I didn’t know about “mukbangs”—a portmanteau of the Korean words “meongneun” (eating) and “bangsong” (broadcast)—until Enid Frances appeared on my TikTok account’s explore page. Enid, wearing a pink tank top and bright lipstick, taps on the plastic packaging of a chocolate cake. She’s silent, making intense eye contact with us. She lifts the lid. She gulps milk. Her fork enters. The chewing is exaggerated and loud. Two minutes pass, and a quarter of the cake is consumed. Enid flashes a thumbs up.
Videos like Enid’s, seemingly innocuous by nature, have managed to incite international controversy. In 2024, sensationalistic reports surfaced about 24-year-old Pan Xiaoting, who supposedly ate herself to death on air. She promised followers she would consume 10kg of food in one sitting, and was said to have eaten until her stomach tore. Though there was skepticism about the veracity of Xiaoting’s story, additional influencers have since allegedly perished.
China now bans the filming and streaming of mukbangs. The Philippines proposed a similar ban. Meanwhile, in South Korea, a crackdown on public health guidelines to address mukbangs are raising questions about government infringement on freedom of choice. For American viewers, the mukbang is an unregulated and relatively new form of entertainment.
How is this a thing? I rarely enjoy watching people eat across the table.
Historically, college girls would make extra scratch via exotic dancing or other offline activities. Claiming this isn’t tech-related is disingenuous.
But that’s the thing, women (men less so) have always found ways to make money by selling their appearance. The interesting part is that now they’re eating. Most people will probably be confused about what’s so sexy about someone eating which is why this is a news article. The fact that they’re doing it on stream is secondary, they could just as well be sitting behind a shuttered window and have people pay to open the shutter and watch them.