S.Korea: The Cutting Edge of Beauty
May 21st 2006 09:01
As consumer demands, economic conditions, and medical skills dramatically increased in Asia, there has been a huge wave ofcosmetic surgery among teenagers; the target market is getting dangerously young.
This is especially common in South Korea.Seoul has long been notorious as "the" place to go for a slice of beauty. The kids are not knifing themselves behind their parent's backs either. Instead of tucking their chidlren into bed, these parents are nipping and tucking them into better shape for employment or college instead of nurturing healthy self-esteem at a young age.
This is deeply saddening, disturbing and insane! I'm usually not one to point the "shallow" finger often, as I believe that enhancing your aesthetic potential is an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. But slicing children? Dude, not cool.
By conservative estimates, 50% of women in their 20s have had plastic surgery, and even 70% of men would consider the scalpel. There is very little stigma attached to this trend. Why would there be, when it's just routine?
The motivations are not all to do with self vanity. It has to do with finding a good husband, with finding a good job, and gaining respect in your social circle. In other words: society demands it. What sort of pressure could have possibly allowed for a society to endorse such travesty? Is this value-system going to spread globally?
The trend is almost like a dung beetle's booty:it just keeps rolling until it looms into a giant turd. As a wave of teenagers visit their surgeons after school and emerge as a better fit of the common 'mold' to beauty, their peers feel a need to catch up, or fall behind. Even girls born uncommonly pretty are becoming more critical of their self-images as their imperfections enlarge in their own distorted mirrors of doubt.
It is perfectly understandable for a teen to be overly critical, but it is not acceptable for one's family and social network to encourage such drastic measures instead of clonking the silly boy/girl on the head and yelling "OH MY GOD you are so ridiculous, you're fully hot..."
Of course, as responsible adults, a few chips and pinches here and there wouldn't hurt. Here's a list of safer clinics for those who were not deterred by my outrage. Happy flying!
This is especially common in South Korea.Seoul has long been notorious as "the" place to go for a slice of beauty. The kids are not knifing themselves behind their parent's backs either. Instead of tucking their chidlren into bed, these parents are nipping and tucking them into better shape for employment or college instead of nurturing healthy self-esteem at a young age.
This is deeply saddening, disturbing and insane! I'm usually not one to point the "shallow" finger often, as I believe that enhancing your aesthetic potential is an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. But slicing children? Dude, not cool.
By conservative estimates, 50% of women in their 20s have had plastic surgery, and even 70% of men would consider the scalpel. There is very little stigma attached to this trend. Why would there be, when it's just routine?
The motivations are not all to do with self vanity. It has to do with finding a good husband, with finding a good job, and gaining respect in your social circle. In other words: society demands it. What sort of pressure could have possibly allowed for a society to endorse such travesty? Is this value-system going to spread globally?
The trend is almost like a dung beetle's booty:it just keeps rolling until it looms into a giant turd. As a wave of teenagers visit their surgeons after school and emerge as a better fit of the common 'mold' to beauty, their peers feel a need to catch up, or fall behind. Even girls born uncommonly pretty are becoming more critical of their self-images as their imperfections enlarge in their own distorted mirrors of doubt.
It is perfectly understandable for a teen to be overly critical, but it is not acceptable for one's family and social network to encourage such drastic measures instead of clonking the silly boy/girl on the head and yelling "OH MY GOD you are so ridiculous, you're fully hot..."
Of course, as responsible adults, a few chips and pinches here and there wouldn't hurt. Here's a list of safer clinics for those who were not deterred by my outrage. Happy flying!
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