BTS recently stood up for the Asian community and spoke to the US presidant about Anti-Asian hate. RM, the leader of BTS and a global icon was himself a victim of hate and negativity. He was ridiculed for his looks and the negativity was so intense that he even started to hate himself too. At the age of 16, RM left his family, his good grades, and his more secured future to become a K-pop Idol. But, unlike other trainees, he didn’t have an experience with dancing and even after practising for longer hours and pushing his limits, he would still make a lot of mistakes. He started to blame himself for not being as good as others and even almost quit being a trainee. Luckily, his fellow member J- hope and his dance teachers encouraged him to stay and the rest was history, BTS succeeded. RM thought everything would be better once he debuted but it only made things worse for him. When BTS was starting, netizens called RM ugly and talentless and even asked him to leave the group. We live in a world where beauty, money and perfection are the standards of success. And those of us who fall short in comparison turn to self-hate and RM too fell into that trap. So, how did RM with so much strong self-hate and negativity around him lead the biggest boyband in the world? First, he used his insecurities to fuel his passion for music. Then he apologised for his mistakes and strived to be better. All of this taught him to stand up for himself, stand up for BTS and stand up for the Asian Community. RM chose to be defined by his hard work and passion rather than his faults and limitations. He learned to accept the imperfect. His empowering journey with self love has been changing the world. He inspires his bandmates to make music about the importance of accepting oneself. He inspires their fans, the Army’s to find beauty in their imperfections and just recently, his self love became so powerful that it created a movememt for people to love others as well.
