InkQuestLENS
Thirteen, and on stage.十三歲，已經站上舞台
A new girl group tops the chart in 29 hours. Then the questions start.一個新女團 29 小時就登上排行榜冠軍，接著，問題來了。
girls in the new group A2O LITE新女團 A2O LITE 有九名成員
the age of three of them: an eighth grader in Taiwan其中三人只有 13 歲，在台灣是國二生
from release to No. 1 on Melon, Korea’s biggest streaming chart從發行到登上韓國最大串流排行榜 Melon 冠軍
The cheers did not last long. Within a week, photos of a 13-year-old member in a crop top and short shorts were all over Korean websites. Many people called the album cover inappropriate.歡呼沒有持續太久。不到一週，一名 13 歲成員穿短版上衣和短褲的照片傳遍韓國網站，很多人也批評專輯封面不恰當。
The group comes from Lee Soo-man, the man who built SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s biggest music agencies. He launched BoA at 13, back in 2000. He knows this road well.這個團體出自李秀滿之手，他是韓國最大經紀公司之一 SM 娛樂的創辦人。2000 年，他讓 13 歲的寶兒出道。這條路，他很熟。
At 13, what were you doing on a Monday night? Could you have stood on that stage?妳 13 歲的時候，星期一晚上都在做什麼？妳能站上那個舞台嗎？
Thirteen isn’t new.十三歲並不新鮮
K-pop has put young teenagers on stage for 26 years. Girls and boys alike.K-pop 把青少年推上舞台已經 26 年了，女孩男孩都有。
- 200013BoAsolo
- 200714HyunAWonder Girls
- 200814TaeminSHINee
- 201614two membersNCT DREAM
- 201814Jang Won-youngIZ*ONE
- 202413Lim Seo-wonUNIS
- 202613three membersA2O LITE
Lee Soo-man found BoA at 11, when she came along to her brother’s audition. In an old video that went viral again this month, he shares his formula: debut at 13 to 15, and you peak at 16 to 18.李秀滿在寶兒 11 歲、陪哥哥去試鏡時發現了她。這個月再度爆紅的一段舊影片裡，他分享自己的公式：13 到 15 歲出道，16 到 18 歲就能達到巔峰。
Taiwan has its own story. In 2012, scouts spotted a 13-year-old girl at a performing-arts school in Tainan. Three years later, Tzuyu debuted with TWICE.台灣也有自己的故事。2012 年，星探在台南一間表演藝術學校發現一個 13 歲的女孩。三年後，周子瑜隨 TWICE 出道。
An idol’s best years are short. Starting early “buys them more of that time.”Jung Duk-hyun, culture critic偶像的黃金期很短，早點出道「能替他們多爭取一些時間」。——文化評論家 Jung Duk-hyun
More years at the top, in exchange for a childhood on stage. Is that a fair trade at 13?用舞台上的童年，換取更多年的巔峰。13 歲做這樣的交換，公平嗎？
Inside the practice room.練習室裡
Before the lights: long days, small meals, and a door marked “too old” at 20.上台之前：漫長的日子、少少的飯量，還有一扇在 20 歲標著「太老」的門。
trainees at Korean agencies in 2024, about half as many as in 20202024 年韓國經紀公司的練習生人數，約是 2020 年的一半
average age they started, among 16 former trainees and idols interviewed受訪的 16 名前練習生和偶像，平均開始受訓的年齡
teenage girl trainees with irregular periods, in one study一份研究中，月經不規律的青少女練習生比例
trainees who quit after joining an agency加入經紀公司後放棄的練習生比例
The 16 former trainees described strict diets, fainting, loneliness, and trouble keeping up at school. One said of the youngest girls: Because they are young, they do not fully understand how serious it is when their period stops.
