Man-made ideal: The boom of plastic surgery in Korea
ON THE WAVE OF POPULARITY ROLLERS ABOUT THE STANDARDS OF BEAUTY IN THE WORLD WatchCut removed the same about Korea. This is logical: the people of South Korea are truly obsessed with their appearance, and innovations in Korean cosmetics have long conquered the Western world. However, the creators of the video greatly missed, trying to show the fashion on the exterior of the last two decades. Korean woman from the video - with a lush hairstyle and stylish makeup - more like a resident of Los Angeles than Seoul. Standards of beauty in South Korea are in fact quite different from Western ones, and such make-up, as in the video, can be seen in the video rather than on the street. The main trend today is a “childish”, clean, innocent face, in pursuit of which the country has become the world capital of plastic surgery.
“Innocence is sexy,” said an American cosmetics advertisement from the 70s. The woman in her was literally dressed in the frills of a newborn and sucking on a lollipop enticingly, and this was not considered either propaganda of pedophilia, or at least something strange. Korean fashion for innocence is different if only because it does not dress women in ruffles. By South Korean standards, a woman should personify what five years ago was christened "bagel". Not a bun with a hole, of course, but a combination of two seemingly opposite qualities - being baby-faced and glamorous at the same time. The acronym very well describes what standard of beauty reigns today: a small face, soft features, gentle swelling under the eyes, but at the same time a feminine figure with a narrow waist (S-line). Objectification has reached the point that all desired and not very particular features of the body have their own clear names.
Not only in North Korea, life is subject to tradition. The southern part of the once united country also honors its routines even against the backdrop of a technological boom and economic prosperity. Many Koreans, for example, remain very superstitious. Before serious decisions, it is accepted to consult not only with relatives, but also soothsayers, especially before weddings. Bad compatibility, in the opinion of such a specialist, can force even the happiest couple to disperse. Also important are blood groups, which are treated like signs of the zodiac: it is believed that they affect character.
What you look like is valued on par with what you think, know, and know how to do. Some predictors specialize in reading individuals, advising what you need to change in order to attract career success or love. To receive a comment from a stranger about your appearance is the same routine as hearing advice from a gentleman "put a hat on a child" in Russia. The dictation of appearance is becoming tougher every year, and the plastic surgery industry is only thriving. Although both men and women openly strive for beauty, it is the latter who, from childhood, are taught to think that if one is not born, one must certainly become beautiful - and happiness will follow.
It is believed that plastic surgery, which resulted in a multi-billion dollar industry, was brought to Korea by an American doctor, Ralph Millard. A pioneer of hare lip reconstruction helped local soldiers who suffered as a result of the war. It was plastic surgery in its original sense, which served primarily for the benefit of health. Over time, the surgeon has not only reconstructed the face after burns, but also performed blepharoplasty, that is, corrected the eyelids without any defects. As a result, in the fifties, plastic surgery found its cosmetic path in Korea.
According to legend, the first clients of the surgeon were sex workers who wanted to like the quartered American soldiers. It seems that the doctor himself promoted the idea that a "more western" eye cut will help Koreans to assimilate into a new, international economy. Thus, Millard brought with him not only new technologies of surgery, but also domestic racism and sexism. Even more than half a century later, Western publications traditionally begin to talk about the changes in the body of Asian people with the eyeliner "They want to be white!" or surprised "you will not believe, but they do not want to be white!". Whatever it was dozens of years ago, to argue today from the point of view that Korean women want to be like American women, as well as linking the fashion for balayazh with the fact that in Ancient Rome were painted in blond, competing with German slaves. That is, perhaps it was once, but it hardly has anything to do with the current state of affairs.
Western standards of beauty are mostly alien to modern Koreans. It sounds like words only when we speak, for example, of “big” eyes. In practice, everything is completely different: the same popular blepharoplasty is done not to become like a European, but to local stars. Ideas about ideal features have been worn out for decades: today girls dream about eyes like Susie or Ga Ying, lips like Solly and a nose like Tiffany's. This is noticed by many foreigners working in Korea as teachers of English and communicating daily with schoolchildren and students. They were faced with the fact that their wards often see Western stars in a completely different way: they seem to them to be ugly, challenging, or just plain strange. It seems most strange to them that in the West there is no single ideal type of appearance, because in Korea everything is quite the opposite. Inside the country there is still a very small foreign diaspora (and for the most part these are residents of the neighboring Asian countries), so the society is only getting used to other types of appearance.
Seoul has long been dubbed the world capital of plastic surgery. Despite the fact that by the number of procedures, South Korea is still inferior to the United States and Brazil, the country is invincible in terms of the number of operations per person. The same operations on the eyelids in Korea are done so often that the attitude towards them is comparable to an ordinary trip to the dentist. In 2014 alone, almost one and a half million (out of fifty people living in the country) resorted to blepharoplasty; what can we say, even if the former president Roh Moo-hyun changed the appearance of the century, about which he issued an official statement. Genetically, the inhabitants of Asia have a predisposition for the overhanging upper eyelid without fold. Therefore, many have surgery to achieve a “double” eyelid, and also slightly extend the incision in order to make the eye bigger, and lower the outer corner in order to look less “aggressive”. Many teenage girls' parents are given such an operation for a good diploma, so that after graduation they literally go into adult life with wide eyes.
