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WHITE_KOREAN

                                             December 23, 2018

In a discussion of of fashions in plastic surgery
among Korean women, I bought up the point that they
seemed to have internalized the idea that the feminine
ideal is white Caucasian women.  This attracted the        https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/a87oye/beautiful_kstars_that_undergo_plastic_surgery/
objections of a few members of the usual tribe...

My contention is that the entire planet is
still living in the shadow of the Hollywood
Blond, and that this particular image has a
strong influence on standards of beauty in
nearly every modern culture.

With standards for Korean women, there are a
number of aspects that look like they stem
from this (at least in part):                            WHITEFACE

  (1) pale skin
  (2) narrow face ("v-shaped")           Point (1) is complicated by the fact
  (3) big eyes                           that pale skin is also valued because
  (4) lighter hair color.                it's aristocratic-- it shows you
  (5) larger breasts                     don't have to work in the sun.

I've heard the point raised that             So there are other sources
they don't go for the Hollywood              for some of these esthetic
nose (thankfully), and I accept              judgements besides valuing
that as a point against:                     the western/white look.

  (1) sharp and/or up-turned noses           But it's not unusual for customs
                                             to be over-determined: the
                                             appeal of the western and the
                                             aristocratic can reinforce each
                                             other.
I'm heard many arguments about this
that strike me as very weak...

For example, there are other things associated with
white people like big feet which are definitely not
valued by Korean standards of beauty, but then
we don't idolize big feet either, it's not
part of the Hollywood Blond ideal--

For that matter they don't idolize obesity-- which
at least by reputation is I think more associated
with Americans these days.

And yes, Westerners are more likely to worry about
"weak chins" than "wide faces", but I think that's
going after the same ideal from different sides.


I've heard it claimed that Korean people talking
about their own standards of beauty never say
anything like they're "trying to look white"--         I tried a few web
I don't know this first hand, but I have no reason     searches on this
to doubt it.                                           subject the other
                                                       day-- I don't
                                                       recommend it.
But while I wouldn't want to deny the importance
of what people say about their own culture, I also
wouldn't call it the last word.  It shows you
something of how people think about what they're       ARENS_VIEW_FROM_OUT
doing, it doesn't necessarily reflect why they do
it, or where their customs came from.

    And many things people say on this subject seem
    remarkably shallow: you'll see it claimed that
    none of this has anything to do with looking
    white, it's just about being "feminine" or trying
    to be "eye-catching"--

    Clearly, the question is why do certain things
    register as "feminine" or "eye-catching"?




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