這 16 名前練習生描述了嚴格的節食、昏倒、孤單，以及跟不上學校課業。一位談到年紀最小的女孩時說：「因為她們年紀小，不完全明白月經停了有多嚴重。」
And the clock runs fast. “Once they pass 20,” an industry insider told The Korea Times, “many start feeling they are considered too old.”時鐘也走得很快。「一過 20 歲，」一位業界人士告訴《韓國時報》，「很多人就開始覺得自己被當成太老了。」
EJAE never debuted, then won a Grammy. Does the trainee system find talent, or waste it?EJAE 沒出道，後來卻拿下葛萊美獎。練習生制度是在發掘人才，還是在浪費人才？
Are girls younger?女孩比較小嗎？
It feels true. The numbers say: not really.感覺是這樣，但數字說：其實不然。
girl groups: average age at debut女團的平均出道年齡
boy groups: average age at debut男團的平均出道年齡
77 well-known groups that debuted from 2008 to 2023, listed by the fan site Koreaboo. Averages worked out by LENS. The youngest group on the list? A boy group: NCT DREAM, at 15.6.粉絲網站 Koreaboo 整理的 77 個知名團體（2008–2023 年出道），平均值由 LENS 計算。名單上最年輕的團體？是男團 NCT DREAM，平均 15.6 歲。
A2O LITE9 girls · average about 15
A2O SOUL15 boys · average about 16
Each dot is one member, by age at debut in October 2026 (birth dates from fan profile sites). Girl trainees slightly outnumber boys too, but not by much.每個點代表一名成員，依 2026 年 10 月出道時的年齡排列（生日資料來自粉絲整理的成員資料）。女練習生也比男練習生多一些，但差距不大。
The age gap is small. The difference is in how the children are presented.年齡差距不大，差別在於孩子被呈現的方式。
This month’s complaints were about the girls’ outfits, not the boys’. And in 2025, a TV audition show called Under 15 put 59 girls aged 15 and under in heavy makeup and showed their photos with bar codes. Critics said it made them look like products.這個月的批評針對的是女孩的服裝，而不是男孩。2025 年，選秀節目《Under 15》讓 59 名 15 歲以下的女孩畫上濃妝，照片上還加了條碼。批評者說，這讓她們看起來像商品。
After a public outcry, it was canceled three days before its first episode.在一片撻伐聲中，節目在首播前三天停播。
Boys and girls start at about the same age. So why do the girls get most of the attention, and most of the criticism?男孩和女孩出道的年紀差不多，為什麼大部分的目光和批評都落在女孩身上？
Who’s really watching?到底是誰在看？
The old rule: boy groups for girls, girl groups for men. Only half of it holds.老規則是：男團給女生看，女團給男生看。只有一半成立。
of the 562,000 people who answered a 2022 online census of BTS fans were female2022 年 BTS 粉絲網路普查的 56 萬多名填答者中，超過 96% 是女性
female fans everyone else · one light stick for every 1 in 100 who answered每支螢光棒代表每 100 名填答者中的 1 人
of Korea’s best-selling albums in 2025 were by boy groups2025 年韓國最暢銷的十張專輯，有九張是男團的
boy group girl group · No. 1: Stray Kids, almost 3.4 million copies of one album. The only girl group: IVE, at No. 7.2025 年前十名。冠軍是 Stray Kids，一張專輯賣出將近 340 萬張。唯一的女團是第七名的 IVE。
Album buyers at the Korean online bookstore Aladin (2022) and for one NewJeans album (KBS Joy, 2023); listeners on the music app Genie (2022). Women were the majority for 17 of the 27 girl groups Aladin checked.專輯買家資料來自韓國網路書店阿拉丁（2022）和 KBS Joy 對 NewJeans 一張專輯的統計（2023）；聽眾資料來自音樂平台 Genie（2022）。阿拉丁分析的 27 個女團中，有 17 個以女性買家為主。
Men haven’t disappeared. Koreans even have a word for grown men who follow girl groups: samchon fan, or “uncle fan.” But in 2022 a Seoul newspaper reported that the old rule, girl groups for male fans, no longer held. Many girl groups now sell an image young women want to copy.男粉並沒有消失。韓國甚至有個詞專門形容追女團的成年男性：「삼촌팬」，大叔粉。但首爾一家報紙在 2022 年報導，「女團給男粉」的老規則已經不成立了。許多女團現在賣的，是年輕女生想模仿的形象。
If most of the buyers are young women, then who is a 13-year-old’s crop top for?如果買家大多是年輕女性，那一個 13 歲孩子的短版上衣，是為了誰而穿？
