How BTS taught me to love myself
(Courtesy of BTS Facebook)
17-year-old Indian student Pankil Jhajhria writes about the influence of the K-pop band on her life.
I’m a proud and grateful member of the BTS ARMY. If you have been living under a rock and don’t know what I’m talking about, BTS is a seven-member K-pop band that has been topping the charts around the world. Fans of the band refer to ourselves as ARMY, which stands for “Adorable Representative MC for Youth.” And ARMY are one of the strongest fan bases out there, helping BTS break records for album and ticket sales, Twitter engagement, YouTube premieres and more.
The influence of BTS is hard to overstate (the band accounts for $4.65 billion of South Korea’s gross domestic product and charted four No. 1 albums faster than any band since The Beatles). Despite such levels of success, BTS has maintained the same kindness, passion and dedication they displayed in their first concert in front of three hundred fans. BTS is not just a band, but life savers for millions of people who have learned to love themselves through BTS’ music. They have transcended typical labels to create a new genre: the BTS genre.
There are many reasons to love BTS — their beautiful lyrics, their incredible dance moves, how they take every opportunity to mention ARMY. The way they break records and then set new ones. But what I love best about our Bangtan Boys is their commitment to using their platform to speak out on the issues that matter to them and to encourage people to accept themselves for who they are.
“It might surprise you to hear that a K-pop band transformed the life of a student in India, but that’s the power of BTS.”
It might surprise you to hear that a K-pop band transformed the life of a student in India, but that’s the power of BTS. Although the songs are mostly in Korean, through subtitles I can understand their lyrics. And with my regular Korean classes, hopefully one day I won’t need subtitles anymore.
Even if you don’t understand the lyrics, the feelings and messages land upon you like nothing else. In songs like “21st Century Girls” and “Go Go,” BTS empowers women and challenges consumerism. The group encourages young people to pursue their own dreams in “No More Dream.” The lyrics say:
Sick of the same day, the repeating days
Grown-ups and my parents
Keep instilling confined dreams to me
Number one future career is a government worker?
It's not a forced dream, a ninth inning relief pitcher.
In “The Last,” Suga (using the alias Agust D) also speaks out about mental health, rapping:
On the other side of the famous idol rapper stands my weak self,
It’s quite dangerous,
Depression, OCD, they keep coming back from time to time.
Songs like “Zero O’Clock” are the ones anyone can relate to. They teach me to not judge people because you never know what they could be going through. They teach me to stop looking at myself through society’s perspective. I used to try to find happiness through other people’s validations, but all because of BTS, I’ve realized that I need to love myself for who I am.
BTS uses more than just their music to inspire their fans (or “infire their fans” as we’d say in BTS-speak). In 2017, BTS partnered with UNICEF to launch “Love Myself,” a campaign to prevent violence in and around schools and make the world a better place with kindness and music. Through speeches, events, donations and more, BTS is reminding students to lend a hand to anyone experiencing bullying and help build a nicer world. In the song “Love Myself,” BTS sings, “The standards you put out are harsher on yourself.” That really stuck with me. We have trouble treating and seeing ourselves the way we treat and see others. BTS helped me realize that.
“I used to try to find happiness through other people’s validations, but all because of BTS, I’ve realized that I need to love myself for who I am.”
I love being part of the ARMY family, which is composed of millions of members around the world. They show me the diverse globe. I love being a member of a group that not only cares about helping BTS sell records, but also cares about spreading the band’s social messages. Knowing that I’m part of a movement that is making the world a better place makes me feel so much more than proud. It’s a beautiful, purple, glittery feeling that’s hard to describe.
As any member of my ARMY family would agree, it is one of the biggest blessings to be living in the same era as BTS. Their diligent efforts and patience inspire me to put my best in whatever I do, whether it’s writing, reading or my homework. I have come so far in learning to love myself, in finding myself. I want that for every person in the world.
I purple you all! (That’s BTS-speak for “I love you and trust you all!”)
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