The problem with the maknae title in kpop

The way fearnots almost “fetishize” the maknae title when it comes to eunchae needs to be studied. No other fandom has probably ever been this obsessed with the maknae position. It’s always “eunchae is the most maknae maknae ever” “eunchae best maknae” “eunchae is so maknae” like ok we get it, how about not reducing her to just being the youngest?

The maknae expectations are ridiculous. For example: Seohyun (SNSD's maknae) was denied so many iconic roles in movies/TV shows because the company thought they went against her youngest image. And there was backlash from some 'fans' when she started acting her age just because she was the maknae. Like, she's in her late 20's/early 30's? Is she supposed to act like a teenager her entire life? These idols are so much more than their age/role, but people take the maknae title and try to force all maknaes into a specific box even once the idols reach their 30's.

Fearnots need to watch this video asap. Calling Eunchae the Maknae of Kpop is complete, pure idiocy when there’s legit so many idols younger than her active in the industry. For f’s sake Hyein of NJs is literally under the same corporation as Eunchae and she’s younger than her. Like please, stop obsessing over Eunchae’s maknae title cuz the moment she matures and passes 20 everyone’s gonna go “oMg I wAnT tHe oLd eUnChAe bAcK sHe’S nOt mAknAeInG aNyMoRe” — yeah, that’s cuz you refused to let this kid get older and develop into a young lady, and forgot to talk about her talent. That’s it, thank you for coming to my ted talk.

I think it's interesting how hard Eunchae is pushed as a maknae. In her MC position they have her opposite an older idol and they really play into the younger sister/older brother dynamic. In her star diary show she almost exclusively interviews older groups, with older members. Within her group she is the youngest by a large margin. They often style her with youthful haircuts like pigtails, etc. Clearly the korean public buys this concept though, I can't see why else maknae has been an "official" position in kpop this whole time. If part of kpop is about trying to sell paradoxical relationships, perhaps the role of the maknae is to be the viewers' surrogate daughter, or younger sibling.

It feels like Eunchae doesn't actually have anything going for her (besides being a maknae). Her dance is alright but Sakura, Chaewon and Kazuha really overshadow her. To praise her, like every fandom does with their idols, I think Fearnots just focus on her maknae title lol. I really hope that Eunchae can make a title of herself in the future that isn't just tied to her maknae position, she could make for a really good rapper (if trained good).

If leeseo acts cute she get death threats hate etc, if eunchae acts cute she gets praised etc (no hate to eunchae) The hate leeseo gets is annoying 💀

My biggest problem is that when fandoms constantly baby the maknaes when they're grown adults in their 20s or 30s (Insomnias for example baby Gahyeon (DC's Maknae) when she is 24 yo) even when the idols themselves aren't comfortable with it

This is exactly one of my problems with Fearnots.. Seriously being the maknae is not a freakin personality trait. They obsess over Eunchae being the “maknaest of maknaes” (which not only makes no sense, but is also laughable), I rarely see them praise her dancing, singing, her stage presence, etc. It’s like all they can reduce her to is being the youngest and cutest member. The amount of times they feel the need to compare her to other maknaes like Leeseo or Hyein and basically trash them because they don’t “act like a maknae”, when being a maknae doesn’t mean you have to act like a child. I fear that when Eunchae grows up and matures, people will start hating on her for either not “acting like a maknae” or because she “changed” (or both).

I think that one of the reasons for the hate on lesseo is majorly because she comes from IVE. If it was any other group, they wouldn't even bother her. Her hate is also rooted in Misogyny. And also since many people may not want to here it, IVE is the competition for the Big 4 girl groups. That is why they nitpick everything that the group does. Wonyoung Strawberry just breathing infact. Liz gaining weight as if people don't understand that women's bodies go through variations Yujin acting mature when she IS LITERALLY the leader of IVE Gauel for just being their and yet she is a good dancer and contributes a lot to the group REI for just being Japanese. Fun fact: the girls are not going anywhere. 😭😭😭🤗🤗🤗. It doesn't hurt to be a fan.

