I have a love/hate relationship with comedy. As I grow older, I like comedians less and less because the majority of them cannot be bothered to come up with material that isn't racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. There are only a handful of internet comedians I watch, and even those numbers are dwindling. I used to be subscribed to H3H3's regular channel and their podcast channel, but I unsubscribed from both when I saw Ethan's racist and homophobic "jokes" about k-pop.

In a recent episode of their podcast, Ethan said, "How did this become a thing in western culture? Where all these grown men and little girls are jerking off to little k-pop boys. It's like a little fetish. It's like a little twink, gay fetish about these k-pop boys."

Needless to say, Twitter was on fire when this clip went viral, resulting in the #h3h3isoverparty trending. When H3H3's fans saw this hashtag, they immediately began to insult every single k-pop fan explaining how disgusting Ethan's comments were. They convinced themselves that the reason we were upset was Ethan saying he doesn't like k-pop. If any of them took a second to read what we were saying, they would have realized that no one cared that Ethan doesn't like k-pop. If he had said that k-pop isn't his style and isn't the type of music he enjoys, there would have never been an issue. The problems began when he used gay as an insult and questioned how Korean music could be popular outside of Korea.

It is racist to think that the only way that people in the west could possibly enjoy k-pop is because of a fetishization of Koreans.

Does that mean that the only music of value comes from the west? Is it not possible to feel an emotional connection to music in a language that isn't English?

And when Ethan used the words "twink" and "gay" as a way to insult k-pop idols and fans, he tried to pretend like he didn't understand how that is homophobic. Clearly, he was speaking negatively about k-pop and trying to think of different ways to express it, so how are those words not being used as insults when the entire point of your "jokes" was to insult k-pop?

Ethan, what exactly is it about k-pop that makes you think it is a "twink, gay fetish?" Is it the fact that male k-pop idols wear makeup and feminine clothing? If so, I would just like to point out that a person's appearance does not dictate their sexuality. A man wearing makeup and feminine clothing doesn't automatically make him gay. And just to make it clear, being gay is not and will never be a bad thing.

Ethan tried to brush off the criticism he was receiving on Twitter by claiming that since k-pop fans were unable to handle our hobby being made fun of, then we really are just fetishizing these Korean singers. I'm all for harmlessly poking fun at things, but it is not harmless to make racist and homophobic remarks.

Comedians like Ethan try to get away with making these ignorant jokes by claiming that his critics are too sensitive.

I would rather be seen as too sensitive than to blatantly ignore the thoughts and feelings of marginalized communities.

Whether Ethan realizes it or not, there are millions of people who follow his lead and make racist and homophobic jokes because he has made them think it is acceptable. It's labeled as "edgy" humor and anyone that has a problem with it is seen as a snowflake.

H3H3's fans were so upset over female k-pop fans calling Ethan out for his jokes that they started replying with this meme as a way to retaliate.

Know Your Meme

It's sad that Ethan's fans were so upset about us criticizing his "jokes" that they decided to be fatphobic. Thankfully, the women being sent this photo were able to turn the situation around and spread self-love by talking about how our worth as human beings is not dependent upon whether or not we meet the toxic beauty standards that men hold over our heads.

This meme is also an example of how women's interests and hobbies are never valued as much as a man's interests and hobbies.

K-pop is immediately disregarded and hated because the majority of the fans are women and our society has been conditioned to believe that anything that women love is stupid. I never see sports fans criticized for crying and screaming during a game where their favorite team is playing, but god forbid a k-pop fan cry and scream during their favorite band's concert because that's just annoying and idiotic. The only difference between these two activities is that most sports fans are men and most k-pop fans are women.

It is also worth noting that thanks to the #h3h3isoverparty trend, I was able to find out that Ethan had actually said the n-word and the f-word in an episode of his podcast.

H3H3's fans came to his defense by claiming that it wasn't racist or homophobic for him to be saying those slurs because they weren't directed at anyone.

It does not matter whether he was saying them directly to someone or not.

Those words are slurs because they were created with the intent to harm black people and gay people. As a white, straight man, Ethan should have never had those words come out of his mouth.

I hope that those of you that read this and are subscribed to their channels decide to reconsider supporting H3H3. It is because of people like Ethan that believe that being offensive is the pinnacle of comedy that there are now only a couple of internet comedians I enjoy watching.