This month, a 45-woman dance crew traveled in a flash mob all through San Diego, wiggling towards Rihanna wearing ahjummas. The ahjumma is a cheerful stereotype of a colourful, usually mismatched middle-aged Korean girl carrying a solar visor and having quick, permed hair. , costume.
The group Ajumma EXP carried out to rejoice ladies of all ages for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
This group was created in 2017. On her forty seventh birthday in San Diego, Lee Ann Kim wore a good black prime over black excessive heels, a skin-tight leopard-print skirt, and a padded bra to indicate off her I used to be making ready for a women’ night time out. .
Her associates had different wardrobe concepts. They wore quick curly wigs, visors, and fancy garments. Kim, a former TV anchor, stated they “taunted her by saying, ‘Hey, ahjumma, you are over the hill.'” “So I went inside and altered her garments, and all of us went out that night time as ahjummas.”
That night time out sparked the thought for the flash mob dance group Ajumma EXP, which Kim based with the assistance of her buddy Sonia Chin and choreographer Melissa Adao. Now in its seventh season, the feeling the group turned viral remains to be going robust.
A contented flash mob of ahjummas at San Diego International Airport. Airport, March 8, 2024.Gavin Zau
“It was very liberating to not have to fret about how we had been seen and never have to fret in regards to the male gaze. But on the similar time, there was no gaze. We actually It was an invisible presence,” Kim stated.
“BTS was beginning to come out, and BLACKPINK was already right here. And we selected the title Ajumma EXP as a result of it feels like Ok-Pop and EXP means quite a lot of issues: expertise, experimentation, expression.” stated Kim. “We particularly selected hip-hop, not Ok-pop, as a result of individuals had been anticipating us to do Ok-pop. And we additionally confirmed up in grocery shops and procuring malls.”
They began with about 12 ladies, however now they’ve almost 50 ajummas from quite a lot of backgrounds, together with different Asians, Latinas, black ladies, and white ladies.
“I am unable to imagine how only a enjoyable, cheeky thought became a literal motion. There are so many ladies in several cities who’re like, ‘Oh my god, I need to begin one thing!’ Masu. “Oh my god, you encourage me.”
Last 12 months, a video of Ajumma EXP’s flash mob to Missy Elliott’s “Work It” acquired almost 1 million views on Tik Tok. Kim stated ladies in different cities and even different nations have expressed curiosity in beginning chapters. Currently, the San Diego group is the one one.
learn extra
On March 2nd, the ladies placed on their largest efficiency thus far. A collection of flash mobs came about at typical San Diego venues, together with Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Fashion Valley Mall, and even inside San Diego International Airport. Forty-five ladies, carrying colourful patterned pants, curly wigs, visors, fanny packs, scarves and vests, threw themselves to Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music.”
History of ahjumma
In South Korea, the place Kim and his co-founder Chin had been born, ahjummas are handled with respect, concern and even ridicule. The phrase roughly interprets as “spouse” or “auntie” and refers to ladies of their 30s to 70s who’re planning to get married, moms, and housewives.
Historically, these ladies had been those who raised their households whereas supplementing the labor shortages brought on by the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. As a consequence, ladies who lived via these turbulent a long time had been stereotyped as brash and unfriendly, usually carrying black or colourful prints or visors to maintain the solar off their faces.
Recommendation
Short, tight curls are a visible shorthand for ahjumma. The roots of this coiffure date again to the Japanese colonial period of Korea, when perms, which had been solely obtainable at division retailer salons, symbolized wealth. Women had been relegated to house responsibilities, childcare, and incomes a dwelling, and with electrical energy briefly provide within the Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties, perms had been a cheap, low-maintenance approach to type your hair. In order to maintain the curls so long as doable, the “Ajumma perm” was initially set very tightly.
For Ajumma EXP, staying true to this stereotype is essential, even whether it is changing into outdated. “This costume is de facto an homage to the old style ahjumma,” Kim stated. “But for those who present up trying like an outdated girl, [people will think] “Oh my god, what are these girls attempting to do–like Zumba?” And then you definately’re like, “Oh…they only threw in some hip-hop strikes!” will get their consideration. And we’re simply attempting to show issues round for individuals. ”
Today, as a result of demographic and cultural adjustments, Korean ladies of their 40s, 50s, and 60s usually work in workplace jobs and cling to strict Korean magnificence requirements that emphasize thinness, excellent glass pores and skin, and excessive trend. Still in compliance. The stereotypes related to the ahjumma have change into so detrimental that the time period is being phased out amongst post-war generations.
The first assembly of Season 7 Ladies will happen on Vinya in September 2023.supply
For Kim, it is necessary that her time period lasts and that her wild prints and perms stay intact.
“Basically, the phrase ahjumma is beginning to disappear from the Korean vocabulary as a result of it is thought-about such a hateful phrase.” They deserve a lot extra love and a focus when you concentrate on what they’ve put collectively.”
She additionally stated they’ve a deeper mission. “Ajumma EXP is not only about placing a highlight on middle-aged ladies. Especially within the case of me and Sonia, we’re each Korean-American. It is about reclaiming the phrase ahjumma and making it a constructive factor. , and redefining it as one thing we will personal.”
And Kim factors out that ladies don’t have to be a part of an official group to hitch the social gathering. She stated, “You ought to get a visor and a wig and exit with your pals for an evening like an ahjumma. It’s such a wild expertise.”