Plastic Surgery and South Korea (2)

As I read an article about yet another alleged cosmic surgery accusation of a Korean celebrity, I just sigh in frustration.

There have been so many celebrities who have debuted with a natural face and then have gone under the knife who didn't need to. When it seems like nearly all celebrities have gotten plastic surgery and there’s that one newly-debuted singer with a slightly shorter nose, it delights me. That’s because that singer is still gorgeous and this is a declaration that there is such a thing as natural beauties in Korea. And there really are.

So it almost devastates me to come across articles raising questions of plastic surgery on a celeb and see the pictures myself and learn that he or she did. And most of the time, their “before” face was a lot better than their “after” face.

And it’s one thing when these people who didn’t need the operation are celebrities. It’s another when it’s just non-celebrity, ordinary people.

Celebrities live in an entirely different world where they are highly pressured to improve their looks with every new movie or music album. Some girl group or boy group members just never get the recognition they so deserve just because they’re not as good-looking as the rest. And there have been such highly talented idol group members who’ve been outshined by the “visuals” of the group who have gone under the knife and gained more fans afterwards. So I reiterate that celebrities feel every temptation to “fix” their faces.

But the frustrating thing, and I find it also to be annoying, is that this pressure is also in the South Korean society as a whole. An office-walker who works in front of the computer most of the day is not like the celebrity who makes an appearance on national television, yet she (and it’s mostly “she’s”) feels inferior to the pretty office-worker next door.

And I get it. I do. I’m a girl too. I know it may not just be feelings of inferiority. I get that you just want to look better and feel better.

However I challenge the Korean society with this question: Are looks everything?

I’ve also heard that looks do matter very well to the employers hiring secretaries for the company. So people get plastic surgery for that. I’m not blaming the fact that employers can’t help but notice the looks. We all notice the looks. But should looks be part of the standard for getting hired? I argue that that is rather extreme.

I also heard that when you walk the streets of Korea, all the faces you encounter are super gorgeous. But they also all look the same.

The last time I visited Korea was seven years ago. I don’t recall seeing identical faces all over the face back then. So this points out the changes to Korean society as well.

Plus I also don’t like South Korea’s reputation as the “plastic surgery nation”. I think that’s just humiliating.

It’s great to take some time on your looks. But it shouldn’t be everything. And I feel like to Koreans it’s everything. I’m calling out to all the natural faces in Korea: Don’t go to the clinic. Don’t “fix” your face. Natural is more beautiful.