Katherine Gottsegen
11/4/2011
‘In South Korea, Plastic Surgery Comes Out of the Closet’
Plastic surgery is booming in South Korea. It has become very popular for women to have surgeries done to their jaws, noses, and eyes. Now, because society has become more open about the practices, the surgeries are becoming more extreme. The desire to have a more Westernized look has overtaken many of the women in Korea. Digitally altered celebrities, HD televisions, and computers with good close-ups have convinced many women they need to fix their imperfections as well. Over the past few years it has become a trend in South Korean society for women to have these surgeries done, leaving the traditional Confucian belief that you should not alter the body your parents gave you behind. The cosmetic eye surgeries have become so common that they aren’t even considered a surgery anymore and it is not unusual to see a Korean woman shopping while wearing eye bandages or sunglasses. Many of the women getting the surgeries done are entering the job market or are looking to settle down. They believe in order to be successful you also have to look appealing. Although many cosmetic surgeons are benefitting from this boom in clients, there are still many who disagree with this newly popular practice.
Plastic surgery has been popular in the US for a long time and other countries have begun adopting this same practice. Only, these aren’t for medical reasons, simply because people are unhappy with the how they look. More specifically, women. At some point people became accustomed to the belief that in order to be considered ‘beautiful’ or ‘attractive,’ they had to appeal to the eyes of others. This runs so deep in our culture, that many women (and men) have self-image issues. Digitally edited images of women in magazines and the media have also influenced this belief. Women have become objectified; it doesn’t matter what they think or know about themselves, they should only care about how other people think they should look. Which is completely backwards. A woman should be happy and content with how she feels, no matter what anybody else or society thinks of her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/world/asia/in-south-korea-plastic-surgery-comes-out-of-the-closet.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=world
3 comments:
I believe that this is definitely a social problem. Although many people probably would not view this as a social problem, it is still harmful, and threatens our view of society. I do not think women should run to the hospital and change the way they look because they want to settle down and/or get a job. Why would you want to be with someone who loves you only because of the way you look, or work at a job where they hire people because of the way they look? Am I missing something here? Why do these beautiful Korean want a more westernized look? Women have to be more focused on loving themselves more instead of focusing on other people loving them.
This is a mini problem in the scheme of things but women should not rush to the hospital to change the way they looks due to minor imperfections. The surgery is not worth it in the long run. This is very new for south Korea and should not become as big as it is in LA.
"Be curious, not judgmental" A quote by Walt Whitman I try to live by. When I see or learn of someone having plastic surgery I don't judge them on it at all. I don't know someone's reasons for changing their appearance, so I say do as you please.
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