KOCIS, 2011b, p. 30; Shim, 2006). The achievements of these groups have opened the door for more K-Pop artists to thrive across borders. Lead singer BoA ​​was considered one of the first Korean singers to have a successful career in America and Japan (KOCIS, 2011b, p. 31). Some critics initially believed that Hallyu would not last long or make huge progress in other global regions as it did in Asia because they viewed Hallyu's achievements as unforeseen and random, rather than intentional (Ono and Kwon, 2013, p. 204 ). Their idea is that another cultural fad will occur in the future that will replace Halyu, just as Hallyu had replaced Japanese popular culture in the 1990s (Ono and Kwon, 2013, p. 204). However, their predictions were not accurate as K-Pop has not faded away. Instead, it has become more popular than ever not only in Asia but also in the West thanks to social media. K-Pop's penetration into the West has led to a new phase of the Korean wave referred to as Hallyu 2.0 in the 2010s in which it is "more intense in its popularity and extensive in itsdiffusion" (Jin and Yoon, 2016, p. 1278). Hallyu 2.0 is distinguished from the previous wave by its global reach through the notable role of social media in the production, consumption and circulation of K-Pop content (Jin and Yoon, 2016, p. 1278). Social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube can make the international pop culture market scene very volatile and help increase the visibility of K-Pop through social media (Jung, 2014, p. 114). ) These digital media technologies make the international pop culture market scene very changeable and help increase the visibility of K-Pop through social media (Jung, 2014, p. 114). -Asian", K-Pop was not well known in the West, especially in the United States, as evident in the failed attempts of some K-Pop groups such as the Wonder Girls, who spent three years trying to penetrate the US pop market by releasing singles English (Jung, 2014, p. 126; Jin, 2018, p. 412). Most people outside of Asia were unaware of K-Pop, but thanks to social media, K-Pop gained some recognition in the West after Psy's 2012 MV Gangnam Style became a viral hit on YouTube and global music markets, which has over 3 billion views to date (Jin, 2018, p. 405). The MV was spread "among K-Pop fan networks on Twitter and Facebook" and became an Internet meme thanks to the growing trend of reaction and parody videos on YouTube that attracted mainstream audiences and was recognized on Twitter by renowned superstars such as Britney Spears and Tom Crociera (Jung, 2014, p. 125). After becoming an Internet phenomenon, Psy appeared on US television shows such as Saturday Night Live and others, which helped push K-Pop to greater success (Jung, 2014,P. 125). Since Psy's successful debut in North America, many K-Pop groups such as BTS have gained more recognition and popularity in the West. Therefore, several studies agree that the recognition of K-Pop in the West is due to social media (Do, 2012; Jin and Yoon, 2016; Lee, 2019). Western Media Depictions of K-Pop While K-Pop is gaining interest in the West, there is an increasing amount of Western media coverage about them. Kwon (2017) and Gibson (2019) analyzed Western media representations of K-Pop. Kwon (2017) examined articles published after 2011 from US and United Kingdom (UK) media portrayals of K-Pop. Both US and UK media have reported similar portrayals of K-Pop. First, they described K-Pop artists as Korean national heroes because they are seen as national image makers who promote and represent Korea to the world. Second, they both reported on the workings of the K-Pop industry (tough training and strict rules) and described that K-Pop performances include perfectly synchronized choreography, catchy songs, and trendy outfits. They also described K-Pop idols as humble, hard-working people who possess multi-faceted talents and attractive features achieved through plastic surgery. However, US media has depicted K-Pop much more negatively than British media. The US media has provided a narrative that K-Pop is a mass product and idols are machines lacking uniqueness because entertainment companies often produce cookie-cutter shows and idols with forgettable characteristics (Kwon, 2017, p. 27). Meanwhile, British media presented a different narrative than US media, highlighting idols as uniquebecause their fashion and hairstyles are different from the everyday appearance of Westerners (Kwon, 2017, p. 65). They also highlighted idols as innovative because artists like G-Dragon writes, produces and performs his own songs instead of performing songs created by other producers. Third, they claimed that K-Pop is being used as political propaganda by South Korea to incite the interests of North Koreans. This is because K-Pop songs are a symbol of democratization and freedom linked to the ideologies of the United States that threaten North Korea, so much so that the Korean government deliberately launches K-Pop towards the North to awaken their interests (Cho, 2017, p. 17). . It is observed throughout Kwon's analysis that Western media coverage of K-Pop has Western-centric connotations (description below). US media described K-Pop as a cultural product exported from the United States because they believed K-Pop imitated and adopted American musical genres and boy group concepts. Both US