Introduction
Within these past few decades, the southern half of the Korean peninsula, more formally known as The Republic of South Korea, has transformed into one of the most developed countries in the world. Its economy and advancements in technology have been subject to mass improvements and have contributed to the country’s development. But a major change is to be noticed within the society and culture. The social practices and the mentality to “fit in” have become a main preoccupation of its people. The pursuit for success and wealth has transformed the mass population of South Korea into adopting an ideal that “with beauty comes prosperity”. The people of this once predominantly Confucian nation have transposed their previous ideals and societal standards regarding physical appearance. Through the assistance of today’s modern advancements, a plethora of methods have allowed for the citizens of South Korea to intentionally alter their physical appearance. Families and individuals are taking any possible measure to make sure that their exterior appearance is on par with the standards of Korean society.
Personally growing up within this culture, I have always considered the question as to why physical appearance is so heavily emphasized and regarded. I understand that beauty is an important factor within any society, but the extent to which it is exploited within the Korean culture and society is unparalleled. From my personal experiences, I have seen friends and family members receive plastic surgery in order to alter their appearance. Rather than finding fault in their actions, I criticized the negative effects that Korean society and culture had on them. The extent to which beauty is so precious within my culture upsets me...
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...y within South Korean culture has become so great and common that according to Ms. Chang,(a plastic surgery patient), the “…[eye surgery] is not even considered surgery…” (qtd. in Choe “closet”). She is referring to the fact that eye surgery is one of the most basic, and insignificant surgeries one could get to improve their looks; it is so common and minuscule, that it does not even constitute as a “major” surgery to her, as well as the public. Thus, the term “the basics” (which include an eyelid surgery to create larger eyes and a nose job to create a longer thinner nose) was conjured by the Korean people to classify these two very common procedures (Willet). The shift in beauty standards and the willingness to change is crucial in understanding the reason and justification to the extent to which the Korean people have altered their values on outwards appearance.
Approximately about a decade ago, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese women all had a distinctive look and features. Single eyelid, thin lips, short-bridged nose and oval shape face are few of the features that distinguish Asian women apart. However, these distinctive features are slowly fading away as the new westernized features are coming in. Through the mass media and their
Here is some advice to my younger Asian American self, growing up in a media filled industry focused on physical attraction, accept the things that cannot be changed, especially your own race. Unless going under the knife was ever an option you cannot change the way your facial features are arranged that identifies and distinguishes you as being Asian. This problem you and many other people of color have, arise from media images published in mediums such as magazines that predominately represent the Caucasian race and Caucasian features as being the most beautiful and most accepted. Because of this, Susan Bordo from the Empire of Images explains that these images, “speak to the young people not just about how to be beautiful but about how to become what the dominant culture admires” (21). This admiration of Caucasian features over other racial features explains the media bias that directly contributes to the lack of diversity seen in magazines.
In today society, beauty in a woman seems to be the measured of her size, or the structure of her nose and lips. Plastic surgery has become a popular procedure for people, mostly for women, to fit in social class, race, or beauty. Most women are insecure about their body or face, wondering if they are perfect enough for the society to call the beautiful; this is when cosmetic surgery comes in. To fix what “needed” to be fixed. To begin with, there is no point in cutting your face or your body to add or remove something most people call ugly. “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” explored the desire of human to become beyond perfection by the undergoing plastic surgery. The author, Camille Pagalia, took a look how now days how Americans are so obsessed
In Jessica Bennett’s “Tales of a Modern Diva” and Daniel Akst’s “What Meets the Eye”,
... been shaped, by the likes of the Chinese culture, however, the Korean people, have kept its distinct art. It eloquently expresses the qualities of the land and its people When free from the entire need to imitate. Chinese models, Korean art abounds in vitality, directness, strength, joy and a beguiling naivet*. Unpretentious, directness, ruggedness, spontaneity, and appeal as well as uniqueness." (Moes, 20) Like its people, Korean art mirrors and fuses its past present and future, allowing distinct external influences, but always, undoubtedly allowing its originating self shine through. Through its indigenous central Asian origins to its influence from the Chinese, to inevitable Westernization.
