原文：https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/blackpink-uk-tour
標題：Is it weird to be a man who loves K-pop girl bands?
愛上K-pop女團的男人很怪嗎？
Being a man who likes girl bands can be a difficult social situation to
navigate. How do you stand there, 6ft 2in and hairy, among a sea of pre-teens?
We asked fans all over the world: is it as awkward being there as it can feel
it will be? The overwhelming answer: not in the slightest
身為一個喜歡女子團體的男人，可能會陷入難以招架的社交情境。一個身高188公分、
毛髮茂密的漢子，站在一群青少年中間的畫面能見人嗎？我們詢問全球各地的粉絲：
置身那樣的環境之中，是否真如想像中那麼尷尬？答案一面倒地表示：一點也不！
BY DAVID LEVESLEY
Tuesday 21 May 2019
I love Blackpink. I’m not sure my office fully understand it and I’m not
sure I do either: their polished, almost militaristic brand of pop has become
an obsession with remarkable speed. It’s not entirely out of the blue (I had
a guilty love of Japanese pop music in my teens) but still my office find it
incredibly unusual: why do I, a hirsute homosexual in London, feel such a
strong passion for a South Korean girl band who sing in a language I don’t
understand?
我愛BLACKPINK，我不太確定辦公室裡的人是否完全理解這點，甚至可能我自己也不太清
楚。她們精緻且幾近「軍事化」的流行樂品牌，令人以顯著的速度沈迷其中。這並非無
跡可尋（青春期時的我曾對J-pop懷著一份有罪惡感的愛），但我的同事們仍認為這超級
古怪：一個住在倫敦、物理上毛很多的同性戀如我，為什麼會對一個唱著聽不懂語言的
南韓女團，產生如此強烈的熱情？
https://i.imgur.com/FssvOUG.png
（譯註：自認毛很多的原文作者David Levesley）
The thing is, it only seems odd because K-pop is still a new phenomenon. I
love them as much as I love any great girl band: Destiny’s Child, Little Mix,
Girls Aloud (the best girl band of all time – fight me). As a queer man
I’ve always been drawn to the empowerment and aesthetic gaudiness of
female-led pop, even more so when it’s a group of them doing choreography.
That’s why I love Blackpink: they sing, they dance, they look fantastic.
They’re more regimented – literally, in some senses – than my usual tastes,
but I kinda love their balletic dedication to something as frivolous as pop
music.
這一切之所以看起來很怪，只是因為K-pop仍為一股新潮流。我愛BLACKPINK，就像我愛
天命真女Destiny's Child、混合甜心Little Mix、嗆女生合唱團Girls Aloud（史上最
佳女團，不服來戰）等任何優秀女團一樣。做為一個怪男，我總是受由女性主導的流行
樂中，所蘊含的賦予權力概念及美學所吸引，當她們還能展現編舞時更是如此。這就是
為什麼我愛BLACKPINK：她們能歌善舞，而且一個個都美呆了。雖然就某些角度而言，
她們比我通常的喜好更加「受限」（字面上意義），但滿喜愛她們對輕挑如流行樂，所
秉持的優雅追求。
The natural next step of my love of Blackpink was to go see them live, which
you'll be thrilled to know is upcoming. However, my colleagues were intrigued:
wouldn’t I stand out like a sore thumb? That got me thinking: I know a lot
of gay men who love Blackpink, but do I know anyone besides me who’d be at
the gig? And even if some of them were there, won’t we be wildly outnumbered
by teenaged girls?
我對BLACKPINK的愛，很自然地發展到去觀賞她們現場演出的下一步，大家都很高興這即
將到來。然而同事們很好奇：我在那邊難道不會顯得突兀嗎？這讓我想到，我認識喜愛
BLACKPINK的男同志，但除了我之外還有人會到場嗎？就算他們之中有人與我同行，我們
不會被廣大的青少女人海給淹沒嗎？
This isn’t a complete anomaly to me: I once earned the ire of Ariana
Grande’s younger fans on Twitter for insisting she not perform at the O2
while in the throes of PTSD and I once got hit in the face by a glitter
cannon while reviewing a show in which I was the only audience member over
the age of 16. But would I look like some sort of predator? Would there even
be any other men? Are there, actually, many male fans?
這對我來說也不是完全異常的事了：我曾經因為在推特上堅持Ariana Grande受創傷後壓
力症候群影響，不會在O2體育館演出（譯註：2017年5月22日Ariana在曼徹斯特的演唱會
遭自殺炸彈攻擊，同月25日、26日在倫敦O2的演唱會因此取消），領教到一名年輕粉絲
的滔天大怒，也曾在一場只有我是唯一年紀超過16歲觀眾的演出中，慘遭彩花砲擊中臉
部，但這次去BLACKPINK演唱會，我會不會看上去像某種掠食者般怪異？那裡會有任何其
他男人嗎？真的有很多男粉嗎？
And so I reached out to the fanbase. I reached out because I know they’re
incredibly active, and because in my brief experience of interacting with them
they seem lovely. I wanted to know: what’s it like being a male “Blink”?
