The Effects Of Plastic Surgery On South Korea

Though South Korea is not number one in the world in terms of overall consumption of plastic surgery, they do take that spot for plastic surgery rates per capita (Lee S. H., 2016). Statistics say that around 20 percent of the population has gotten plastic surgery, but the real percentage is most likely higher since clinics are not regulated very well and many procedures remain unlisted (Elfving-Hwang, 2012). Although common, many clinics do not document it when they give customers discounts for paying

This essay begins by discussing how influential appearance is in Seoul and what meaning it takes on. Next it will discuss the differences between Western

Smith focuses on Koreans’ desire to achieve or acquire Caucasian like features. He examines South Korean history in order to uncover the reasons why plastic surgery became so important in South Korean culture. He also explains the benefits of having an attractive appearance not only for social purposes but also for work.

“Kingdom of Plastic” is a fitting name for South Korea where one out of five women have admitted to having some sort of cosmetic surgery procedure. Most Asian countries, including South Korea, have very specific criterias for judging if a person is beautiful. Common beauty expectations for both males and females are high noses, big eyes, and narrow chins. Due to the nature of an Asian bone structure, it is highly unlikely that the previously mentioned beauty standards will occur naturally within a body. Many turn to the growing trend of plastic surgery to achieve an aesthetically pleasing face. South Korea is the world’s capital in plastic surgery, and people from all over the world, especially from other Asian countries, visit to receive cosmetic procedures.

In “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery,” by Camille Paglia, she argues that American surgeons are being too narrow minded with their work because they use the same models as a representation of what their clients can look like. She suggests that getting plastic surgery has become such a normal thing in America and that society pushes women to get work done in order to get that “perfect” look. Paglia also points out that plastic surgery has “leveled the playing field” with wives and their husbands mistresses (694). Also, she believes that plastic surgery is not only critical in keeping a job, but also in keeping a relationship. Although I agree with some of Paglia’s arguments, I view some of the issues differently such as, needing plastic surgery to keep a marriage, that plastic surgery is for non intellectuals, that Hollywood’s environment encourages women to change their looks, and that nothing good can come out of plastic surgery.

According to an article published by Seoul Touchup, https://www.seoultouchup.com/korean-plastic-surgery-statistics/, rhinoplasty is the second most common cosmetic procedure performed in Korea. In addition to the Korean population, the country’s plastic surgeons provide procedures to nearly 300,000 tourists a year. The majority of foreigners that travel to Korea for rhinoplasty and other aesthetic surgeries come from China, America, Russia, Japan, and Mongolia. Women represent 72% of the patients and men represent 28%.

These interviews and surveys would be conducted in Korean with all information pertaining to my research written in Hangul. I will give the willing participant time to ask questions about my research and why I am conducting it to build a relationship with participants in order to receive honest answers. Interview will be conducted before procedures and follow up interviews will be done two weeks, one month, six months, and 12 months after plastic surgery to see any changing feelings towards plastic surgery and the affects it had on the participants’ daily life. All interviews and surveys will be conducted with participant confidentiality in mind. All interviews and surveys are hoped to be repeated with entertainment companies and the use of surveys will also be done in universities and recruiting companies. Although high school surveys and interviews would be ideal, I would need permission from school boards and parents to conduct research. If the school boards and parents say no, this could finder my ability to understand the affects of plastic surgery on the youngest members of my research group, and possibly cause me to have to change my research age demographic. All data collected will be complied into groups according to place collected and will be compared by city and

In South Korea, specifically Seoul are filled with plastic surgery clinics causing the country to becomes the world’s highest rate in cosmetic/plastic surgery . When visiting a clinic, most women’s ideal image would be K-Pop idols,generally, the common factors are double eyelids, v-line face, and slim body. It has been estimated that one out of five South Korean women has had cosmetic work done, compared to about one in 20 American women, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. In 2013, American approximately spend $12 billion on cosmetic surgery whereas in South Korea, the price is roughly $7.5 million even with a mass amount of clients, all stated by Chang and Thompson, ABC News. The reason being is simply because “in South Korea, each surgery only ranges from $2,000 to $4-5,000” said Choi, a foreign client who comes to South Korea to undergo plastic surgery. Nowadays, not only adults but teenagers are also eligible to undergo surgery with parental consent. Adults tend to have plastic surgery to stand out from others while most teens want to fit in with peers. According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics, 63,623 cosmetic surgical procedures were performed on people age 13-19 in 2013 according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. However, not all surgeries is for cosmetic reasons. In

