Netizens Call Out aespa’s Giselle For Allegedly Mocking Desi Culture

They feel she hasn’t learned from her past mistakes.

Netizens are calling out aespa‘s Giselle for alleged cultural appropriation.

aespa’s Giselle

Over the weekend, aespa performed Showcase SYNK in LA at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, CA. It was an exciting event for MY (aespa fandom) as Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning got together for a phenomenal showcase.

While it was filled with stunning performances from the girls as well as fun moments, there is, unfortunately, one moment that has left K-Pop fans disappointed.

During Showcase SYNK in LA, aespa had some fun with the latest TikTok dance challenge that has all K-Pop idols obsessed right now.

These 20 K-Pop Idols Did The “Jiggle Jiggle” TikTok Challenge, And We Can’t Tell Who’s More Obsessed: The Fans Or The Idols?

“Jiggle Jiggle” is a single by British-American journalist and documentary maker Louis Theroux. The song was originally created based on a rap trend that Theroux participated in on the show Weird Weekends, and it was popularized after he rapped it on Amelia Dimoldenberg‘s interview series Chicken Shop Date. The sound is produced by Manchester-based DJ duo Duke & Jones.

Its catchy tune with a matching choreography went viral on the video-sharing app, and now all our favorite idols are doing it, even at their own live events. So, at Showcase SYNK in LA, aespa did the “Jiggle Jiggle” dance challenge, and all the members were clearly having so much fun with it!

Yet, in the end, Giselle added her own spin on the choreography. At the line, “relax,” one normally puts one leg up and crosses it with arms behind their head to represent the lyric. So, when the aespa members did this part, Giselle transitioned into a different move than the original choreography.

Giselle then pinched her fingers while moving her head left and right while standing in the same position. To some, she was just improvising from the original dance challenge. Yet, to many, it appeared that Giselle was doing a dance from Indian culture.

K-Pop fans feel that Giselle was mocking Desi (also known as Deshi), the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora. Immediately after doing the move, she started laughing.

The video of aespa doing the “Jiggle Jiggle” challenge at their showcase went viral on TikTok. At the time of writing, it has 852.6K views.

@jeongyeonsmullet

they were AMAZING!!! #aespa #aespashowcase #aespashowcasesynkinla

♬ Jiggle Jiggle – Duke & Jones & Louis Theroux

However, it went viral for the unfortunate reason of Giselle allegedly doing cultural appropriation. The comment section is filled with netizens expressing their disappointment.

| @jeon@gyeonsmullet/TikTok

On social media, there has been debate over whether Giselle intended to make fun of Desi culture or not. Some argue that as she is Buddhist, these such movements and gestures overlap cultures/religions.

So, they believed that she thought she was just doing a “yoga pose.” Still, the head movements followed by laughter make it suspicious.

@jeongyeonsmullet/TikTok

Desi fans have also pointed out that Giselle’s dance resembled that of Bharatanatyam, a major form of Indian classical dance.

Bharatanatyam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. The Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni and Abhinaya Darpana(Mirror of Gesture) by Nandikeshvara are considered to be the original sources of Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance form). The dance form is also briefly mentioned in Kannada text Manasollasa written by Someshwara III. It has flourished in the temples and courts of southern India since ancient times.

— Wikipedia

Due to its history and religious association, it would be even more offensive for a non-Desi person to do the dance, especially without proper education.

It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, collectively Hinduism.

— Wikipedia

Of course, Giselle is not the first K-Pop idol to receive criticism for this. Nonetheless, most netizens feel that Giselle should have known better and not done a dance that resembles one of Desi culture, especially since she is known to have attended an international school.

@jeongyeonsmullet/TikTok

Some even wonder if Giselle does things intentionally as it’s not her first time. Previously, she received backlash after mouthing the n-word while listening to SZA‘s “Love Galore.”

@jeongyeonsmullet/TikTok

Since the last incident, Giselle apologized. Yet, netizens feel now that she didn’t learn from her past mistake.

Read more below:

Aespa’s Giselle Apologizes For Mouthing Racial Slur

Source: Wikipedia and @jeongyeonsmullet

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