The Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center criticized the controversy over BJ Juice Seyeon (In Seyeon) stepping down midway after being chosen as a cosmetics brand model amid strong backlash from women, saying, "Denying an existence is hate."
BJ Juice Seyeon, who had been doing internet adult broadcasts, was hired as a model for a small and midsize cosmetics company but faced consumer backlash, prompting the company and its CEO to apologize. Critics said that because a BJ earns income from sexual content for men, it commodifies women's sexuality. Afterward, Juice Seyeon also had a collaboration with a photo booth brand canceled, and even an old video of an appearance on comedian Lee Su-ji's YouTube channel from long ago was set to private.
On the 23rd, the Cyber Violence Response Center issued a statement on the protests and criticism toward BJ Juice Seyeon, saying, "It was a protest against an existence that should all be 'in the shadows' coming out into 'the light,'" and added, "It is a criticism that a BJ woman, an existence of 'the shadows,' is unqualified to appear in normal society."
It went on, "The logic is that women have a 'grade,' and because that 'grade' is determined by a sexual hierarchy, women who are promiscuous, who objectify themselves sexually, who generate revenue through sexuality, are not of the 'grade' to come out into 'the light.'" The center argued, "We reject the criteria for judging who is qualified to come out into 'the light.' We oppose the distinction between normal and abnormal, and the discrimination and hate that result from it."
The center said, "Distinguishing between women who meet the criteria and those who are unqualified also applies to victims of sexual violence," adding, "Society blames them, saying they experience sexual violence because they are promiscuous women, and this notion diminishes the victim's social status and, so to speak, treats them as existences that must remain 'in the shadows.'"
It continued, "What is demanded of those who live 'in the shadows' is a return to normalcy, yet at the same time, people recoil and resist when they dare to come out into 'the light,'" adding, "Pretending that those who exist do not exist, demanding that they not exist, refusing to include them in society and to make a place for them is hate." It then said, "Let's dismantle the stigma that points fingers, calling them promiscuous and filthy, and harmful," and added, "We will take the hands of those at the end of that pointing finger and step out into the sun."
Earlier, on the 20th, Juice Seyeon released an ad video for a natural-ingredient cosmetics brand on her YouTube channel. Right after the video was released, online communities and the brand's official cafe were flooded with criticism. Consumers said, "We feel betrayed that a family-oriented brand that had emphasized only product quality without using a single model until now tried to open women's wallets by putting forward a person who makes money through activities in the shadows," and asked, "Was there no prior vetting of the model?" Protests continued, calling it "a choice that toppled a 10-year tower of hard work in an instant."