Consumer culture and the concepts of “beauty” are related to disciplinary body practices in various ways. Consumer culture, in my opinion, is
At first glance, it appears that body image researchers have not just focused on the individual. Nearly every researcher in this field acknowledges the essential role that cultural norms for appearance play in the development of one’s body image. They have even gone as far as recognizing the gender differences in appearance norms in our culture. Men are held to a standard of a moderate, muscular built that generally matches the size and shape of the average man, but women are compared to a cultural ideal that has thinned beyond belief (Wolszon 545). The Miss America contestants have become so thin that most are fifteen percent below their recommended weight for their height, a sympt...
Every people has a different sense of beauty, but in Korea, people tend to want to have outward adornment. This means, they want their face to be beautiful. In general, people think plastic surgery is not really bad things in Korea. They are evaluated by their appearance from the time when they are children or even when they were born. (HUFF POST, 2015) Therefore, sometimes parents pay for the cost of plastic surgery as their children’s birthday present, and Korean teenager often make fun jokes about plastic surgery. Those facts make Korean to have deep attachment to the beauty. They even photoshop their passport picture, and children also start wearing makeup when they are in
According to Discourse and Society “Cosmetic surgery needs to be seen as an important social practice because it merges the attention given to the body by an individual person with the values and priorities of the consumer society.” Younger generations are easily drawn to the hype that is presented by the media, and in turn look at themselves as imperfect, and seek to make changes to their body as a result.
Soh, C. S. (2001). South Korea. In C. R. Ember & M. Ember (Eds.), Countries and Their Cultures (
Since Asians have features that give them a sort of racial identity, many of the women choose to alter these features. For example, it is very common for Asian women to get surgery on their eye lids to remove the appearance of having small or narrow eyes. Another example would be altering their nose to alter the stereotype people hold of Asians having flat noses. Most women who were interviewed stated that the primary reason for getting plastic surgery was that it was a way for them to look like a less stereotypical Asian, and therefore, look the best they could. Therefore, it could be said that in altering their image, they also hope to alter their social status as women of racial
For our project, K-POP, we have decided to compare how the digital realm influenced the boom of cosmetic surgery in Korea compared to American plastic surgery, where digital means are a less common tool utilized to increase, accentuate, and bring publicity to this industry. We want to take a deeper look into how Korean pop culture and its technology may be influencing the process one takes to get plastic surgery, such as the advertising it provides for each individual plastic surgery. This is opposite of America, where plastic surgery is more taboo, therefore absent in these spaces. Through this research we are ultimately focusing, emphasizing, and analyzing how the digital realm of each country has recently influenced the plastic surgery industry,
In this essay, I will compare people that are obsessed with physical appearance and appearances. It is not strange for individuals to worry about physical appearance. In fact, we could argue that we are living in a culture that weighs the most up-to-date trends or newest fashions more heavily than more pressing issues that affects society. As a result, many people become obsessed with their physical appearance in order to keep up with trends and fashions.
How many times have we heard or said the clique “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” yet we focus so much of our attention on our physically appearance. Everyday we encounter images in the media that make us believe we have to look a certain way. Physical beauty is portrayed as important and essential in order to find love and acceptance. Although physical beauty is moderately important, it is less than inner beauty for it diminishes with age.
One of the main reasons for South Korea’s high rate of plastic surgery is due to that the fact that the country is so competitive. Beauty can even effect if you can get a job or not. In South Korea it is required that you attach a photo of yourself to your resume when applying to most jobs. People that are seen as not beautiful have a lower chance of getting a job. In the United States, the only time where hiring managers can ask for photos attached to a resume is when applying to a job such as modeling.