I saw a video of a Korean reporter who interviewed women in Korea asking what is the ideal weight for Korean girls. Growing up as a Korean-American, I was always aware of the unrealistic body standards that Korea had for women. The pressure of those standards continued to persist through my parents and my other Korean friends during my childhood, though I imagine that the pressure is even worse in Korea. Hearing about Korean natives speaking about their perspectives about dieting and talking about their ideal weight was both conflicting and refreshing. I'm glad to hear their perspective from other native Korean speakers who aren't my parents and relatives, but their standards were alarming. The way that they talked about dieting and starving themselves was like second nature to them, even when they acknowledged that it was probably unhealthy. There were diets that I haven't even heard of like the apple diet, which is to only eat apples for days or weeks at a time until they achieved their ideal weight. I really enjoy this Youtube channel because it lets me look into the Korean perspective that I wouldn't have the chance to otherwise.
Here is the link:
Comments
Hi Heera , I actually feel the exact same! In the contemporary society in Asian countries, people have really strict standard about girls' weight. And this standard is set by the whole society instead of one person. A lot of people are trying to make some change to people's perspectives, but the influence is too small. I feel like girls should diet healthily instead of just not eating anything. I think this is a really huge culture difference between Asian countries and United State.