"The Double Standard": WJSN's Dayoung lands in trouble for her allegedly fatphobic comment towards Super Junior's Shindong

On March 17, 2023, WJSN's Dayoung and Super Junior's Shindong hosted the variety show, Idol League with the K-pop girl group, XG as their guest. While most of the show went smoothly, greatly entertaining its viewers, what fans found particularly problematic was Dayoung's reference to Shindong's weight.

During a particular aspect of the show, there was a conversation about XG's favorite foods. When one of them answered that it was chicken breast and sweet potato, Shindong replied that these are good options when one's on a diet. With the topic of diet lingering in the conversation, Dayoung made a comment pointing at Shindong, highlighting his extreme fat loss that resulted from a minimal food intake.

Since the topic was clearly a controversial one to make a joke about, fans have been criticizing her comments that encouraged fatphobia and her inclination toward Korea's harmful beauty standards.

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Fans blast WJSN's Dayoung for making fatphobic remarks about Super Junior's Shindong

During this particular episode of Idol League, members of XG were playing a game while the hosts, WJSN's Dayoung and Super Junior's Shindong, were doing the same. The members of the group had to complete certain tasks to earn food. Amidst this, the conversation shifted to Dayoung asking XG about their favorite dish.

In response to the same, one of the members replied that it was chicken breast and sweet potato. Shindong responded to the answer by saying it's a fantastic diet option. Recognizing that the topic of diet had upset the girl group, he urged them to keep eating by telling them that they wouldn't gain weight if they ate on TV.

WJSN's Dayoung added to this by saying something that became quite controversial. She said.

"That's right, look at Shindong. Dong only ate on TV so he doesn't gain weight."

Soon after the comment, the environment became awkward and Shindong clearly looked uncomfortable when the topic of his weight loss was brought into the conversation. Fans who've known Shindong since the early years of his idol career would've realized that the idol didn't necessarily fit within Korea's highly regarded yet damaging beauty standards.

While Shindong sought to avoid the criticism and hatred he received for his weight and physical attributes for the most of his career, it gradually began to affect him on deeper levels. The idol went on a strict diet where he transformed his body by losing considerably a lot of weight. However, fans were quite concerned since the fat loss was quite extreme considering the short span of time.

Since his weight loss was clearly a product of the continuous fatphobia the idol faced in the industry, fans felt that the transformation was quite taxing and a sensitive subject for Super Junior's Shindong. Many people were outraged when WJSN's Dayoung directed a comment referring to his extreme and unhealthy fat loss reduction and made fun of it.

However, there were also people who defended her. Many fans praised Dayoung for her snarky and cunning comments towards the idol, which were especially noteworthy given Shindong's history of fatphobia. Almost ten years ago, Shindong put forth fatphobic comments and received heavy criticism for the same.

Though the idol apologized for the same soon after realizing his mistake, netizens still held a grudge against him for his insensitive comments. However, many people also pointed out that Shindong hasn't made an offensive comment ever since his last encounter ten years ago. They also pointed out the double standards that fans held with WJSN's Dayoung and Super Junior's Shindong, where one was praised while the other was heavily criticized for the same.

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Netizens hope that WJSN's Dayoung will be held accountable for her comments.