[En/Vi] Gift-giving Etiquette - Part 1: MiMin & TaeNy

 (This post is about the way my ultimate couples give gifts to their partner as far as I've noticed. I've moved the "foreword" part to the end of the post since it's... too personal. But if you can start off from there, it would make more sense of the post.)
 Most of the time we see Miyeon/Tiffany is the one who asks and Minnie/Taeyeon is the one who buys things. Shippers be like: Wow! That's romantic! That's just the ideal type of a alpha/butch/top woman - rich as f*ck and willing to pay for everything without looking at the bill. Well, I hate it. As I said in the "foreword", it's a sexist stereotype among couples related to toxic masculinity (and gender pay gap, I guess). More importantly, that's one of the way shippers heterosexualize a lesbian relationship I hate since day one. Look at my ships. They're definitely nowhere close to that. They're all beautiful, independent, wealthy and caring women. But many shippers irrationally force such a sexist conception onto them.
 I can tell it's because Miyeon and Tiffany are the more open and straightforward type who like to show their gratitude in a "louder" way: They keep impressing on us they're the lucky one, how nice and expensive the gift is, how their partner got to work hard to make it - literally anything nice they can say about the other. Meanwhile Minnie and Taeyeon don't feel the urge to tell the world what they've just got today - Taeng especially, as far as I can recall.
 It's not that Miyeon/Tiffany love to flex about how kindly they're treated nor to delight the shippers. It's just... the way they say thank you, I guess? I mean they feel like something's undone until they can let people around them know how nice their partner is. To be honest, they show us everything they've got from other members too. So this is not really something special about our couples. What I love about Tiffany's personality is that she talks so much about how nice the others are, yet hardly about how nice she herself is. It's a shame that some shippers see this as a one-way relationship based on extreme heterosexual roles.  Miyeon takes a picture of almost everything Minnie's got for her, but she hasn't told us what she've given Minnie in return. So does Tiffany. The story of giving gifts has always dropped at where Tiffany and Miyeon tell us they're having intention of giving something in return, that they're trying to figure out what their partner likes the best. What was that exactly? Only Heaven knows.  (Do you think the girls have ever given something at the end of the day? People do giving and caring as long as they cherish each other. After all, Tayeon doesn't have to upload photos or anything in order to prove that Tiffany cares about her. Tiffany needn't a post to keep the world informed of how kind she is toward Taeyeon, even though she kept telling us how generous Taeyeon is with the gifts. I remember when TaeTiSeo paid a visit to Disneyland in US, Tiffany uploaded a photo of the three of them, another one of her with Seohyun, but we only accidentally caught a glimpse of the one of her with Taeyeon on her phone. There's always something that "if you weren't TaeTae then you would never understand".)
 Why haven't we seen Miyeon buy Minnie gifts as much as Minnie does her? Because Minnie's a shopaholic - need I say more about that? Minnie spends her free time looking around shopping malls and online marketplaces. Meanwhile it seems to me that Miyeon'd rather spend her free time watching YouTube (e.g: fanmade videos, SBS documentaries) and films. So it's a higher chance for Minnie to come across something amazing that's worth buying for the members. In short, shopping is not Miyeon's thing compared to Minnie. There are still many other chances for Miyeon to have the bill on her. They usually go out together. You know there are quite many things a couple can do about splitting the bill.
Remember when they bought Shuhua a bicycle together?
 Actually, it's also because our Miyeon-ssi is quite... special:
Blunt and simple af, taking every "yes" as "yes" and every "no" as a solid "no". 😂
 It would never be hard for Tiffany to say what she wants for her birthday "since she's got everything". She wouldn't mind if SNSD members give her some kind of unnecessary things; whatever it is just fine. But (G)I-DLE takes gift-giving so seriously. As they said, it's easier when it comes to Shuhua (since the maknae hasn't got many things in Korea), but for Miyeon, watch this V LIVE again and you'll see she even said sorry to Minnie for talking too much, stressing them out about choosing a birthday gift.
"I don't use the coffee machine every now and then, but it looks pretty. Let's not tell Minnie."
 Miyeon's never asked for luxury things. She just wants to be given something, even if it's Yuqi's awkward DIY ring. Said herself she prefers handwritten letters to birthday gifts. She celebrates every little thing: a pop-socket, a bracelet, an ice-cream, flowers, a phone call, even a lame repetitive joke from the members.
 And there's something obvious about Minnie: She's nice, and she wants Miyeon to tell the world how nice she is. ㅋㅋㅋ Both of them love getting compliments, that's why I think we'll know as soon as Miyeon gives Minnie something as well. Funny how Miyeon's the one who's "loud", and Minnie's the one who wants her partner to be "loud". See how Minnie try to suggest Miyeon talking about her? She's clearly proud of herself for being thoughtful to Miyeon. (That's good. You should be proud of yourself for being a kind person too. Let's only accept what we think we deserve to have.)  On the other hand, there's some standard for Minnie to get Miyeon's full compliment:  However Miyeon treasures the letter so much. Neverlands asked her to let them have a look at it but she refused. She must want to keep it for the two of them only. (For her refusing the radio host's request, I guess that's because she "didn't want to read it in front of Minnie".) All we know is Miyeon loves handwritten letters so.  Even in an aggressive way:
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FOREWORD: When the shippers cross the border...