and British media have perceived that K-Pop requires assistance from the West to achieve global success. For example, they believed that K-Pop songs needed to be sung primarily in English for their songs to be spread globally. Kwon (2017, p. 56) argued that the British media imagined the UK as the center of cultural exchange by emphasizing the importance of English lyrics to the success of K-Pop, which reinforced the ideology centered on West according to which the West is the center of the world. world (Shohat and Stam, 2014). Since Kwon's (2017) study demonstrated Western discourses on K-Pop after 2011, it is necessary to have a comprehensive study on Western articles published before 2011 to show changes in perspectives on K-Pop over time. In this aspect, Gibson (2019) analyzed Western media coverage of K-Pop from 2009 to 2019 and examined general trends in the media's framing of K-Pop over time in four distinct phases: Introductory Stage (2009 -2011), Gangnam Style Stage (2012-2013), Korea Wave Stage (2014-2017) and Mainstreaming Stage (2018-2019). In the introductory phase, there was sporadic coverage about K-Pop and the Western media was curious, but at the same time skeptical about K-Pop. They often asked variations of “What is K-Pop” and covered many K-Pop stereotypes (manufactured idols) that still exist in K-Pop coverage today (Gibson, 2019, p. 30). A 2012 New Yorker article labeled the girl group Girls Generation as "Factory Girls". The Gangnam Style Stage saw more coverage on K-Pop and Psy. Most of the coverage on Gangnam Style has been positive, but there have been some negative comments and problematic stereotypes. The articles often exoticized and emasculated Psy by treating him as a caricature that reinforced negative stereotypes of Asian men (see below). Despite these issues, Psy's popularity fueled a deeper interest in the K-Pop industry and idols leading to the next phase of coverage. The Korea Wave phase observed an increasing amount of media coverage and a wide range of news perspectives (e.g., K-Pop as a political tool) on K-Pop, which corresponded to a substantial increase in exposure of K-Pop Pop in the market. West. Since idols and K-Pop usually have clean images, many media outlets were determined to expose K-Pop's dark side by focusing on the hypercompetitive, high-pressure industry narrative. In the mainstreaming phase, K-Pop has begun to be included in mainstream conversations in the West as television programs andWestern news outlets have introduced K-Pop to a wide-ranging audience demographic that would typically never consume information about the culture and music of other countries. countries (Gibson, 2019, p. 34). This phase saw an increase in critical and in-depth coverage. For example, the media will analyze in detail K-Pop albums and songs, and scandals of K-Pop artists that are usually not reported in the West. Although there is wider coverage about K-Pop, the media has not moved away from the tropes of the past as there are articles that provided inaccurate information and racist coverage about K-Pop. However, unlike previous phases, fans are now more active in denouncing and demanding accountability for racist and misleading coverage, which greatly influences how the West discusses K-Pop, especially on social media. Accountability for such coverage is necessary because information from the media is considered somewhat objective and credible. A survey conducted by the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) found that non-K-Pop fans rely on the media to develop their perceptions of Korea and K-Pop (KOFICE, 2016 cited in Kwon, 2017). This means that individuals may formulate stereotypes of K-Pop and Korea developed and reinforced by the media. From these two studies, I identified general representations of K-Pop that primarily include prejudicial and stereotypical images of K-Pop and that Western media tend to view K-Pop through the Western lens, thus evoking a sense of Western superiority. and “Otherness” in their coverage. I believe the reason is due to Western centrism, as explained below. Western Centrism Western centrism is a discursive motivation and remnant of colonialism, as it normalizes the power imbalance produced by colonialism (Shohat and Stam, 2014, p. 2). Colonialism is a process through which Europeans competed for control and conquered colonial territories and resources, achieving cultural and political hegemony across much of the world (Shohat and Stam, 2014, p. 2). Even though colonial rule has ended, much of the world maintains a Western-centric view. Western centrism is a perspective in which Europe is considered the only source of meaning, as the center of the world and as “ontological reality compared to the rest of the shadow of the world” (Shohat and Stam, 2014, p. 2) . Western centrism divides the world into West and Rest. Europeans are perceived as creators of history because it is believed that the West had a special advantage in terms of race, culture and more that makes Europeans superior and that their civilizations progress, modernize and innovate naturally while other civilizations stagnate and they are considered backward and have no real contribution to the world (Blaut, 1993, p. 1; Bruckmann, 2010). These beliefs were formed because Europeans were alluded to as the ones who invented the modern state, capitalism, and