Same top, different stage.同一件上衣，不同的舞台
American girls wear crop tops too. What changes is who chooses, and for whom.美國女孩也穿短版上衣。不同的是：誰來選，又是為了誰。
A girl at the mall
- picked by
- herself, maybe after a fight with Mom她自己，可能還跟媽媽吵了一架
- worn for
- friends, school, the weekend朋友、學校、週末
- part of
- her own life她自己的生活
A trainee on stage
- picked by
- the agency and its stylists經紀公司和造型師
- worn for
- a camera, a dance, millions of viewers鏡頭、舞蹈、幾百萬名觀眾
- part of
- a product the company sells公司販賣的商品
In a viral TikTok, an Iowa mother filmed the girls’ section of a Target store, full of short tops. It shouldn’t be this hard, she said, to find a full-length shirt for her 6-year-old. American parents split. One let her daughter start at 10 and saw nothing sexual in it, unless adults bring it. Another made a deal: a tank top underneath as a tween, a little skin at 14.一支爆紅的 TikTok 影片裡，一位愛荷華州的媽媽拍下 Target 女童區滿滿的短版上衣，說要幫 6 歲女兒找件正常長度的衣服，不該這麼難。美國家長意見分歧：一位讓女兒 10 歲就開始穿，認為這沒有任何性意味，除非大人自己往那裡想；另一位和女兒談好條件：小學高年級時裡面加件背心，14 歲才能露一點肚子。
Sexualization, said an American Psychological Association report in 2007, includes sexuality imposed on a girl, rather than chosen by her.美國心理學會 2007 年的報告指出，「性化」包括把性強加在女孩身上，而不是由她自己選擇。
Comfort counts too
Dancing under stage lights is hot work. A fitness guide tells people exercising in the heat to wear “minimal clothing,” or light, loose clothes. Street dancers do both: tank tops or baggy tees.在舞台燈光下跳舞很熱。運動指南建議，在高溫下運動要穿得「越少越好」，或穿輕薄寬鬆的衣服。街舞舞者兩種都有：背心，或寬大的 T 恤。
Sometimes, they choose
In July 2025, some fans said IVE’s outfits at an outdoor football match were too revealing. Member Rei said the members had asked for their uniforms to be remade the way each of them wanted.2025 年 7 月，有些粉絲批評 IVE 在一場戶外足球賽的服裝太暴露。成員 Rei 說，是成員們請人依各自的喜好改製球衣的。
Comfort, choice or image: how much of a stage outfit is each? If comfort were the only reason, would boys and girls dress the same?舒適、自主、形象：一套舞台服裝各占多少？如果只為了舒適，男生和女生會穿得一樣嗎？
Two clocks.兩個時鐘
Same debut age, different shelf life.出道年齡一樣，保存期限卻不同。
All 1,182 idol groups that debuted from 1996 to 2025. Nearly half are gone within three years; by the time a standard contract ends, about one in four is left.1996 到 2025 年出道的全部 1,182 個偶像團體。將近一半撐不過三年；到標準合約期滿時，大約只剩四分之一。
Why do boy groups last longer? Professor Kim Jeong-seop, who studied all 1,182 groups, says boy groups build loyal fans who buy albums, tickets and goods again and again. Girl groups depend more on general popularity: streaming and events.為什麼男團撐得比較久？研究了全部 1,182 個團體的 Kim Jeong-seop 教授說，男團會培養出忠實的粉絲，一再購買專輯、門票和周邊；女團則比較依賴大眾人氣、串流和活動。
A faster clock may also explain the rush. The younger the debut, the more years before people call an idol “too old.”時鐘走得快，或許也解釋了為什麼急著開始：越早出道，偶像在被說「太老」之前就有越多年。
Why might boy-group fans stay loyal for longer? Are fans of girl groups different, or treated differently?為什麼男團的粉絲可能比較死忠、撐得比較久？女團的粉絲是不一樣，還是被不一樣地看待？
The rules.規則
Korea has a law. Critics say it has holes. Taiwan’s is stricter, on paper.韓國有法律，批評者說漏洞很多。台灣的規定，在書面上更嚴格。
The limits cover work: shows and recordings in Korea, a real job in Taiwan. Training doesn’t count, so a trainee’s day can run right up to the line, or past it.這些限制只管「工作」：在韓國是節目和錄音，在台灣是正式的僱用。訓練不算在內，所以練習生的一天可以一路練到底線，甚至超過。
