Lookism of south Korea edit

History edit

Beginning in the 1970s in American media, William Safire, columnist of the New York Times in the United States, has emerged as a differentiating element that emerged in August 2000 along with race, sex, religion and ideology. Soon after, his appearance affects not only his private life like love, marriage but also social life such as employment and promotion, so he devotes a lot of time and effort to shaping his appearance.[1]

Background edit

In modern society, the body (appearance) is desirably consumed through image consumption, and various merchandising is carried out for this, and it is seen that the appearance superficialism becomes increasingly a social problem. Using the appearance as a measure of value or evaluation, social members generate new discrimination, which is caused by appearance anxiety.[2] Appearance anxiety is a fear that one's own appearance may be exposed to others' gaze and negative evaluation, and that it can live a socially excluded and uneven life because of its appearance. It is worth noting that appearance anxiety is an indicator of dangerous mental health that can result in another psychological behavioral disorder (anorexia, bulimia, or somatization disorder).[3] The modern society is becoming an image consumption market, and the market for appetite, exercise, and beauty industry is becoming more and more huge as well as the desire for the appearance of sex. For the sake of appearance, people live in the ideology of lookism, which does not mind molding, but controls and represses, as well as the various discriminations that result from these results. [4] Appearance in the marriage and employment market has become very influential condition, and appearance has become an absolute commodity value in the beauty industry, which has been gradually strengthened and developed since the modern times. In the reality that appearance is another power and instrument of accomplishment in the inner structure of capitalism, the anxiety of appearance is also increasing.[5]

Issues edit

Lookism on man edit

As in the case of women, men are also expected to show an objectified body consciousness to monitor and control their bodies to fit the ideal body image. In 2006, AGB Nielsen Media Research conducted a survey of 500 Korean men aged 25-37, Lifestyle ', 80% of Korean males think that their well-formed body and appearance help them to succeed[6]. For this, the average time spent investing in body and facial care is two hours a day. The average cost of purchasing beauty products such as lotions and skins is an average of 29,000 won a month, and an average of 4.3 beauty products and 1.6 perfumes are used. However, only 43.8% of men who are satisfied with their appearance are less than half, which means that Korean men 's appearance and appearance are as high as women. [7]This mood is now a trend that affects both men and women regardless of their gender, and their desire for appearance has become a very important part of Korean society.[8]

Lookism on women edit

Women in modern society are obsessed with youth, health, and physical beauty. Women routinely look at themselves in ways such as makeup, fashion, molding, diet, body shaping, and skin care. The act of 'looking for the appearance' of a woman changes into an active meaning, which is not the passive meaning but rather the self-cultivation and maintenance. [9]However, no matter how active a woman's appearance is, it is not guaranteed full autonomy. As we move into the later age of capitalism, the more we associate the meaning of 'appearance' with the individual's desire for differentiated physical expression, the greater the involvement of other external factors: political, economic, cultural and ideological management mechanisms to be.[10]

Especially women feel more serious about appearance discrimination. In the question "What is the most serious discrimination type in Korean society," the percentage of discrimination in appearance increased from 5.0% to 11.7% over the two periods. These series of studies report that social discrimination experiences negatively affect mental health, such as stress, depression, and compulsion.[11]

Lookism on teenagers edit

Teenagers want to do shaping. They are exposed to many media. The most influenced teenagers are singers and actors. They like entertainers. So teens want to be cool as they look at celebrities. So nowadays, teenagers are making a lot of plastic surgery. They also evaluate their friends in appearance. Handsome and pretty students are popular. [12]Teenagers are very careful about appearance, and they use various cosmetics to enhance their appearance. At the same time, teenagers who are unable to follow their fashion tend to be relatively ignorant or laggard friends. Because of this atmosphere, teenagers are starting to look more and more and teenagers are increasingly in the process of molding because of the advertising and influences of the mass media such as TV, internet and so on.[13] However, specialists warn that too young plastic surgery can produce irreversible results. If you are going to undergo surgery during adolescence, the cartilage or bone tissue may be damaged. It may require a long recovery period, which may hinder your studies. The same applies to double eyelid surgery. Ryu Seung-ho said, "The larger the skin cells, the bigger the scar can be." However, if eyelashes pierce your eyes and injure your eyes or damage your eyesight, it is better to have double eyelid surgery.[14]

