I used to be quite an active shipper of one particular ship, and you will sadly for me find the remainders of that time here in certain threads. But as if grown up I’ve realised that shipping is quite harmful.
For starters, on a base level, it might make the idols feel awkward. They might watch their behaviour or feel like they can’t act freely because it might be interpreted incorrectly. Or then on the opposite they might try to force it to make fans happy which would just make their friendship weird. This would more be an issue within a group rather than two idols from different groups.
For hetero ships, it just reinforces the idea that a girl and a guy can’t be friends without it being romantic. To me this is childish and outdated
For homo ships, I think when you think about it, it can start becoming homophobic.
I think a lot of the homophobia comes from when there’s an idol who acts in a stereotypical gay way, usually their clothing, and then they get labelled as the gay member of their group. It just reinforces the idea that sexuality has everything to do with outer appearance and behaviour and isn’t yknow… to do with sexual preference. In reality we don’t know much about these idols and their preferences. Many will be straight, some will be gay or lesbian and others bi/pan whatever.
But then you must also remember the context of Korea. Being gay isn’t accepted. In April Holland, one of Korea’s few gay idols, came forward about him experiencing more hate crimes (I think that was what he spoke about anyway). Imagine for a moment the two idols of the same sex you’re shipping are genuinely in a relationship, or one of them is gay and has a crush on the other. Shipping them relentlessly might make them feel unsafe. They may feel like they’ve been noticed and that they’re no longer hidden and protected in the closet. It may also strain their friendship in the crush situation because suddenly the gay one feels like they’re pushing their friend’s boundaries and stuff.
But even with all this, I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with being a little bit delusional, or thinking two idols are cute together. The biggest problem is when fans post about it, especially in places where it might be seen, or directly to the idols. They deserve privacy. We’re not their friends, their relationships aren’t our business