like you said it’s so true that kpop stans really push the family narrative onto groups and they take it too seriously, that’s why you have people expecting every maknae to fit their “role” and if they don’t they ain’t good enough

to be honest i think a lot of fearnots can't handle the fact that in terms of talent eunchae is a filler member and brings barely anything to the group performance and music wise. (i say this as an eunchae biased fearnot by the way). in groups like ive, every member fits a purpose. yujin is the leader and brings a lot to the table in terms of vocals, dancing and performance. gaeul has a unique vocal and rapping tone, as well as being the best dancer. rei has a distinct rap tone and makes all of her lines iconic. wonyoung picks up brand promotions and starts tiktok challenges, as well as being the stan attractor, serving visuals and being an amazing performer. liz is by far the best vocalist and an amazing performer. leeseo has a unique performance and her stage presence is exponentially improving. each member has their own skillsets and their voices all bring something to ive. however in le sserafim eunchae doens't really bring anything of that kind to the table. she only got lines because garam was kicked out, her vocals are underdeveloped and they sound similar to sakura and kazuha's so she doesn't really stand out, she doesn't get rap lines, she's an above average dancer but she's also in a group with sakura and chaewon, le sserafim definitely isn't lacking in terms of dancing. while her stage presence is okay she fits brighter and more energetic concepts which le sserafim has only really done in no celestial and no-return. their other songs are more badass and sultry like fearless, antifragile, unforgiven and eve psyche and the bluebeard's wife, or elegant and classy like blue flame, impurities and perfect night. not to mention le sserafim's concept and choreographies don't fit her age that much with many moves that are inappropriate for minors. the only thing going for her that makes her stand out from the rest is her marketable persona as a fresh, innocent, shy and mischievious youth that's like a younger sister. other than that she has little remarkable talents that make her stand out from the rest of her group and so that's what every fearnot hyperfixates on as the only quality that they can really praise.

As a wiz*one I remember how loved Wonyoung was as a maknae they would only talk about how adorable and bubbly she was “like a true maknae" and the day Wonyoung debuted in IVE another member became the maknae and Wony started pulling away from her maknae persona she received massive hate and a lot of people said "she changed" and when Wony did act cute and bubbly people started saying she was forcing it well of course she’s forcing it because y’all won’t leave her the fuck alone with the Maknae title

Imagine if we went around saying how are youngest sibling was better than someone else’s because “fulfill” the youngest roll the best 😭

Fearnots bu11y the sh1t out of leeseo and will cry about someone criticising eunchae saying she’s a child .leeseo is even younger than eunchae 😃this will never be okay to me

its always about eunchae beinng the "most maknae maknae ever" or either "yunjin having the best personality in the group" like hello??

Sometimes I feel like MOA do this to Huening Kai. most the time when you see a video about him its about how cute and baby like he is. I also think that the personality was pushed on him to some extent by his company. Yes I'm sure he really is just a happy fun person some maybe even most of the time, but the members have said that he isn't always that way and he's actually quite introverted. I also think that because he is the youngest his talents get overshadowed, like he is really talented but sometimes it seems that the only thing people notice is that he's cute and energetic. It has gotten batter recently though I think because he's started to act less like the cute baby and is more serious now then he was before and maybe his talents are getting shown more then before, or it could be that he's seen as an older brother now because we've seen him interact with hiyyah. Idk these are my thoughts.

Kpop stans are hypocrites. They say its wrong to stan an idol for their visuals, and that talent is above anything else, then the next second these same stans obsess over a maknae saying a mildly funny thing and make it their entire personality.

Your point about fandoms pushing roles onto them like mother, aunt, sister etc. Its not just the fandom, its the company who does this. Alot of ex idols have exposed this, that when you become an idol in a group they will assign your persona onto you and expect you to keep up appearances or do certain fanservice catered to these dynamics. If you are a multistan or been kpop for a while u will notice how many groups describe themselves and act in the EXACT same way in so much of their content. Its just weird because its like they reduce there personalities into a type of rigid persona.

The family roleplay game with kpop groups lowkey makes me cringe. However, the maknae thing is part of the cultural age hierarchy of south korea. The older you are, the more respected you are and if you're the youngest, you're the baby of the group. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Although I do agree that "maknae" shouldn't be one's entire personality. This problem is mostly seen with I-kpop stans rather than knetz. Mainly because I-fans' entire understanding of maknae is from their fave. The industry being ageist is 100% true though. As amazing as eunchae is, the girl has nothing going on for her other than her marketable "maknae" personality. She doesn't have any other defining performance factor. She's got a nice tone but she is far from being the best or even second best singer in her group, she doesn't have the best stage presence and she's not a rapper either. She is cute though. And ofc this judgment is volatile since she has a long way to go and she does show improvements here and there each comeback. I'll just chalk it up to the fact that she was debuted too young. Let's face it, she's a minor, how much can you expect from a child anyway? The whole point is, her fans have absolutely nothing else they can overpraise her for (as fans do) other than she's the youngest and she's cute. Agree to disagree.

REAL I hate how people hate or like an idol based on the fact on how maknae-ey they act like tf