more (Blaut, 1993, p. 8). However, Blaut (1993) argued that some of these suggestions may not be true. This is because Western centrism has established itself as inventive and superior by “appropriating the cultural and material creation of non-Westerners” without recognizing the achievements of non-Westerners and its appropriation (Shohat and Stam, 2014, p. 3). With this institution, Western centrism portrays the West as leaders charged with guiding and modernizing non-Western civilizations as they emulate the West through colonialism and assimilation (Amin, 1989; Blaut, 1993). Because Western centrism is an ideology that shapes modern practices and representations, many non-Western territories such as Japan and Korea haveunderwent Westernization as they institutionalized Western practices, institutions, and more (Shohat & Stam, 2014, p. 2; Kang, 2015 ). For example, the Westernization of K-Pop symbolizes modernity and freedom in Korea (see above). Another example is that the US media has imagined America as the leader of the global music market, while K-Pop is depicted as a cultural heir and follower of American music (Kwon, 2017, p. 18). Western centrism not only influences the Westernization of K-Pop idols and songs, but also causes internalized Western centrism and reinforces racism which I will explain below. Internalized Western Centrism and the “Others” Because Western centrism allows the West to project their achievements as “representatives of humanity” and widely disseminate Western values, practices, and more, their cultural expressions become the norm or universal (Young, 1990, p. 59). As Western cultural identity and expressions are normalized, the West has constructed the non-West as negative in comparison (Young, 1990; Blaut, 1993). Therefore, non-Westerners are segregated and constructed as the “Others”. The process of 'Othering' involves the non-Western being stigmatized and stereotyped as threatening or inferior (Kang, 2015). As the Western-centric worldview of history is normalized through education, the media, and more, the consequence is that Western-centric views are widely internalized among non-Western and Western people, consciously or unconsciously ( Shohat and Stam, 1994, p. 298; Most non-Westerners have internalized Western-centric views because they believe they cannot represent the world without depending on a “Western-centric epistemological framework” because they are faced with the imposed idea. to be less superior than Western counterparts (Kang, 2015, p. 30). For example, K-Pop idols adhering to Western beauty standards have reinforced the idea of ​​the West as the center of the world and Koreans' desire to be like Westerners. Since the West is continually perceived as the best, there will consequently be racist views towards non-Westerners or the K-Pop industry. Discourse on Racism The discourse on racism is similar to and closely intertwined with the ideology of Western centrism (Shohat and Stam, 1994; Kang, 2015). D'Souza (1995, p. 518) defined racism as the belief that intellectual or moral superiority is based on certain racial characteristics and that any act of racial discrimination is due to such beliefs. Whites are constructed to be more superior than non-whites, which has led to the latter being subjected to racism. Such prejudices and subjugations are reproduced in everyday life through the media, education and politics, contributing to the reproduction of racism (Van Dijk, 1993). When Girls Generation won YouTube's Video of the Year award in 2013 in America, racist comments such as “Can you believe One Direction lost to a weird Chinese girl” were common (Gibson, 2019, p. 38). Thinking it's unbelievable for a K-Pop group to win an award against a Western group and calling them weird shows that they subscribe to Western-centric and racist views of non-Westerners as mediocre and negative towards the West. Labeling Girls Generation (all members of the Korean group) as "Chinese girls" is racist because commenters have generalized Asian-looking people as Chinese, which invalidates other ethnicities within Asian communities. You can be Western-centric by rejecting racism on a conscious levelbecause Western centrism is not a genetic inheritance, but a historically situated discourse (Shohat and Stam, 1994, p. 298). But because Western and racist views are similar in that they believe in Western and white superiority, people tend to internalize racial stereotypes as well. One example is the racial stereotypes of male K-Pop idols as "gay" and "effeminate" due to different ideas of masculinity in Western and Korean cultures, as shown below. Soft Masculinity of K-Pop Male Idols vs. Western Hegemonic Masculinity different versions of masculinity based on their musical concept (Almqvist-Ingersoll, 2019; Lee et al., 2020, p. 5904; Song and Velding (2020, p. 5) stated that different types of masculinity include “KKot mi nam" (flower boys in Korean) and "Jim seung dol" (male idols depicting wild, beast-like masculinity). Kkot mi nam masculinity refers to men who are thin and have cute features and/or androgynous who are very popular among fans as it presents a more "feminine" masculinity that emphasizes more on beauty and less on physical strength (Oh, 2015, p.63; For a sweet concept, male idols will perform masculinity Kkot mi nam in pastel-colored dresses, they will