1. Cultural pressure

2. Beauty products

3. Tattoos in Korea

4. Plastic surgery in Korea

5. Free the Corset Movement

6. Korean beauty standards v.s. Chinese beauty standards

7. References

Korean beauty standards are a distinct feature of Korean culture. In 2015, South Korea became the only Eastern Asian country, among many European and American countries like Brazil, the US, Italy and Colombia to enter the top 10 countries with the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries in the world based on the global survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.^[1] Examples of Korean beauty criteria include a slim figure, small face, V-shaped jaw, small lips, straight eyebrows, flawless skin, and larger looking eyes. Criteria involving procedures to the eyes include aegyo-sal, which is a term used in Korea to refer to the small fatty deposits underneath the eyes that are said to give the person a more youthful appearance, as well as a surgery called East Asian blepharoplasty to create double eyelids. A double eyelid is an eyelid that shows the crease with the result of it doubled over. Both procedures are said to have end results of larger looking eyes.

Korean beauty standards have varied influences and K-pop can be considered an impact. K-pop has globalized, and aside from the music, the physical appearance of K-pop idols have impacted the beauty standards in Korea.^[2]

Cultural pressure

Korean women are very critical of their body image. Many are not satisfied with how they physically appear. According to the study “Cross‐Cultural Comparisons of Appearance Self‐Schema, Body Image, Self‐Esteem, and Dieting Behavior Between Korean and U.S. Women,” Korean women are more prone to lower self esteem and self satisfaction compared women from the United States.^[6]

Beauty is often seen as a means for socioeconomic success in the rapidly modernized and post-war economy of South Korea, which has seen a sluggish growth rate for jobs after its economic boom period. This has left Korea with a highly skilled and educated workforce to compete for a short supply of job opportunities and chances for upward social mobility. Koreans view investments in beauty such as cosmetic products, services and medical beauty treatments such as plastic surgery, dermatology, and cosmetic dentistry as a means of cultural capital to achieve an edge over peers for social and economic advancement.^[7]

Beauty products

In 2015, South Korea exported more than $2.64 billion of cosmetic goods.^[8]. It is much higher than in 2014 where they exported around $1.91 billion.^[9] Some of the most popular products used in Korean beauty are blemish balm (BB) creams, color correction (CC) creams, serums, essences, ampoules, seaweed face masks, and scrubs.^[10] Korean beauty products contain ingredients not commonly found in Western products such as snail extract. In 2011, BB cream hit the shelves in America, which was previously exclusively used in Korea and had a massive effect. In 2014, the US market for BB cream was around $164 million. Sales of cosmetic surgery also have drastically increased from 1999 to 2000. The sales increased by 17% within a year, reaching almost $170 billion won ($144 million).^[11]

The main difference between American and Korean beauty standards is how beauty is achieved. Many Americans adopt a three-step beauty regime which includes cleansing, toning, and moisturizing. Koreans on the other hand, have a multi-step beauty regime which includes removing makeup, using a water-based cleanser, exfoliating, toning, and applying various products such as essence, serum, eye cream, moisturizer, and sunscreen.^[12]

Asian cosmetics are gaining an increasing amount of success in the beauty industry. The Euromonitor International predicts that by the year 2019, around 80% of global skincare revenue will come from Asia. At the moment, there are more Asian beauty products in the West – especially from East Asia, and specifically South Korea and Japan.

Tattoos in Korea

Tattoos in South Korea aren’t illegal, but you can only get one, if the tattooist is a medical practitioner as well. Due to Korean law, getting a tattoo is considered to be a medical service. However, a relatively small tattoo movement exists and primarily remains underground. Many of the people seen with tattoos are generally considered to be artists, musicians, gangsters, or foreigners.^[13] South Korean television remains largely conservative surrounding tattoos. Actors are asked to cover up their tattoos with long clothes or alternatively, the station will blur out the tattooed areas.

For someone in Korea to legally (officially certified) give tattoos in the country, they must be a doctor. A doctor is the only legal person to give tattoos to the general public.

Most tattoo parlors are not advertised to the general public in a straightforward manner, like a neon sign with the words "tattoos here.” Most of the time, a person must be in contact with someone who knows where to find a tattoo artist. Most tattoo parlors are in apartment buildings. The apartment buildings usually contain a sterilization machine and clean leather seats. The few places that advertise themselves to the public have a similar setup but are more public. These sites are often raided by the police, receive expensive fines, and are often forced to close. There are also traveling tattoo artists who go to clients’ houses or have clients come to their home.

Plastic surgery in Korea

Plastic surgery in South Korea is more socially accepted in South Korea in comparison to other countries. Double eyelid surgery (also known as blepharoplasty) creates an eyelid crease that makes the eye look bigger. This is the most common cosmetic procedure that are performed in South Korea.

Due to the differences in the facial bone structure of Asians who have a flatter facial bone structure than their Western counterparts, facial bone contouring surgeries are quite popular.^[14] V-line surgery (jaw and chin reduction) and cheekbone (zygoma) reduction surgeries are used to change the facial contour. Many celebrities are required to undergo these surgeries to trim the cheekbones, jaw and chin to create an oval shaped face which is considered to be the Korean standard of facial beauty.

