Twelve female celebrities in South Korea made the Independent Critics list of 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2015, and you can read more about that here. In particular, NaNa of the Korean girl group After School snagged the number one spot for the second time in a row. The article I linked asks our opinion and I've got plenty to share. Please note that my opinions are only mine and I intend no harm.
First, I understand the standards of beauty in the eyes of Koreans and other Asians are very different from the eyes of the Western world. Consequently, this list of 100 Most Beautiful Women doesn't accurately reflect the way Koreans would order the most beautiful faces of their country. Koreans idealize big eyes, especially eyes with double-eyelids (쌍꺼풀: the crease in your eyelid), narrow chins, white skin, tall nose, full lips, all in a small-sized face. Western people typically favor Asians without the double-eyelids, and Americans in particular prefer tan skin.
To give you my personal opinions now, I agree that NaNa is pretty. She is. And she also has a nice personality as well, based on her performance on television and netizens' posts about her. And as a fellow Korean, I'm so proud that a Korean woman seized the number one spot on this list. Let me also point out that South Korea was the third country with the most women placed in this list.
But I think, in my Korean eyes, another Korean woman could've taken that spot. A lot of other Koreans say the same, some express their opinions rather more harshly that Nana's face isn't exactly number one worthy. But I personally appreciate her humble response to this - she even apologized in a recent airing of Radio Star.
What really puzzles me is that Song Hye Kyo was listed as 67. 67! I understand she's competing with beautiful women all over the world, and the fact that she made the list is a great accomplishment in and of it self. Actually, it only makes sense that she's on the list - she's one of the top most gorgeous Korean celebrities! So it doesn't make sense that she was the only top most gorgeous Korean woman to be on this list. What about Kim Tae Hee or Jeon Ji Hyun, whose names are up there along with Song Hye Kyo's? There are numerous more Korean women that I can think of but weren't on this list - Shin Min Ah, Lee Min Jung, Girls' Generation's YoonA (!!! Seriously.), Red Velvet's Irene, f(x)'s Krystal, Sulli... and more!
I personally think Song Hye Kyo is the most gorgeous celebrity in Korea, and again, she's competing with the rest of the world here. So if anything, I think she should beat the other Koreans. I mentioned that I think Irene of Red Velvet should've been on the list, she's considered prettier than fellow member Seulgi who made the list. Seulgi has big eyes without the double-eyelid, which I think may make her more gorgeous to western eyes than Irene. Although, Seulgi's crease-less eyes are enviously pretty! But I personally think Seulgi is gorgeous as well. And if all of these newer girl group members are going to make the list - then, YoonA has to be in it. She is the prettiest girl group member in Korea.
So far I gave you my personal opinion - I looked up what Koreans are saying about the list. A few have gone as far to investigate the credibility of the Independent Critics, and I learned something disappointing as well. As credible and important the Independent Critics sound, they're just a blog ran by an individual, ordinary person who enjoys listening to K-pop. So Koreans don't view this list as something incredible anymore and just see the list as kind of biased.
And the Koreans have gone as far as bashing poor NaNa. I find it a bit odd that Koreans are making their way to find out the credibility of the Independent Critics and then go on to bash NaNa for being on some biased list. Okay, I was curious about who the Independent Critics are too, but I don't think that gives reason to criticize NaNa. I'm not talking about stating that another Korean should've been number one, like I did, but downright trash-talking about her. Some of the comments I've seen are so severe I dare not rethink them even. Talk about Team-Kill. And I think that's really unnecessary.
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