I Can’t Stop Looking at These South Korean Women Who’ve Had Plastic Surgery
8:42 pm - 01/17/2013
There's a full-length mirror and a scale on every single floor of the all-girls high school where Julia Lurie works. She's an American teaching English in South Korea, and apparently, South Korea has the highest per capita rate of plastic surgery in the world — one in five women in Seoul have undergone some kind of procedure. Most popular: Eyelid surgery, to make the eyes "more Western," and getting your jawbone shaved or chiseled down for a less-square and more V-shaped look.
"When you are applying for university or appling for a job here, you put a picture of yourself on your resume or application," Lurie says in a recent segment on This American Life (you can listen to here). "It is sort of taken for granted that how you look will often go into the decision." She says she's been told that if there are two otherwise equal candidates, the prettier person will get the job. Her students see this as normal — perhaps unsurprising when you consider the nation's status as the country most obsessed with plastic surgery.
As an experiment, Lurie asked her students to describe a beautiful woman. "White skin," they replied. "Big eyes." Thin. Tall. B cup. Sounds like the same narrow standards of beauty fashion magazines and designers doing runway shows adhere to, standards that are eventually broadcast with images seen around the world.
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Omona, where do you stand on the plastic surgery debate? Feel free to post pre-surgery photos of idols / celebs.
However, I sincerely wish there were more discussion in Korea about how a perfect nose or jaw shouldn't matter that much and what an invasive procedure plastic surgery indeed is.
But let's not pretend we don't have those problems here, too.
It's just that in Korea, like that one girl said, plastic surgery is seen the way makeup is seen: like a minor alteration in your appearance- although it's one hell of an invasion.
And I must admit that all the comments about 'oh I have nothing against ps/it's totally ok' are so not okay to me.
It is okay if you get it, because society is shit.
But it's not okay that it's so often expected and that it has to exist in the first place.
We have to work at the root of the problem and not fucking shame women for adhering to society's expectations.
But we do have to work nevertheless.
And wow racism?????????
They want to look white o ok. Because the pursuit of pale skin and big eyes had never existed before the white man came. O ok.
i have no problem with a little work done in plastic surgery in general, but i do question when people turn themselves into someone else. my brain always goes to solbi when i think of people who just should have stopped long before.
the questions in my head though are:
1. what happens when the standard of beauty changes?
2. since it lead to self esteem issues for the next generation, what happens when they have children and original features are passed down? will they start a fund for their child for plastic surgery in the future?
3. there is also the question of when did beauty affect the job you do?
Edited at 2013-01-17 10:09 pm (UTC)
I've always wondered about this too. If they didn't like their original features at all, and didn't feel happy and confident about it, what goes through someone's mind as they look at their child who bears those oh so hated features? Doesn't it affect ones relationship with their child?
Edited at 2013-01-17 10:57 pm (UTC)
but i do agree about that uniformity thing. everyone's starting to look the same.
Edited at 2013-01-17 10:23 pm (UTC)
And my sister has eggplant titties and she seriously HATES herself because of it. They're bad yall...reeeeaaalllll bad.
I am Pro plastic surgery for so many reasons! But it scares me when I see young idols that aren't even done with puberty go under the knife.
OP do you think you could add this show "Let Me In" somewhere http://youtu.be/H6RVqZUsdXw - the drama is bit much but I think they do a lot for people. oh and this segment too http://youtu.be/fmKgDVJMCH4
like, <3 _______________ <3
urgh, genes.
But if you think changing the shape of ears for the sake of some shallow ass loser then Idk, it's not gonna buy you happiness until you get self esteem and learn to love yourself because there's always gonna be something you hate about yourself. But society is the biggest joke, when looks are the only thing you value then ofcourse people will get work. But this is a slippy slope, I fear what Korea will look like in the future if they carry on obsessed with image, and not character.
also it sucks when you look uglier after your surgery tho. thats probably what im afraid of if i end up going under the knife.
I think it's okay if you get ps, if you want to slightly change your facial features but completely changing your face like e.g Bom is way too much.
Then again the fact that society and certain standards force someone to get surgery is really sad, the Korean society is sometimes way too narrow minded, homogenous and blank in some way.
Instead of being simply ok with it we should also question, what went wrong with our society that a women needs ps in order to fulfill to certain standards.
Idek know what I'm saying anymore...I'm torn apart :c
Edited at 2013-01-17 10:17 pm (UTC)
"Instead of being simply ok with it we should also question, what went wrong with our society that a women needs ps in order to fulfill to certain standards"
it is a good question, along with why did we allow the media to dictate a narrow view of WHAT is that standard.
I'd get my nose done tbh. It's not something that's bothering me a lot though, so idk. But I think that's about it. Maybeaboobjob.
It reminds me of something I was saw on tumblr the other day like
"The men that claim they like your natural beauty are the same ones who want you to shave your legs"
That being said, Korean women are seriously becoming clones. I think it's because they're all getting their jaws shaved, their features are becoming very homogeneous.
I love Magdalena Frackowiak because she doesn't have that desired v-shaped jaw and girls works it.