The desire of people to change their body exists as much as the awareness of physicality itself. We change our appearance to isolate ourselves from animals, to be like or different from others, to overcome the fear of death or to prove our strength. In Korea, with its homogeneous society, tied to a collective tradition, many feel the pressing need to adjust their appearance. On the one hand, the desire to merge with the masses prevails: South Korea has a strong national identity, in part because of the long history of conquests by other nations. Even in language, often instead of the selfish "I", the collective "we" is used when a person speaks about himself.
On the other hand, Seoul firmly holds the fifth place among the world's capitals by population, despite the very small area of the country itself. Competition is fiercer than ever: three universities and several large giants are considered the most prestigious, and everyone wants to get into them. Being veiled becomes a weapon in the struggle for vacancies, along with professional skills, as well as harmonious relationships and a good life, since the owner of symmetrical features is considered happier. We often laugh at our own narcissism, when someone is worried about a bad passport photo. But for a Korean graduate, this can be a matter of life and death, because due to bad photos in your resume, you may simply not be hired.
The popular Korean reality show "Get It Beauty", for example, has a release on how to look right on a photo in a resume: what hairstyles are considered acceptable, what make-up will help to establish itself as a serious, but not boring person. All this is served as a set of serious instructions to follow if you want to succeed. Plastic surgeries are perceived almost as simply a more expensive and more advanced version of cosmetics.
Other shows, such as "Let Me In", focus entirely on the stories of people who have experienced difficulties because of their appearance, with which operations help to organize life. Heroes of the program are people whose appearance is markedly different from the accepted norm: not only victims of accidents, but also with outstanding chins, hooked nose or "masculine" facial features. Patients undergo transformation so that the characteristics of their bodies no longer physically and psychologically complicate their lives. Invited doctors seriously argue about how a person must be: it turns out that it is necessary to divide it into three approximately equal parts horizontally.
An ideal appearance by South Korean standards can be traced by the most frequent operations. What do Koreans want? Small face with white skin, rounded forehead and not too pronounced cheekbones. Eyes with a "double" eyelid. A small straight nose, certainly with a high nose. Well, it is necessary to have a V-shaped outline of the face itself, with a sharp chin - for this not only implants are inserted, but also a part of the jaw bone is removed or the position of the jaw is corrected - a procedure that was previously taken very seriously. In recent years, breast augmentation and body contouring have become much more popular.
From where and how modern standards have come, it is difficult to trace: the reasons merge into a tsunami, which is no longer possible to stop. Many, however, blame Kay pop stars who not only play music, but are considered role models - and their “perfect” appearance as well. The fact remains: from the moment Millard began to increase people's eyes in the middle of the last century, a code of appearance was formed, vital for women in the first place. In patriarchal Korea, it is still believed that the main thing for a woman is to be beautiful: without this, she can count on neither marriage nor career success.
Huge demand has generated an impressive offer. In Seoul, there is a quarter of clinics located side by side, which serve not only local, but also a substantial flow of foreigners. Many come from China, but, for example, American Koreans also go to their historic homeland, because prices are incomparably lower, and their skills are honed. Attitude towards patients is so friendly that a visit can at first resemble a spa stay. In addition to consulting with the doctor, the client often relies on a personal assistant and sometimes a place in a special apartment with massage chairs and other amenities. This is very useful, since the rehabilitation period can be painful.
In the West, the popularity of plastic surgery in South Korea is perceived as a curiosity, resulting in collections like "Incredible photos before and after surgery." But, if we still believe our eyes, it is impossible not to notice the consequences of such a fashion. Although girls say that they do not feel pressure, they just want to improve themselves, there is an internal contradiction. The denial of diversity of appearance has a cumulative effect: the more homogeneous the appearance of people around, the stronger the majority does not want to stand out from the crowd. On the other hand, plastic surgery is performed on adolescents, which is usually not recommended, because their personality traits are only being formed, and the emotional background is unstable. And finally, despite its popularity, plastic still falls into the category of something shameful, because “natural” beauty is valued above all without any interventions.
We all live in communities where certain stereotypes concerning appearance dominate - but someone else's example is always clearer. How artificially the desire of another country for us to meet some standard looks only emphasizes that any of our ideas about the “ideal” and “norm” are arbitrary and that it is completely unnecessary to follow it, although it is often not easy. The situation in modern South Korea shows what will happen if the dictatorship of one type of appearance becomes total. Depriving itself of the chance to accept its inhabitants in all its diversity, society denies itself the opportunity to develop collective empathy, ceases to exercise compassion and reduces attitudes towards people to objectification. The problem is not in the availability of operations — it’s everyone’s personal business, to do something with one’s body or not — but in the absence of an equally attractive alternative.
Photo: MAC, Holika Holika, Innisfree, Lancôme, The Face Shop, Tony Moly
