Laforgia & Howard / Amber Liu, K-Pop Tomboy 1 Kritika Kultura 29 (2017): –018 © Ateneo de Manila University <http://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/kk/> Abstract South Korean mainstream pop music, known simply as K-Pop, has become such a huge phenomenon in recent years that it is playing a decisive role in reshaping Korean culture and identity. Indeed, the K-Pop phenomenon is much more than just something musical, intertwining a complexity of sound, performance, ethnicity and gender. A contextual analysis needs therefore to take all these elements into consideration. Tis paper aims to show how K-Pop plays a crucial role in promoting ideologies, and defning gender roles. It does so by analyzing the music and image of the Taiwanese-American originating singer Amber Liu. Liu goes against the standard gender identifcation and behavior that Korean society imposes on women, and by doing so she can be said to represent a shift in the portrayal and performance of femininity through K-pop. But, how is her gender behavior tolerated, and to what extent is this a stage behavior required and promoted by her management company as a way to mark out diference? Keywords Femininity, Gender, K-Pop, Mainstream Music, South Korea AMBER LIU, K-POP TOMBOY Reshaping Femininity in Mainstream K-Pop Paola Laforgia SOAS, University of London 537781@soas.ac.uk Keith Howard SOAS, University of London kh@soas.ac.uk