I've read this a dozen times. It's probably the thing that brought me to your door in the first place because I adore it so so much. I know nothing about gender studies and whatnot. But what I do know is that Sungjong's performance and everything about how he presents himself recently underscores pretty much everything you said. He accommodates fans by being cute and winking and throwing hearts and all that stuff, that is pure and clear fanservice and he doesn't mind doing it, you can tell by the way he does it so seamlessly and in a way guilelessly. There's a purity about it in the same way that Woohyun's playing to fans is, in my eyes. In both cases, it's an idol doing his best to pay back the fans who allow him to do the thing he loves most in the world by offering his best fanservice.
I believe you are totally right, Sungjong loves to be told he's pretty and beautiful and lovely and fierce. He sucks up praise like a sponge and will work his ass off to get it. But, if someone doesn't give him that praise, he's come to a point to be able to shrug it off whereas perhaps earlier in his life that might have been something he took more personally. I think also you're right that he actually dares you to laugh in this performance and some of the other things he's done.
We know he went with Sungyeol and Hoya to see SNSD and he's friends with Seohyun from SNSD, so I think he's genuinely a fan of that group. Which is probably why the last few girl group dances I've seen him do are from that group. Twinkle, We Bring The Boys Out and I Gotta Boy. I think he is a fan of that group and just like a FEMALE fan of the group would learn the dances, he does too. It's actually dumb if you think about it that enjoyment of a group or of a song or of a particular dance routine should be separated by gender and I think that's what Sungjong thinks too.
Also, I think that Sungjong's movements are all just a bit more flamboyant and showy than someone else's might be, especially when he dances. I am thinking back to a comment that Hoya made about Man in Love and how the choreography wasn't as tight and synchronized because they were trying something new. (hence the New Challenge of the title to the album) He then went on to say something about "if Sungjong wanted to make bigger movements that was okay and if he wanted to be more precise that was okay" and so on, leading me to believe that Sungjong is a bit more big with his movements. He has so much natural grace and I think dance for him is something he can just go with, to an extent. (Why is it okay for girls to love dance but not boys? Isn't that how Sungjong was found in the first place from doing girl group dances?)
I also think that Sungjong has accepted in his own mind that he's never going to be tall and muscular which would be "normal" masculinity. He doesn't like to sweat that much, lol. And he's just not built like that. He will probably get wider in the shoulders, get a bit more muscle tone etc, but he's just got a slim and rather petite (Though he's the same height as Myungsoo) body type. (I also read somewhere that early on he got a lot of pressure about his weight and eating, he had baby fat really, he was only fifteen or sixteen when he became a trainee) So, he has to think to himself, this is my body, this is who I am, how can I make that work for me. I'm not tall like Sungyeol so I can't really work the modeling angle (though I think he does make a beautiful model) And I think the whole idea of taking a "feminine" thing and making it about a man, an adult, an in your face sexual being in his own way, is part of how he deals with that. He's taking the idea of being a man making it his own rather than trying to fit into a mold he just will never fit in. I think what I love so much about Sungjong is that I think he's so himself and even in his life and career and whatnot, he's still himself.
Being comfortable with yourself is always so attractive, don't you think?
(was writing this when i got your comment about pimping or whatnot and now i'm falling asleep... i have weird sleep issues)
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I believe you are totally right, Sungjong loves to be told he's pretty and beautiful and lovely and fierce. He sucks up praise like a sponge and will work his ass off to get it. But, if someone doesn't give him that praise, he's come to a point to be able to shrug it off whereas perhaps earlier in his life that might have been something he took more personally. I think also you're right that he actually dares you to laugh in this performance and some of the other things he's done.
We know he went with Sungyeol and Hoya to see SNSD and he's friends with Seohyun from SNSD, so I think he's genuinely a fan of that group. Which is probably why the last few girl group dances I've seen him do are from that group. Twinkle, We Bring The Boys Out and I Gotta Boy. I think he is a fan of that group and just like a FEMALE fan of the group would learn the dances, he does too. It's actually dumb if you think about it that enjoyment of a group or of a song or of a particular dance routine should be separated by gender and I think that's what Sungjong thinks too.
Also, I think that Sungjong's movements are all just a bit more flamboyant and showy than someone else's might be, especially when he dances. I am thinking back to a comment that Hoya made about Man in Love and how the choreography wasn't as tight and synchronized because they were trying something new. (hence the New Challenge of the title to the album) He then went on to say something about "if Sungjong wanted to make bigger movements that was okay and if he wanted to be more precise that was okay" and so on, leading me to believe that Sungjong is a bit more big with his movements. He has so much natural grace and I think dance for him is something he can just go with, to an extent. (Why is it okay for girls to love dance but not boys? Isn't that how Sungjong was found in the first place from doing girl group dances?)
I also think that Sungjong has accepted in his own mind that he's never going to be tall and muscular which would be "normal" masculinity. He doesn't like to sweat that much, lol. And he's just not built like that. He will probably get wider in the shoulders, get a bit more muscle tone etc, but he's just got a slim and rather petite (Though he's the same height as Myungsoo) body type. (I also read somewhere that early on he got a lot of pressure about his weight and eating, he had baby fat really, he was only fifteen or sixteen when he became a trainee) So, he has to think to himself, this is my body, this is who I am, how can I make that work for me. I'm not tall like Sungyeol so I can't really work the modeling angle (though I think he does make a beautiful model) And I think the whole idea of taking a "feminine" thing and making it about a man, an adult, an in your face sexual being in his own way, is part of how he deals with that. He's taking the idea of being a man making it his own rather than trying to fit into a mold he just will never fit in. I think what I love so much about Sungjong is that I think he's so himself and even in his life and career and whatnot, he's still himself.
Being comfortable with yourself is always so attractive, don't you think?
(was writing this when i got your comment about pimping or whatnot and now i'm falling asleep... i have weird sleep issues)