A Comparison: What is Beauty?

Let's face it (no pun intended):All over the world, appearance matters. But to what extent? This is whereAmerican cultural views on beauty differ from those of Korea.

In order to properly analyze these differences, it's important to understand theenvironment in which they developed. America, as a racially and ethnicallymixed country, doesn't necessarily have specific standards that define the term"beautiful". Women of various colors, ethnicities, shapes, and appearancescan be viewed as beautiful, although individual opinions on what is beautifuldiffer depending on the person. However, in South Korea, a country that isethnically homogenous (roughly 98% Korean, and whose largest minority groupsinclude other Asians), a sort of checklist for beauty has developed. A youngKorean male we interviewed gave us a list of terms used all across the countryto categorize beauty.

Vocabulary:

S-line: a nice body with curvesand a tiny waist

V-line: long pointed chin andthin face (they sell face rollers to fix this)

Double eyelids, also known as 쌍거풀(sang-koh-pul): Sang koh pul surgery is the most common cosmetic procedure donein Korea, according to several sources. Additionally, eyelid tape and glue isquite common to achieve a temporary "double eyelid" effect.

X-line: skinny waist

U-line: lower back

W-line: cleavage

In addition to these, being tall,having a slim figure, and pale skin are sought after in Korea. Our sources alsocited a small face, high nose bridge, and small lips as common features thatKorean women undergo cosmetic surgery to achieve.

We interviewed several Koreansabout their opinions on plastic surgery. These people surprisingly had opposingviews on the trend. One of the Koreans stated that there are two types ofimages in Korea that are admired—one of them being cute and small while theother image is tall and skinny. Both of these types are considered to be idealin Korea, however, this opinion came from a male’s point of view. One of thefemales that we interviewed expressed a different perspective by consideringthe personality of a person as a standard to measure beauty. It is evident thatKorea has both a positive and a negative perspective on the concept of plasticsurgery. On one hand there is a notion of following the media who encouragesthe mentality that “beauty is everything”, while on the other hand there is thefading idea of beauty being an interior quality.

우리는 몇 명의 한국인을인터뷰해서 성형수술에 대한 생각을 물어보았습니다. 이 사람들은 놀라울 정도로 트렌드에 반대되는 생각을 하고 있었습니다. 한국인 한 명은, 한국에서추구되는 두 가지의 이미지가 있는데 하나는 키가 작고 귀여운 것이고 다른 하나는 키가 크고 마른 것이라고 말했습니다. 두 가지 모두 한국에서 이상적인모습이지만, 이 의견은 남자의 관점에서 나온 것입니다. 우리가 인터뷰한 다른 여자는 한 사람을 평가하는 기준은 외적인 미가 아니라 인간성이어야한다는 관점을 나타냈습니다. 명백하게 한국은 성형수술에 대해 긍정적인 관점과 부정적인 관점을 모두 갖고 있습니다. 한 쪽에서는 미디어를 좇아“아름다운 것이 전부”라고 생각하는 반면, 다른 한 쪽에서는 아름다움은 더 낮은 가치일 뿐이라고 말합니다

According tothe Koreans we interviewed, appearance is a significant factor in many portionsof their lives-perhaps to a greater extent than in the lives of averageAmericans. It's common for Korean women to undergo cosmetic surgery of somekind in preparation for a job interview. This would be viewed by most Americansas an extreme action, however, it's important to understand that in Koreacosmetic surgery does not have the negative connotation that it does inAmerica. Korean parents often encourage their children to improve theirappearance because they want their children to be happy and successful, andcosmetic surgery is often viewed simply as a step towards that goal.

While suchspecific actions taken to be beautiful may initially shock Americans, the USAis also obsessed with appearance. In fact, it'd be outright hypocritical to saythat Americans are less preoccupied with appearance than Koreans. Time and timeagain you hear stories of people who want to lose weight for their high school reunion/sister'swedding/bikini season/whatever event they deem important enough to alter theirappearance for. There are tanning salons on every corner, weight loss clinicsevery few blocks, and countless diet drugs crowd pharmacy shelves. And it'shard to ignore practices such as beauty pageants and media photoshop.

While thesethings are certainly not limited to only America, and certain beauty practicesin Korea are not limited only to Korea, it's important to recognize that thoughthe two countries have their differences on this touchy issue, stemming fromcompletely different cultural upbringings. Neither is "more correct"than one another. One must keep an open mind, and not let their native country'sidealism cloud their judgement.

Written by Vashti W., Grace K., and Maggie Z.

These pictures represent only a few of the thousands of cosmetic surgery advertisements the three of us have seen around Seoul.