dance to cute choreography while making cute gestures like winking to emphasize their youthful innocence (Song and Velding, 2020, p. 5). At the same time, idols themselves will perform Jim Seung Dol's masculinity to show a sexy and tough concept that typically involves heavy eye makeup, shirtless muscular bodies, and tough or sexy choreography that includes pelvic thrusts (Oh, 2015; Song and Velding, 2020). Scholars have conceptualized male K-Pop idols' flexibility in alternating between soft and macho masculine expressions in terms of “manufactured versatile masculinity” (Jung, 2011) and “alternative masculinity” (Oh, 2015). Oh (2015, p. 63) considered the line between Kkot mi nam and Jim seung dol to be light because although idols portraying Jim seung dol must appear manly, they must also have pretty faces and flawless skin. This is because lookism is prevalent in Korea where applying makeup is common among Korean men because self-grooming and looking good reflects one's competence and helps one stand out from others (Oh, 2015, p. 63; Sharma, 2018). So, male idols will undergo plastic surgery, diet, make up their faces, and wear androgynous accessories and clothing to stand out from other idols and meet the visual expectations required by Korean society. Such “feminine” expressions of male gender evoked by effeminate appearance are not associated with queer practices or homosexuality in Korea, but might be perceived as such in the West due to Western hegemonic masculinity (Oh, 2015; Almqvist-Ingersoll, 2019). Western hegemonic masculinity is defined by the absence of any feminine characteristics and the superiority of femininity (Hong et al., 2011; Song and Velding, 2020). For example, a man who focuses too much on his appearance is considered feminine, which would put his masculine label at risk (Song and Velding, 2020, p. 6). The ideal hegemonic masculinity includes a “Western, white, able-bodied, heterosexual, middle/upper class male” (Connell, 2005 cited in Song and Velding, 2020, p. 6). Males become “real men” through reinforcing heterosexuality, homophobia, physical aggression, and having tough-looking muscles and appearance (Hong etal., 2011, p. 863). Hegemonic masculinity is presented as the benchmark to which all men should aspire, but non-white, homosexual, or lower-class men are excluded from being considered masculine (Kim and Pyke, 2015, p. 510). Therefore, it is inevitable that the sexuality of Asian men, especially male K-Pop idols, will be underestimated as the West constructs other masculinities as inferior, which explains the dominance of Western hegemonic masculinity (Kim and Pyke, 2015, p . 512; Song and Velding, 2020, p.6). Asian men are emasculated because they embody traits such as intelligence, introversion, soft-spoken, and sexually inadequate, and are generally short and non-muscular, all of which fail to fit the ideal traits of Western masculinity and are considered effeminate traits in the male world. West (Lee, 2016, pp. 10 and 20; Song and Velding, 2020). Therefore, Americans typically perceive Asian men as less masculine and attractive than White and Black American men (Wilkins et al., 2011; Lee, 2016). The explosive popularity of K-Pop in the West had led the media and popular culture critics to scrutinize the appearances of male K-Pop idols in addition to their music and performances. Some Western media have criticized them for being gay or feminine due to their style and makeup (Lee et al., 2020). They also reinforced problematic stereotypes of emasculated Asian men by highlighting Psy's appearance as chubby, unattractive, and eccentric (Gibson, 2019, p. 32). However, Oh (2015) and Lee et al. (2020, p. 5901) felt that soft masculinity and the popularity of male K-Pop idols could perhaps challenge negative stereotypes of Asian men's masculinity and redefine traditional standards of male beauty and masculinity by deviating from normative attributes of masculinity hegemonic as they are now commonly recognized as attractive and sexy. Gaps in Existing Literature The above literature review provided few crucial insights. First, the West has become the reference point for Korean cultural legitimacy due to colonization, which has greatly influenced K-Pop to incorporate both Western and Asian elements, making it a cultural hybrid. K-Pop emerged in Asia thanks to the huge popularity of Korean dramas and is eventually recognized in the West thanks to Gangnam Style and social media. Second, studies by Kwon (2017) and Gibson (2019) show that general representations of K-Pop have Western and racist undertones where K-Pop and idols are depicted as the "Others" and cultural heirs of 'West. It also shows that the media has a role in perpetuating racist and Western-centric views that may cause mainstream audiences to develop the same perceptions about K-Pop and Korea. As I identified that there are Western-centric and racist connotations in the coverage, the literature review also discussed relevant literature on ideologies of Western centrism and racism. It demonstrated how Western centrism and racism are largely internalized by both the West and non-Westerners because the former is imagined as the center of the world due to their superiority. This explains why Western media will portray K-Pop through the Western lens and evoke a sense of Western superiority. Due to Western centrism, the