於是我聯繫了BLACKPINK的粉絲群，因為我知道他們令人難以置信地活躍，在我之前短暫
與他們交流的經驗中，他們似乎滿可愛。我想知道的是：身為一個男BLINK是什麼感覺？
The response was huge. I heard from hundreds of people, from teenagers to
middle-aged divorcees, from Guatemala to India via metalheads in Greece, gay
and straight, stans and casuals. In all I heard the same thing: online the
fanbase looks, and is assumed to be, female yet hides a wealth of diversity.
In person? There are a lot more dudes in the fanbase than you might think.
結果迴響相當踴躍。我收到年齡上至中年離婚者下至青少年，範圍遠及瓜地馬拉與經希
臘重金屬樂迷中介的印度，多達數百名或直男或同志、或死忠或路人的意見，他們說的
都是同一件事：從網路上看，BLINKs被認為是女性居多，但暗藏著相當的多樣性；但在
現實中，男粉則比你所預料的多出許多。
In fact, part of this is simply the disparity between how K-pop is perceived
in South Korea and how it is perceived in the rest of the world. “In Korea
most fans are of the opposite gender than the group themselves. That is, most
girl groups have a majority male fanbase in Korea,” explained Muhammad, an
18-year-old fan from America.
事實上，這種情形有部分單純是源自K-pop在南韓與在世界其他地方被認知的方式不同。
18歲的美國粉絲Muhammad說，大多數南韓粉絲的性別會與支持團體的性別相反，也就是
說，大多數女團在南韓的粉絲，是以男性居多。
“There are specific groups in K-pop that are dominated by men especially in
concerts,” added 22-year-old Filipino Andre Sanchez. “In concerts, there is
something called fan chants. You can really hear that when it is their concert
it is really dominated by male fans.”
22歲的菲律賓粉絲Andre Sanchez補充：「有幾個團的粉絲群是由男性完全統治，演唱會
上尤其明顯，因為有『應援』這回事，在這些團的表演中，可以清楚聽見男粉壓倒性的
能量。」
Outside of South Korea, it can be a little harder to admit that, as a man,
you’re a fan of K-pop. In some countries it was actively looked down on:
“My dad doesn’t support me for being a fanboy. He said that it makes me less
of a man,” said 18-year-old Filipino fan Angelo. “Being a male K-pop fan in
my country, Malaysia, is a bit looked-down upon, but it didn't really bother
me as much as I was more focused on how I will finally get to see the girls
whom I adore,” explained 17-year-old Jas. But in others, like Singapore,
being a K-pop fan is seen as completely normal. “All my male friends were
pretty envious and jealous over me going [to see Blackpink],” said Kev, a
15-year-old in Singapore who managed to get tickets for a concert that sold
out in hours. Most of his male friends, he said, have a lot of respect for
the genre.
在南韓之外，要一個男人承認自己是K-pop粉絲可能是有點棘手的事，有些國家對此相當
看不起。18歲的菲律賓粉絲Angelo說：「我爸不支持我迷K-pop，他說這會讓我不夠男人
。」17歲的馬來西亞粉絲Jas則說：「在這裡，做一個男K-pop迷會有點被瞧不起，但這無
法阻擋我專注在終於可以見到鍾愛的女孩們上。」在新加坡等其他地方，當K-pop粉絲則
被認為是稀鬆平常，搶到數小時就完售門票的Kev說：「我所有的男性朋友都很羨慕與嫉
妒我可以去看BLACKPINK。」Kev也指出，他的男性朋友大多對K-pop極為推崇。
Sometimes, fans said, it can feel like everyone assumes who you are in the
community. “I’ve definitely been called sis by random strangers more times
than I can count,” said 31-year-old New Yorker Joe. In part, this is because
a lot of the stan community for Blackpink tends to be using alternate accounts
from their main ones: these ones have Blackpink or K-pop-specific names
(@jennieschicken, @kickitatlisa, @kickdownmydoor), avatars that tend to be
their favourite idols, so they don't bombard their friends and followers with
an avalanche of pro-Jennie or Lisa posts. This can, therefore, create an
illusion of a lot of women talking, regardless of who mans them.
