Parents of children with allergies upset with Oh My Girl's 'Banana Allergy Monkey'

Article: Parents criticize Oh My Girl's 'Banana Allergy Monkey' for ridiculing allergies

Source: Joongang Ilbo via Nate

Parents of children with allergies took issues with the unit's dance move where they scratch their side as a symptom of being allergic to bananas and also with the lyrics where they call themselves "pathetic" for being a monkey that is allergic to bananas.

Parents left messages on a community board saying:

"Sigh, of all things to make it harder for us... Our entire family is struggling with food issues, what kind of song is this? ㅠㅠ Allergies are life threatening and can even cause death and yet they expressed it like this...?? It's already hard enough that the awareness around allergies is so low in real life, I'm scared that children will think of allergies as a joke with songs like this ㅠㅠ"

"They're insane. There are parents who stay up all night because their kids scratch themselves with allergies. How can they ridicule the symptoms like that!!"

"The lyrics make me so angry as a parent of a child with allergies!!! Awareness around these issues is already so low, it's sad that they're going as far as to ridicule it ㅠ"

"If, like their lyrics say, allergies were just something that could be overcome with effort, then I'd pay millions for it. I'm so angry and sad... especially since it was just yesterday that my kid had an allergy scare and called me from her pre-school ㅠㅠ"

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1. [+1,469, -117] Crazy ㅋㅋ then I guess songs about break ups are ridiculing people who are going through break ups? ㅋㅋ

2. [+1,324, -129] People who find fault with everything in the world must find life so exhausting...

3. [+1,165, -105] I feel like this is too much of a stretch ㅋ

4. [+60, -21] I do think I'd be pissed if I had a family member suffering from allergies, though... especially since some can cause death. Our country has a weak understanding of allergies still, especially food allergies... people will often be like "it's because you've never tried it" or "you're being picky" or "stop acting like you're special"... it's true, the awareness around it is really low. I think it's wrong to accuse them of finding a fault with everything especially when there are more and more allergies in the world today.

5. [+57, -6] I actually do think kids will follow along and maybe even use it to pick on other kids with allergies

6. [+50, -12] It did feel wrong that the lyrics call someone with allergies "pathetic"... and I completely understand how this can make people with allergies feel uncomfortable. It's the same as people trying not to use slangs like "cancer" and "you're giving me cancer".

7. [+37, -19] A song's just a song, can ajummas stop picking at everything to find faults

8. [+33, -6] It's hard to explain unless you've been through it... but parents are often at war with their children because children have a tendency to mindlessly scratch themselves if left to their own devices... that's why parents of children with allergies are super sensitive... Just an unfortunate situation all around...

9. [+32, -2] The best replies would shut their mouths if they saw how many children come to the hospital every day because their whole body is swollen over eating a food item that they're allergic to. People think allergies are a joke because there aren't as many cases around us yet but imagine if this song was about leukemia patients or other diseases? People wouldn't be so quiet about it then

10. [+31, -10] As a mother of a child with eczema... I have to watch him not be able to eat foods that he wants, scratch himself to sleep all night with continuous bleeding because he doesn't even have the time to let it scab... it's just a repeat of this every day. To think that a group called this whole thing "pathetic" and made a dance out of it... it totally makes me fear that other children will use it to make fun of my kid. Kids have been known to copy idol dances as young as 6-7 years old.

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Article: Oh My Girl reps, "The controversy has been interpreted differently from the intent of our creation"

Source: X Sports News via Naver

1. [+5,434, -611] People finding fault with everything once again...

2. [+4,647, -462] I can't believe they're even clarifying this, it's such a non-issue

3. [+3,560, -410] ㅋㅋ This wasn't even worth clarifying ㅋㅋ

4. [+2,976, -316] The composer of the song has allergies himself, why would he create a song with the intention to make fun of people with allergies? Please listen to the lyrics for yourself

5. [+463, -60] I assure you that there's nothing in this song that is ridiculing people with allergies... It's actually about overcoming those obstacles and giving hope... Please stop letting these misunderstandings hurt the singers and their fans

6. [+440, -75] How did they even find the song when it's not even on the charts? ㅋㅋㅋ Honestly just feels like an attempt to drag them down

7. [+308, -19] ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Then what about Lovelyz's 'Ahchoo' when they pretend to sneeze because of falling flower petals, are they making fun of people with rhinitis? This whole controversy makes me sick

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