soft masculinity of male K-Pop idols is also considered negative compared to Western hegemonic masculinity. This gives rise to comments describing male idols as effeminate. Such representations and points of view havedisastrous consequences for reasons that will be discussed below. In the course of my research, I discovered several literatures on the K-Pop industry and how social media has contributed to its growing popularity in the West. While these studies offer significant findings and implications, there are inadequate studies of Western media representations of K-Pop. Especially on the use of theories of Western centrism, racism and hegemonic masculinity to decipher the reasons and repercussions of such representations and reactions. Since BTS is considered the most popular K-Pop boy group in the world, I'm interested to know how the West views and portrays them. I have found that Western media coverage of BTS has not been analyzed as much given the amount of hype BTS has generated in the West. BTS only gained traction in the West in 2017, which indicates how relatively new this topic is in academia and explains why there is insufficient literature on Western audiences' reactions and media representations towards them. Most literature on BTS focuses on their fandom and how digitalization has contributed to their popularity (Lee and Nguyen, 2020; Parc and Kim, 2020). Therefore, this thesis seeks to bridge the literature gap by using BTS as a case study to understand how they are portrayed in Western media and whether ideologies of Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity are perpetuated. We also try to know the effects of such representations. Methodology This section will first discuss and explain the data selection and collection process. Based on my research objectives mentioned above, I will conduct a qualitative study on BTS and Western media. Among many research methods, discourse analysis (DA) is useful for analyzing qualitative studies as it critically shows the social phenomena represented. I will describe and justify the use of DA and address the limitations of the methodology. Data Selection and Collection Since this study focuses on the reception of BTS in the West, online newspaper and magazine articles were selected from Western media in the United States and the United Kingdom. in the US and UK media articles because BTS has actively promoted itself in America and achieved many hits in the US music market, while the UK has streamed more K-Pop music than any other country in Europe since 2019 to 2020 (Kim, 2020). The articles were selected from various publications so that there is enough variation and information on media coverage about BTS. Since BTS achieved global popularity and received enormous attention from Western media after winning the TSA award from the 2017 BBMAs, my study focused on the days they attended the 2017 BBMAs for the first time. 2017 and were introduced to the general Western public two days after attending the 2021 AG. The time frame selected was between May 21, 2017 and March 17, 2021. This time frame was selected because I am interested in the coverage BTS journalism during the time they are actively promoting in America after the 2017 BBMAs and since the most recent event was the 2021 GA, I expected to find a lot of news articles two days after the event ended. The data was collected from Google News using these search terms: "Who are BTS", "BTS" AND "BBMAs", "BTS" AND "Awards", "BTS" AND "Grammys", "BTS" AND " Racism,” “BTS,” AND “Masculinity,” and “BTS Interviews.” To avoid duplicate articles and overlooking relevant information that could influence search results, I havereviewed all articles from the top five Google search pages and selected 50 articles which are attached in Appendix 1 below. All selected articles were analyzed and coded to generate themes from the data relevant to my research (Bryman, 2012). Coding was done by grouping events, actions, and more that I interpreted as similar together based on themes such as the reasons for BTS's success and more, as shown in Appendix 2. These themes facilitated my analysis of how they are represented BTS. Discourse Analysis This research used DA as a tool to analyze the texts within each chosen article. DA refers to the study of uses of language and investigates how ideas and power structures are socially constructed in discourses (Crawford, 2004; Hodges et al., 2008). DA can analyze data sources such as news stories, magazine articles, and more. Inequalities are justified through positive representations of one's own group and negative representations of "Others" in discourses, for example, through a certain use of words that have negative or positive connotations (Van Dijik, 1993). This means that ideologies are conveyed and (re)produced in a discourse. Since my goal is to know how BTS is represented and whether discourses of Western centrism, racism, and hegemonic masculinity have been reproduced by Western media, I find DA to be the most appropriate method for my data analysis. This is because methods such as content analysis examine the content and/or gather meaningful information, while DA studies the ways in which language is used in texts, which allows me to better understand how language can construct and reinforce ideologies ( Hasa, 2016). Furthermore, DA uses strategies such