A couple of articles from the New York Times online edition, one from today and one that is almost a year old, inspired this post. The article "Ambitious South Korean Parents See Tall as All" was published today and is about a “growing conviction” among South Korean parents that being tall is a key factor in their child’s future success. This conviction is fueling a new industry – ‘growth clinics.’ Some Korean parents spend the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per month for their children to visit growth clinics, which provide “growth hormone shots, Eastern herbal medicine and special exercises to ensure that young clients will be the ones looking down, not the ones looked down upon.” And, as you’ll realize if you read the full article, by ‘young clients’ they mean as young as five years old!
The emphasis on appearance is something I noticed right away when I got to Korea. Almost everyone I see on the streets is very put together; girls and women are in heels and skirts more often than jeans, most of the men are in suits, everyone has matching bags and shoes, the whole nine yards. I very rarely see a Korean in sweatpants, and when the weather was warm enough I never saw flip-flops on the streets. Koreans, men and women, take their image very seriously. There also seem to be a lot more mirrors here than in America (Jeil Middle School, for example, has mirrors in every hallway and even quite a few of the classrooms), and Koreans are never ashamed of checking themselves out. While out with friends at a restaurant last week we saw a girl at the next table over, holding her chopsticks in one hand and a mirror in the other, inspecting herself over her food. I've seen people, as they are walking down the street, stop in front of parked cars to check themselves out and adjust their hair or makeup in the window, or just pull out a mirror while walking around downtown with friends. In Western culture we would probably smirk and call this self-centeredness, but in Korea a little bit (or a lot) of vanity is perfectly acceptable.
On one hand, I think that attention to your appearance is nice and respectful, but sometimes it can be seriously annoying, and even a little scary. Besides the newer growth clinics, South Korea is also famous for plastic surgery. According to the second article I read today, “Economy Blunts Korea’s Appetite for Plastic Surgery,” many Koreans value physical attractiveness for the same reasons they value height – for “providing an edge in this high-pressure society’s intense competition for jobs, education and marriage partners.”
In one of my classes I asked students to plan and write a schedule for a one-week 'dream vacation,’ in which they could go anywhere, meet anyone, and do anything they wanted. Several girls stated quite seriously that they would use one or two days of their vacation to get plastic surgery. And last week when we wrote letters to Santa Claus, several girls asked Santa for plastic surgery. Middle school girls!
But I guess I can't blame them, because like I said, it seems to be ingrained in the culture. One of my coteachers told me that on job applications and resumes, Koreans not only attach a photo of themselves but also list things like their height, weight, and vision. So it’s no wonder that “an estimated 30 percent of Korean women aged 20 to 50, or some 2.4 million women, had surgical or nonsurgical cosmetic procedures last year, with many having more than one procedure.” 30%!!! In one year!!! It definitely makes me wonder – I have four female coteachers, which could mean that at least one or two of them are looking a little bit different now than they would have if I’d gotten here a year earlier.
This article is actually about the effect of the recession on the plastic surgery industry, and cites one woman, “typical of South Korea’s more frugal patients” who has had to choose cheaper, nonsurgical procedures like Botox over her usual surgeries, as well as reduce her visits to the plastic surgeon from twice a year to just once. This just shows again how common these procedures are, and how necessary they seem to women here – even in a recession, it’s not something you give up!
If you read this article, also note the types of surgeries Koreans are getting – “…the wider eyes, whiter skin and higher nose bridges that define beauty for many here” - basically, procedures to make them look more Western and less Korean. Before coming to Korea, I had never in my life gotten compliments on my nose, but according to my students it’s really high and beautiful. Another question I get a lot (right after, “Do you like kimchi?”) is “Are your eyelashes real?” Seriously?
“Ambitious South Korean Parents See Tall as All” by Choe Sang-Hun, published December 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/world/asia/23seoul.html?_r=1&hp
“Economy Blunts Korea’s Appetite for Plastic Surgery” by Martin Fackler, published January 1, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/business/worldbusiness/02plastic.html?_r=1&ref=world
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