“Gender DOES NOT Exist Outside of Patriarchy”: Flower Boys, Gender Envy, and the Radical Possibilities of JIMIN GENDER

In “‘Gender DOES NOT Exist Outside of Patriarchy’: Flower Boys, Gender Envy, and the Radical Possibilities of JIMIN GENDER,” S. Heijin Lee examines the intersection between South Korean and North American constructions of masculinity and how North American fans perceive BTS member Jimin as a gender category unto himself. Lee tracks the emergence of the flower boy aesthetic in Asia, with attention to how the South Korean idol industry and BTS, in particular, links it with luxury brand identification and desire. Images of Jimin, as the personification of this emergent racial, classed, and gendered persona, circulate on social media and are overlaid with fan projections of their own desires about gender. The chapter focuses on social media expressions about Jimin to argue that Jimin’s persona provides a medium for fans to critique gender binaries and definitions.