One square = one hour. Taiwan also caps the day at 8 hours.一格代表一小時。台灣另外規定每天最多 8 小時。
South Korea韓國
- Under 15: no more than 35 hours a week, and no work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (until midnight before a school holiday, with consent)未滿 15 歲：每週最多 35 小時，晚上 10 點到早上 6 點不得工作（經同意，隔天放假可工作到半夜 12 點）
- Ages 15 to 18: up to 40 hours a week15 到 18 歲：每週最多 40 小時
- Since Aug. 2025: agencies may not force minors to skip school, show “excessive exposure,” or manage their looks to extremes2025 年 8 月起：經紀公司不得強迫未成年人缺課、「過度暴露」或極端控制外貌
- Every agency needs a youth protection officer每家經紀公司都要指定青少年保護負責人
Taiwan台灣
- Under 15: employers can’t hire you without government approval未滿 15 歲：沒有主管機關核准，雇主不得僱用
- Age 15: at most 8 hours a day and 40 a week15 歲：每天最多 8 小時、每週 40 小時
- No work from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and none on rest days晚上 8 點到早上 6 點不得工作，例假日也不行
- The catch: these rules protect a child only if the child counts as a worker關鍵是：這些規定只在孩子被算作勞工時才有用
- No direct penalty for breaking the hour limits違反工時上限沒有直接罰則
- The limits cover broadcasts and recordings, not the years of training上限只涵蓋節目和錄音，不包括多年的訓練
- Courts usually don’t treat idols as “employees,” so the main labor law doesn’t apply法院通常不把偶像當受僱者，主要的勞動法因此不適用
- No minimum age for a debut, and no one defines “excessive”沒有出道最低年齡，也沒人定義什麼叫「過度」
What England does
A child performer needs a license from the local council first.兒童表演者必須先取得地方政府核發的許可證。
A lawyer’s view
Little has changed since 2025, says lawyer Kim Doo-na, and some agencies don’t seem to know the new rules.律師 Kim Doo-na 說，2025 年以來改變不大，有些經紀公司甚至似乎不知道新規定。
Should there be a minimum age for a debut? If so, what age, and who should check?出道應該有最低年齡嗎？如果要，該訂幾歲？又該由誰來把關？
Things to ponder.值得想一想的事
Over a cup of tea, on your own or with someone who disagrees.泡杯茶，自己想想，或找個意見不同的人聊聊。
A talented 12-year-old in your family wants to train in Seoul. What would you say? What rules would you set?家裡一個有天分的 12 歲孩子想去首爾當練習生。妳會怎麼說？會訂什麼規則？
Fans buy the albums and the streams. Do they share some responsibility for how young idols are treated?專輯和串流都是粉絲買的。對於年輕偶像受到的待遇，粉絲是否也有一份責任？
Lee Soo-man says he “will handle it well.” What would handling it well look like to you?李秀滿說他「會處理好」。在妳看來，怎樣才算處理好？
Taiwan’s labor rules are stricter on paper. Should Taiwan want its own idol industry, under rules like these?台灣的勞動規定在書面上更嚴格。在這樣的規定下，台灣該發展自己的偶像產業嗎？
Boys and girls debut at the same age, yet the debate keeps landing on girls’ bodies and clothes. Where else do you see that happen?男孩女孩出道年紀相同，爭議卻總是落在女孩的身體和衣著上。妳還在哪些地方看過這種情形？
What would you tell your 13-year-old self about fame?關於成名，妳會想對 13 歲的自己說什麼？
ExtrasWords from this issue · 本期單字
About this issue
LENS is an InkQuest magazine of contemporary topics in short, graphic pages. Issue 01, November 2026. Written and edited by Wen-Hung Fang. Illustrations drawn in code with vex; type set in Fraunces and DM Sans (SIL Open Font License). Figures reflect reporting through October 27, 2026. Ages are at debut unless stated.LENS 是 InkQuest 以簡短、圖像化的頁面介紹當代議題的雜誌。第 01 期，2026 年 11 月。撰文與編輯：Wen-Hung Fang。插畫以 vex 程式繪製；字體 Fraunces 與 DM Sans（SIL 開放字型授權）。數據截至 2026 年 10 月 27 日；年齡除另有說明外皆為出道年齡。