With the rise in social acceptance of plastic surgery, shows like “LET ME IN” where complete surgery makeovers are given to participants who have suffered due to deformities, are transformed and given a new lease of life. Shows like those have spread the popularity of Korean plastic surgery worldwide.^[15]

South Korea has also seen an increasing influx of people wanting to have facial bone contouring surgeries due to the advanced techniques and clinical expertise of the Korean surgeons. Various advances in facial bone contouring surgeries like the T-osteotomy technique^[16][17] and the first published book on facial bone contouring surgeries further illustrates the advanced surgery methods used by Korean surgeons.^[18]

Free the Corset Movement

With the introduction of the #MeToo movement of women sharing their sexual assault and harassment stories, Korean women have started to question their societal pressures of beauty that are placed on them. The creation of the #corset-free movement was made in response to the beauty standard issues Korean women face. Dubbed the “corset-free” movement — its name coming from the idea of the societal oppression of women as akin to being bound in a corset — women have taken to social media in a backlash against the unrealistic beauty standards that require them to spend hours applying makeup and performing extensive skincare regimes, which notoriously involve ten steps or more.^[19] With this being a fairly new movement, followers continue to support the cause. Korean women are now destroying their makeup, cutting their hair and rejecting the pressures of getting surgery.^[19][20]

The purpose of this movement is to create space for Korean women to feel comfortable with themselves and not have the "dress-up" social pressures limit their identity.^[21] The #freecorset hashtag is gaining speed as Youtubers create videos of their support of the movement.^[22] Young women are fighting back against societal standards and are becoming comfortable with their true beauty. However, there have been some issues of credibility of how much this is connected to feminism because many people say it is up to the individual if they want to wear makeup or not, while others argue that "a certain type of woman is being forced upon the Korean women that leave no room for choice.”^[23]

Korean beauty standards v.s. Chinese beauty standards

For the well-known Korean beauty standards, the first things that come into the public's mind would probably be pale skin, a small face, and a slim figure. However, in China, the beauty trend is also known as having the skin "not only be pale, but as white as possible," "ideally small face which is exactly what é dàn liǎn 鵝蛋臉 (translated to ‘shaped like an upside down goose egg’)," and with slim bodies "hopefully tall with long legs, small feet and a Pippa Middleton style bottom."^[24]

Even though Korean and Chinese beauty standards may sound quite similar, some details of these categories can still help to distinguish the differences between Koreans and Chinese easily. Contemporary Korean beauty standards of eye makeup have shifted from traditional "sexy" cat eye to a "cuter" and more innocent puppy eye. The point of makeup is to "purposefully create puffy under eyes, which are called the aegyo-sal (translated into the baby fat under the eye)". Some people even tried to do plastic surgery for it. According to Allure, "People think it makes your eyes look brighter and more youthful".^[25] A representative Korean idol for the puppy eyes can be Chou Tzu-yu from Twice under the JYP entertainment.

On the other hand, big and cute eyes are also popular among Chinese beauty trends. However, since "50% of the Chinese girls have single eyelids, which they consider unattractive",^[26] the Chinese girls tend to do eye surgery or use makeup techniques to make their eyes look as large as possible. For eye makeup, Chinese women tend to use darker eyeliners, such as black or dark brown, to exaggerate their eyes, whereas Korean girls tend to pursue a more natural eye makeup by using lighter color eyeliners to create dedicated eyes. Moreover, Chinese beauty trends also introduce the puppy eyes as the Wo Can 卧蚕 (translated into lying silkworm) to the public.^[27] It is known as a 4 to 7-millimeter puff that lies under the under eyelashes that look like a silkworm, which make the girls look cute and sweet when they smile. According to the Chinese traditional face reading, the people with Wo Chan臥蟬 are born to have good lives with good fortunes for their relationships and business.

Having a slim figure is probably one of the most important parts in both Korean and Chinese beauty standards. However, the way individuals from these two countries keep fit differ. The famous Korean singer IU under Leon entertainment is well-known for her diet plan, which she only has "one apple for breakfast, one sweet potato for lunch, and a cup of protein for dinner".^[28] Even though she is already known to the public as slim and tiny; only 162 centimeters tall and weighing around 45 kilograms, before important events, she drinks 3 liters of waters for 5 days straight to make her face look small on the 7th day. (6) "And on the seventh day, you are basically a skeleton," she emphasized, adding that "this way, you can go from thin to skeleton-skinny".^[29] To look skinny on TV, the Korean idols try all kinds of diets to keep their faces small and legs slim, which starts a trend for the girls all around Korean to follow these diet plans in order to be called "skinny and beautiful".

On the other hand, a famous Chinese actress Zheng Shuang 鄭爽 is known for her skinny zombie-like body, who is 168 centimeters tall but only weighs around 37 kilograms.^[30] In Chinese beauty standards, women should be as skinny as possible where people can see their bones. However, instead of eating less, most of the Chinese actresses chose to not eat at all or only eat 7 grains of rice one day to lose weight. One of the trends that happened a few years ago was called the A4 waist challenge, or the ant waist challenge, which the women hold up sheets of paper and take selfies - they "win" if the paper entirely obscures their waist, and the standard paper size is only {{Convert|21|cm|}} across."^[31]

References

Assembly Required; in Seoul's 'Makeover Town,' Surgeons Struggle to Keep up with Demand for Faces as Seen on TV

• St. James's Street, Piccadilly
• St James Street (disambiguation)
• St James Street, Monmouth
• St. James Street station
• St. James Street (Winnipeg)
• St. James's University Hospital, Leeds
• St James's, Westminster
• St. James the Apostle Parish Church, Paete
• St. James the Apostle Parish Church (Paete)
• St James Theatre
• St james theatre
• St. James Theatre, Boston
• St. James Theatre (disambiguation)
• St James Theatre (disambiguation)
• St. James Theatre, Dunedin
• St James Theatre, London
• St James Theatre (Wellington)
• St James Theatre, Wellington
• St. James Theatre, Westminster
• St James the Great, Cardiff
• St James the Great Church
• St James the Great Church, Dauntsey
• St James the Great Church, Vlissingen
• St James the Great Church, Wrightington
• St James the Great (disambiguation)