Cultural post #6

[Jenna Lee]

The modern standard of beauty in Korea is a very controversial topic within Korea and internationally. The standard of beauty in Korea for women is to have clear and pale skin, with bigger eyes with double eyelids and eye bags, a small and high nose, and having a narrower jaw and chin. The standard of beauty body-wise is to be skinny with with thin and long arms and legs, but with bigger chest and curves. The Korean society judges people based on their looks quite often, and this used to happen even during job interviews, where the interviewee’s looks have a big influence on the interviewer on selecting their new employees. Because so many things are based on people’s looks, they often get plastic surgeries and diet, to the point where people would risk their lives to look just a bit more physically attractive. For example, finding plus-size clothes and darker foundation shades is relatively difficult in Korea. This has been a big, controversial issue in Korea and outside of Korea, and people have been speaking out and against the standard of beauty in Korea. Although things are slowly beginning to change, the change is too slow, and people are still fighting for equality.

[June Choi]

I also am very aware of the seriousness of the high standard of beauty in Korea, for I experienced it myself while living in Korea. I had trouble with my own appearance, for it did not match with the standards that my peers had of beauty. I also saw some of my friends going through plastic surgery and extreme diets to reach their heavily influenced goals. I find it very unfortunate that these high standards of beauty are even negatively impacting girls who are very young and hope that things change more rapidly. 

[Jenna Lee]

I agree and I hope that the beauty standard changes soon. It's so restricted and I believe it's so ridiculous that anything outside of the standard is considered ugly or unattractive. I hope we can see more diversity in standards of beauty soon in the future.

[Azin Bahari]

I have watched a lot of sad documentaries on this topic. It is so sad to see all the pressure Korean people are put under to look beautiful and perfect, especially with so many Korean women being heavily encouraged to alter their natural beauty with surgical procedures. One of my best friends growing up was Korean, and it used to pain me watching her try to use double eyelid tape to try and fit in. I hope the standards for beauty really do change, and that Korean women are allowed to embrace what they look like without having to resort to permanent alterations like surgery.