Pressure in both the Starters, and in South Korea, is thrusted upon individuals to ‘perfect’ themselves. 19 year old Lim, a translator on Korean TV, felt the need to have surgery done on her jaw and nose, “‘I guess everyone wants to look like K-pop models,’

nations. “The average household earned less than one-hundred dollars a year, so one can only imagine how poverty-stricken the country was,” (The 1). At this time, the need to eat and survive came first, appearances, second. The economy was finally boosted after the win of The 1988 Seoul Olympics. This is when Korea became what it is today, a “high-tech industrialized economy,” (Forbes 1). As people began to gain wealth, they soon were able to spend more money on health and beauty. This era became to be known as the Korean plastic surgery boom. “The Korean plastic surgery boom is correlated with the rapid economic boom that produced present day South Korea,” (The 1).

In fact, their looks have already begun to change the standard of beauty in South Korea. Many K-pop stars have gotten cosmetic surgery and even are spokespeople for such companies (Stone). With celebrities advertising perfect faces, many people are inspired to get surgery as well. This has made South Korea into the plastic surgery capital of the world, with at least one-fifth of the women population who have had some form of cosmetic surgery (Stone; Marx). Thus, K-pop has set the image of beauty in the hearts of their

Messages within the media indirectly contribute to the rising rate of plastic surgery. Desires to meet the idealisms of media representations are often so consuming that people demand plastic surgery despite all of its associated risks and controversies. To compensate for this up and coming surgical trend, technology has developed more reasonable and attainable options for the public. Millions of operations are now able to be performed on those wishing to fulfill specific gratifcations toward their own personal appearance and/or self-esteem. This is a serious problem in that people are unaware or just simply

Hallyu has highlighted medical tourism through the representation of celebrities on screen and paper in which they are portrayed to have a perfect looking skin. For example, in dramas like Boys over Flower, all characters including the unfortunate one’s are portrayed to have that flawless and impeccable looks (Glynn, Basil, and Kim 1-2). This set a high beauty standard for the viewers to attain. They are willing to spend a lot of money to travel to South Korea just to find out the secret and truth about Korean beauty. Then, plastic surgery becomes a known and popular alternative for them to achieve that dream. The industry booms even farther after knowing that cosmetic surgery is common for Korean people. International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) reports that there would be a person out of every five people that undergo plastic surgery in Korea based on 100,000 of Korea’s general population (Eun). In 2010, the number of non-Korean patients is only 82,000, however, in 2016 the number increases to 400,000 (Arirang TV).

The people of South Korea have a strong connection to plastic surgery which is evident by its usage among both women and men. According to a statistics website called nationmaster.com about 20% of the Korean population have had some kind work done on them. It is estimated that women between the ages of 20 and 50 years old underwent the knife for some reason, be it eyelid surgery or a nose job. While the act of cosmetic surgery mainly occurs in women, it has estimated that about 44% of college men think about getting plastic surgery at some point in their lives (nationmaster.com). In 2010 the number of Korean men who had cosmetic surgery was around 15% based on the Korean Association for Plastic Surgeons estimations. Any attempts to explain the high popularity of cosmetic surgery in South Korea mostly frames it in two ways: 1) Koreans have the desire to look more like white people or 2) according to feminists it is the continued subjection of women to patriarchal ideas. (Kim 2009). However, this is a very limited way of explaining why plastic surgery is so important to in South Korea because the issue is more complex than that. The plastic surgery world of South Korea shows a struggle between what they believe is beautiful, what the world and social status believes is beautiful, and what their culture believes is beautiful.

The subject of plastic surgery in America is still a taboo since it attributes to the idea of being ‘unnatural’ and a ‘plastic monster’. Most popular surgeries in the country include eye lifts, liposuction, and breast enlargements. Those who have gotten these procedures are likely to keep what they have had done in order to not be shamed by others who may not support artificially changing one’s appearance. Many people may know that South Korea is known as the plastic surgery capital of the world. Plastic surgery was once a major taboo in Korea, where those who have gotten it done would be looked down upon on by family and friends and be ostracized by society, but now the pursuit of perfection has made cosmetic surgery much more popular and open to the public. About one in five women in Korea would have some kind of plastic surgery done, and many neighborhoods and subway stations are lined with advertisements and billboards to promote clinics by showing before and after photos (Graham, “Popular Surgery Shrouded in Shame“). In my experience of living in South Korea for a few months, I did notice that there were many cosmetic surgery advertisements in certain districts of Seoul. In those areas, I would typically see women’s faces all bandaged up from those procedures that got done and they wouldn’t care if people judged.