有粉絲說，有時你能感覺到網路社群中的每個人，都在預設你的身份。31歲的紐約粉絲
Joe表示：「我被網路陌生人叫『姐妹』的次數多到數不清了。」某種程度上，這與許多
粉絲喜歡用類似@jennieschicken、@kickitatlisa、@kickdownmydoor這樣，含有與
BLACKPINK或K-pop相關字眼的分身帳號有關，如此一來，他們就可以不用顧慮親友等追蹤
者，盡情張貼支持Jennie或Lisa的文章，也因此製造出是大量女性在討論的假象。
Sometimes the assumption is sexual rather than gendered: “I remember about
ten months ago or so a girl I met assumed I was bisexual due to the fact that
I had a Blackpink lanyard,” said user @HearteuRosie. Other fans said they’d
experienced the same: “It almost seems like you have to prove yourself as an
actual man,” said 18-year-old American fan Anthony Rivera, who felt that both
inside and outside the fandom people find it hard to think straight men can
like the band.
有時這種推測更從性別延伸到性取向上。用戶@HearteuRosie說：「我記得大約是10個月
前，有個女孩看到我戴著BLACKPINK的證件套，就認為我是雙性戀。」其他粉絲也分享了
類似經驗，18歲的美國粉絲Anthony Rivera感覺，好像不管是不是BLACKPINK粉絲，都很
意外直男也會喜歡BLACKPINK：「幾乎像是你必須證明自己真的是個男人。」
But at concerts, everybody said, the differences of the outside world fall
away. People who had attended concerts everywhere from Manila to Atlanta said
that they were surprised by the amount of men, with most saying they felt like
it was a 50/50 split. Even those who felt like female attendees were the
majority said they didn’t feel weird about it. After all, you’re all here
for one thing: to witness the girls in action and to give them the most
possible support.
不過到了演唱會上，每個人都說外頭世界的差異已不復存。從馬尼拉到亞特蘭大，每個去
過BLACKPINK演唱會的人，都對男性觀眾的人數感到驚訝。多數人認為男女比例是五五開，
而那些認為女性仍居多的人，也不覺得現場有不少男性會有什麼好奇怪的。畢竟，大家都
是為了同一件事到這裡：欣賞女孩們表演，並給予她們最大的支持。
Niki and Sammy Albon are 27-year-old presenters who have been talking about
K-pop for nearly four years between their BBC Radio 1 podcast and their
YouTube videos. They've been the first to debut BTS and Blackpink songs on
national UK radio and have been to their fair share of K-pop concerts. They
said they are always staggered by the diversity of the crowds.
27歲的男雙胞胎Niki與Sammy Albon已在BBC Radio 1的podcast，以及自營的YouTube頻道
上談論K-pop有4年之久，他們是率先在英國全國電台上播放BTS與BLACKPINK歌曲的人，也
參加過不少K-pop演唱會。兩人表示，他們總是吃驚於現場觀眾的多樣性。
"We were at a Zico show in Shepherd's Bush when a lady in her late fifties
turned to me and asked if I was attending BTS at the O2 (this was prior to
their first shows in London)," they told me. "When I said I was, she informed
me she was dragging her daughter along because she herself was a massive
K-pop fan.”
他們告訴我：「有一次我們在牧羊人叢林觀賞Zico的演出，有位看起來50、60歲的女士轉
過身來問我，會不會去看BTS在O2的演唱會（這件事發生在BTS於倫敦的首秀前）。當我給
予她肯定的答覆後，她告訴我她會帶女兒一起去，因為她自己就是個超級K-pop迷。」
There’s also a lot of different ways to encounter male fans: fan pages,
forums, Discords and group chats all exist for male fans of the band. “Its
not [a groupchat] where we sexualise or objectify the girls,” explained
18-year-old Filipino fan @bilandreortega. “Believe it or not, most of us talk
about how Blackpink's literally changed our lives and perspectives when it
comes to women.”
18歲的菲律賓粉絲@bilandreortega說，還有很多不同方法可以接觸男粉：粉絲專頁、論
壇、Discord、群組聊天等，都存在著BLACKPINK的男性支持者。「我們並不是在群聊中性
別化或物化團員們，信不信由你，我們討論的大多數話題，都是BLACKPINK是如何真正地
改變我們的生活，以及看待女性的觀點。」
This highly diverse fanbase, however, might be an anomaly among K-pop
communities: people suggested other bands, such as EXO, have far smaller male
fanbases, especially abroad. One part of this, some argued, might be because
Blackpink has such a large audience of gay fans, which in turn might be
because they have done more than many of their contemporaries to show support
for the LGBTQ community both home and abroad.
