Cultural Appropriation? Netizens Divided Over MV Teaser of IVE’s Upcoming Track ‘HEYA’

IVE’s second EP, ‘IVE SWITCH,’ is coming soon, and fans are truly excited.

On April 24, the group released a teaser for the title track ‘HEYA.’

IVE
THE 2nd EP


'해야 (HEYA)' TEASERhttps://t.co/5CO8oBByHf

ALBUM RELEASE
2024.04.29 MON 6PM (KST)

PRE-SAVE AT: https://t.co/N3knNAVRA0 #IVE #아이브#2ndEP #IVE_SWITCH#해야 #HEYA #Accendio #아센디오 pic.twitter.com/LIhN3mndP0

— IVE OFFICIAL (@IVEstarship) April 24, 2024

While many fans expressed support, admiration, and excitement, several netizens were quick to make “cultural appropriation” accusations against the group based on a few concept photos and a 17-second teaser.

What is cultural appropriation in the first place?

According to Brittanica, “Cultural appropriation takes place when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.”

Based on this definition alone, one can conclude that there wasn’t any cultural appropriation in the IVE music video teaser.

Why?

IVE and South Korea, in general, are not the majority group compared to China, the country whose culture these netizens are accusing IVE of “copying.”

As of this writing, China is the second-most powerful country in the world, and South Korea is the sixth-most powerful country. Furthermore, China has the second-largest population in the world, with 1.41 billion people, while South Korea has a population of 51.6 million people. Yes, South Korea’s population is just over 3% of China’s total population.

Based on these facts, can people say that a “majority group” adopted and exploited the cultural elements of a “minority group”?

Cultural appropriation is indeed problematic and tricky. So, it is very important to understand it first before throwing the term around so easily.

Here’s a more in-depth explanation from Teen Vogue, “Cultural appropriation is seen as problematic because it can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, strip cultural elements of their significance, and ignore the history and struggles of the culture from which they are taken. In contrast, cultural appreciation (or exchange) is the understanding and respect for a culture that is different from one's own. It can be a positive experience because it fosters mutual understanding and respect for different cultures and doesn’t rely upon an existing power imbalance between two cultures to achieve its aims.”

Another article from Verywell Mind also explains where and when to draw the line when it comes to cultural appropriation, “Cultural appropriation can be most easily recognized by asking this question of the non-dominant group: Does the use of this element of your culture in this way bother you?”

Also, from the same article, “It can be natural to merge and blend cultures as people from different backgrounds come together and interact. In fact, many wonderful inventions and creations have been born from the merging of such cultures (such as country music). However, the line is drawn when a dominant cultural group makes use of elements of a non-dominant group in a way that the non-dominant group views as exploitative.”

Now, the question is – was IVE exploitative or disrespectful in any way to China and the Chinese people in their music video? Based on a 17-second teaser video, it is hard to say for sure. Perhaps it is best to wait for the full version. And IF they were actually disrespectful in that music video, then that would just be called “disrespect” and not “cultural appropriation,” based on the definitions of the term above.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think there was indeed cultural appropriation?

Or is IVE just a victim of netizens who are “looking for someone and something to hate”?