 I wrote this post thinking about a sexist stereotype among couples, a stupid heterosexualized concept among the shipdom I hate since day one: The male/butch/top one would better be rich as f*ck, considering they've got to be the financial provider of the relationship, while the female/femme/bottom is (gratefully?!) welcomed to spend their partner's income to the last coin without blinking an eyelash. People call it romantic. Imagine if it's the other way around - the male/butch/top spending the female/femme/bottom's money, who would be called the shameless, useless, and good-for-nothing then? What's seen as the ideal man/top/alpha here is actually nothing but toxic masculinity. (I wonder why there ain't no such phrases as toxic femininity. The world is no short of toxic women thinking they have the rights to manipulate others.) Are we really gonna fight for gender equality with the idea that men must burn their money up in exchange for love, respect and commitment from women?!

 Above all, what the f*ck has toxic masculinity got to do with a lesbian couple/ship???

 I know gender pay gap is one simple truth since forever: Men are usually paid more than women for the same amount of work, which makes it seem more natural for them to be the main provider regardless of the women's will. But how comes such a sexist concept even exists among the women themselves?

 I don't know if the shippers from other societies are also obsessed with this concept. But I don't get how comes my old fellow shippers enjoy the idea of the wifey/bottom keeping all the hubby/top's money and credit cards in the name of love(??!). I don't know what makes Tiffany look like a woman who'd enjoy keeping Taeyeon's cash and cards and use them shamelessly for herself. I don't know why would shippers joke about one of the epitomes of independent Asian-American woman like that and call it lovely.
 Don't you find it absolutely disrespectful towards Tiffany - and Taeyeon as well? Why would Taeyeon, who's also a leader, should behave like a simp for a member like that? Instead of showing how the leader takes care of all the members equally, a bunch of stupid shippers insist on Taeyeon being totally biased. They seems to be thrilled seeing Seohyun being "the odd one out" during TaeTiSeo days (of course she's not!), making the pics and clips of one super viral. When Jessica's leaving happened, I remember Taeyeon's accused of being the nasty unfair leader who ignored all the members except for Tiffany. I know haters gonna say whatever they want, but it was so glamorous the moment those TaeTiSeo clips edited by TaeNy shippers were used as the evidence of Taeyeon's ignorance. I must admit, back then the haters did it so sexy. (I haven't met any TaeNy shipper sexier than that.) Or perhaps they thought that's the truth. Perhaps it's a standing ovation for those capable shippers who succeeded in making the world believe that's who Taeyeon and Tiffany truly were.

 I would do anything to show the world how kind Taeyeon is as a leader rather than Taeyeon's being a lesbian simp. I do enjoy TaeNy's beautiful relationship and special chemistry, but nothing should ever ride roughshod over the Soshibond - the fact of them being a whole group. Don't you think TaeNy shippers were to blame for some part of the hate Taeyeon (and Tiffany) had and will always have to deal with?

 I know many people are genuinely happy to let their sweetheart comfortably spend their incomes as a way of showing their affection and protection. Relationship doesn't work by tit-for-tat nor going Dutch. One may gives less of financial security but emotional support - or shortly, love. (I've got Soyeon x Shuhua as an example: Gift-giving Etiquette - Part 2: SoHua). I couldn't care less if you're actually having this kind of relationship. I sincerely hope that the concept would work out for you and your loved one. The problem is the shipped couples are absolutely not like that. If only Miyeon/Tiffany actually loved to spend Minnie/Taeyeon's money largely for herself, I wouldn't be writing this post. (You know Miyeon's also born with a silver spoon, right? She's independent and easy-going.)  Some women want to take their lover's money but Miyeon only wants to take the BILLS. See the difference?
 So if you're lingering on the fantasy that MiMin and TaeNy would represent you and your romantic financial provider, please don't merge them into your own hallucination too much to the point that you no longer remember what kind of women they actually are. Once again, in this house we all love beautiful, independent, talented, $ucce$$ful and caring women. Please let our couples stand for something better than a sexist conception. Please don't let the act of shipping be the sabotage for what our women and fandoms have always been fighting for.
Thank @oncloudy9 for the beautiful GIFs, always.

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