然而這個呈現高度多樣性的粉絲群，在K-pop之中可能是個異數：有人認為有些團，例如
EXO，男粉基數可能小了許多，特別是在海外。有些人認為，這有部分是因為BLACKPINK有
大量的同志粉絲，也就是說，可能是因為在表達對國內外LGBTQ族群的支持上，她們做得
比同期者更多。
“The topic of being gay/lesbian/etc is not really brought up within idols or
South Korea. So being an LGBT fan it can often bring up worries if your idol
would even accept you as a person,” explained Russ, a 16-year-old British
Canadian. But many gay fans mentioned how band members use the rainbow flag on
stage in performances and that member Rosé had spoken to a lesbian fan about
her girlfriend. Moments like this, said Russ, weren’t forgotten by fans.
16歲的英裔加拿大粉絲Russ解釋：「有關同性戀的話題並不會在南韓偶像圈內被提起。
因此，做為一個LGBT粉絲，你時常會對你的偶像甚至是否能接受你這個人而感到焦慮。」
但很多男同粉絲提到了BLACKPINK成員在舞台上拿起彩虹旗、Rosé與一名女同粉絲談論後
者的女朋友問題等事件。Russ說，這些是粉絲們永遠銘記在心的片段。
https://i.imgur.com/lr493b4.jpg
（譯註：菲律賓場，有人丟一面彩虹旗上去，Rosé把它撿了起來。）
To some, the biggest dissonance between male and female Blinks comes down to
the energy they bring to gigs: “Female fans will scream and cheer their lungs
out even before the show when they usually play music videos,” explained
24-year-old American fan Malcom Morales. Many men, he said, are often less
vocal at the show. “Ideas of masculinity attribute to why some
male-identifying fans feel they cannot fully express their excitement,”
he added.
有些人認為，男、女BLINKs之間最大的不同是他們帶到表演現場的能量。24歲的美國粉絲
Malcom Morales說：「女粉往往在表演正式開始前，還只是播MV的時候，就歡呼尖叫得像
快把肺給喊出來。」許多男性在演出現場的聲量則則往往較小。他補充說：「諸如男子氣
概等觀念，是導致部分男性認同的粉絲覺得，不能完全表達出興奮的原因。」
But others who had attended concerts bucked this trend. Some male fans made
great friends at gigs, some even go to gigs dressed as male counterparts to
their favourite band costumes. “A younger female fan was in the seat next to
me and probably thought it was hilarious to see a full-grown man and male
friend waving the light sticks and screaming till their lungs give out,” said
William Mendoza, a 25-year-old Asian-American fan who saw the band in LA.
“I guess it did feel odd a little bit, but in a funny way.”
但也有其他曾去過演唱會現場的人反對這種說法，有些男粉在演場會現場結成好友，有些
甚至針對自己最喜歡的團員舞台服，打扮成像對方的男伴一樣。參加洛杉磯演唱會的25歲
亞裔美國粉絲William Mendoza說：「坐在我旁邊的那個年輕女生大概覺得，這個已經完
全長熟的男子與同行的一夥男粉，一邊用力揮舞粉錘，一邊瘋狂嘶吼直到燒聲的模樣很滑
稽。我猜這可能是有點奇怪啦，但是是往有趣的那方面。」
Mendoza said that most people probably think male Blackpink fans are just
there to talk about how attractive they are. “Which I mean, yeah, it is the
truth! But beyond that, I believe everyone in Blackpink is crazy talented and
make music that lifts people up and empowers them.”
Mendoza說，很多人可能以為，BLAKCPINK的男粉只會談論團員們的外在有多吸引人，
「我的意思是，沒錯，那也是事實，但除此之外，我相信每個BLACKPINK的團員都極具天
賦，並帶來能鼓舞人們、給予力量的音樂。」
For me, fans all had the same advice: it might feel weird to start with, they
said, but pretty soon the fact that I’ll be an older attendee, and a male
attendee, will stop feeling weird once the band get going. What excites me
most is the chance to go to a concert where, it seems, everyone in attendance
is really focused on seeing an act and seeing them succeed. The chance to see
an audience who aren’t having loud, drunken conversations about their weekend
plans, who want to marinade in the moment rather than act like its an
inconvenience, sounds like a welcome change to most of the London gigs I’ve
been to in the past few years.
所有的粉絲都對我個人提出一個相同建議：做為年長的男性觀眾，剛開始可能會感到有些
彆扭，但只要演出一開始，很快就不會再感到怪異。對我來說最興奮的是，有機會參與一
場似乎每一位入場者是真的專注在表演上，專注於見證演出者成功的演唱會。有機會不遇
上一群連做出一點造成別人不便的反應都不願，只想軟爛在那裡的酒醉觀眾，高聲討論著
各自的週末計畫。與過去幾年來我參與過的大部分倫敦演唱會相比，這聽起來像是個不錯
的改變。
https://i.imgur.com/icwjyQj.jpg
（原文配圖）