Lookism on Media edit

Television and smartphone is still one of the most important mass media. Mass media serve as a socialist way of teaching people the traditions and norms of society. In such mass media, creating programs based on lookism can make viewers become more obsessed with appearance and have to be obsessed with appearance than with other factors.[15] Viewers exclude judgment when an K-pop entertainer dancers by adding subtitles for " sexy " or " handsome ", " pretty " and " cute " for his or her appearance.[15] Then, it stabilizes the cast's image by inducing them to accept the subtitles. Also, there are many lines that are based on lookism.[15] TV programs are an important medium in the mass media. Most of them are young people in their teens and twenties.[16] If these programs continue to be offered to trendy people who are not yet well formed, appearance will serve as the most important value for younger generations.[16]

Solutions edit

Pesonal Solutions edit

A critical view of the media edit

According to a survey released by the National Statistical Office in 2017, more than 95 percent of Koreans watch smartphones and TV for an average of 3 hours and 54 minutes on holiday.[17] On average, they watch smartphones and TV for 2 hours and 5 minutes on weekdays.[18] That is 40 percent of the remaining five hours of sleep and work. In this way, people get a lot of information from the media such as smart phones, TVs, radio, and newspapers.[19] As mentioned above, however, we need to critically accept this information because companies produce distorted information such as false advertisements and provocative scenes to promote their profits.[20] By doing so, people should realize that the accessories and famous products in the drama or advertising are one of the strategies of companies to stimulate human imitation and consumer sentiment and make reasonable consumption.[21]

Increasing Self-consciousness edit

Be aware that diet or plastic surgery can not change your life in a moment, and accept and love yourself as it is.[22] They should exercise for their own health and pursue their own beauty and individuality.[23] It is easy for anyone in Korea to think that their lives will be changed greatly if they perform plastic surgery and become beautiful as if they are dedicated to the lottery for a Korean medical career.[24] However, while plastic surgery at the level of self-satisfaction is okay, it is not only against the Eastern ethics of our country to see it as one of my favorites.[25]

National Level Solutions edit

Excessive advertising regulations edit

The government should issue a warning against advertising companies that produce suggestive advertisements and false ads to expand profits and require strict regulations on advertising.[26] I think the purpose of advertising is to seek profit, but if it is terribly wrong with the means used to reach the goal, it should be punished[27]. A woman wearing a dress with a back on her back or wearing a cake is seen in a short miniskirt and eating a snack with an erotic tongue. Therefore, the government should at least impose responsibility for these ads, as it is the way of the world that the person who committed the crime should solve it.[28]

Using realistic and natural models edit

It is necessary to change the ads on which the models have appearance to be more realistic and natural.[29] South Korea advertisement shows only young and beautiful models, American advertisement shows a fat and familiar person who can be seen everyday. [30] Americans can not care about their appearance, but fat people are more noticeable than they are.[31] Breaking the stereotype that only good-looking people should appear, and by featuring unique and distinctive models, it is natural to put more familiar features in ads.[32] That is not to say that we should do the same just because all the U.S. ads are good. This is an era of globalization and a pragmatic society.[33] Therefore, we should humbly accept things that will be useful and strongly deny those that should be rejected.[34]

Reference edit

  1. ^ "Appearance ground that has been troubled from the past" (in Korean). 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  2. ^ "'Sex discrimination · appearance ground' promotion advertisement, Seoul subway, underground shopping mall disappear". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  3. ^ "Impact of appearance" (in Korean). 2017-12-24. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  4. ^ "Korean appearance ground" (in Korean). 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  5. ^ 김인철 (2017-02-23). "Lookism of problem". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  6. ^ "A true beauty". 국제신문. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
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  8. ^ "The body's diligence The laziness of the brain". 허핑턴포스트코리아 (in Korean). 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  9. ^ "Appearance Evaluation". 한국일보 (in Korean). 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
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  11. ^ "Competitiveness of appearance". www.joseilbo.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  12. ^ "I like idol ... Teenagers in 'molding frenzy'". 뉴스포스트 (in Korean). 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
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  16. ^ a b 민지현 (2007-05-17). "The Effect of Media Usage on Youth Appearism". 한국방송학회 학술대회 논문집 (in Korean).
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