as lexical style and argumentation expressed in discourse which can help me to analyze how media texts are constructed and to decipher the underlying meanings supported and produced through discourse and to discover the potential effects that media representations can have on the public and society (Van Dijik, 1993; Crawford, 2004, p. 23). Therefore, much attention was given to the words and sentence structures used to express certain ideas in the articles. Limitations of Methodology This research has several methodological limitations. First, my article search is not comprehensive, which means I'm likely to have missed some news and magazine articles, especially from smaller publications, due to Google's algorithm prioritizing the most popular websites. trafficked. Second, I did not collect multimedia sources such as YouTube videos that could provide more information, and the number of articles collected may be insufficient to generalize the findings on a larger scale. Finally, most of the items I selected are from the United States. So, I might overlook UK coverage of BTS given the different perspectives they might offer. Results This section will review and discuss the results of the analysis conducted. First, I will show general general coverage of BTS to understand how Western media commonly portrays them. Secondly, I will show how BTS are portrayed as the “Others” by Western media and the music industry due to Western centrism and racism. Finally, I will demonstrate how BTS are simultaneously seen as effeminate and positive Asian representatives capable of redefining hegemonic masculinity in the West. Ultimately, my findings will reveal that overall coverage of BTS is similar to the coverage of K-Pop found in Kwon's (2017) and Gibson's (2019) studies and that Western centrism, racism, andHegemonic masculinities are evident in Western media. BTS performances. General BTS Coverage Based on the analysis, this section will demonstrate the two distinct phases of BTS coverage in the West: introductory phase: BBMA (2017-2018) and mainstreaming phase (2018-present). Introductory Phase: BBMA (2017-2018) The Introductory Phase was characterized by the introduction of BTS and their victory and performance at the BBMA and the American Music Awards (AMA), respectively. This is because BTS was the first K-Pop group to win the TSA award and perform at the AMAs despite being unknown to the general Western audience. Yet, they managed to win the award against Western artists like Justin Bieber, who are famous in America. Since fan votes on social media platforms determine the winner of the award, most articles report that social media and BTS fans known as ARMY are the main contributors to their win. Some media outlets had a positive view of what the victory would mean for BTS and K-Pop in the West, but some thought otherwise. Billboard News hoped that BTS (and/or other K-Pop groups) could enter the Western music market as the author believed that BTS' victory proved that K-Pop can compete and thrive on a global scale thanks to social media ( Benjamin, 2017 ). However, Howe (2017) of Varsity felt that the win did not mean much for K-Pop in the West because the TSA award is based on fan votes. Howe (2017) explained that the award would be more meaningful and legitimate if it were a music award rather than a fan-voted award. You may feel that BTS's victory was unimportant, but articles such as Buzzfeed News (BFN) have countered this argument by arguing that BTS helped spark conversations about Asian representation in the West (Chen, 2017). This is because there were many racist comments such as "Who are these Asians?" and “BTS returns to Korea” on social media after BTS's victory (Chen, 2017). BFN described BTS as an inspiration to many Asian-Americans and encouraged the West to be more inclusive by giving more recognition to Asian artists. BTS began appearing on US talk shows and continued to perform at the AMAs. The media reported headlines such as “All anyone cared about at the AMAs was BTS” (Connellan, 2017). Overall, this phase gave the illusion that BTS is very popular in America and is a symbol of K-Pop's breakthrough into the Western market. Mainstreaming Phase (2018–present) This phase has seen an increasing amount of media coverage about them and their achievements as BTS has continued to break many records, such as placing their songs at number one on the Billboard music charts and selling out stadiums across the US and Europe for their concerts. The media called them a global phenomenon and was quick to reveal the reasons for their breakthrough in the West. There have been serious reports from Vulture and Rolling Stone (RS) investigating the factors behind BTS' success. They concluded that BTS's strong presence on social media, ARMY's fandom, immaculate performances and appearance, meaningful messages, and the authenticity of their music are major factors contributing to their worldwide success (Dorof, 2018; Kim, 2018). They described BTS as a group that challenges the manufactured stereotype of K-Pop by pointing out that they write and produce the majority of their music with lyrics that address mental illness, self-love, and criticism of society (Liu, 2019; Holmes, 2020) . . The media had good intentions in presenting that BTS's unique point is their authenticity, however, they reinforced the crew of.