South Korea And Plastic Surgery

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.

These modern day people feel the need to try and fit into the western culture, even Asian American, so desperate they are willing to go under a knife to fit into the mold. For example, in the New York Time, author Patricia Marx highlighted, “Many dispute the notion that Korean plastic surgery today emulates a Western aesthetic, pointing out, for example, that big eyes are universally considered appealing and that pale skin connotes affluence.” This is essential because western culture have a major impact on the Asian American community that brought the changes in cosmetic surgery to Korea influences the change among Asian to transform into “American” literally. Having blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, shaving down their jaw lines just to name a few Asian American is doing this cosmetic surgery to become what Asian American community considered being a true American. Because within today society, everyone wants to fit it, and for Asian American to accomplish the western culture would be reconstructing their features to becoming a Western American so they can blend into American society.

Plastic surgery began as bodily reconstruction for wounded soldiers in World War I. The surgery developed in stages, starting with correcting traumatic injuries and deformed facial features. The more cosmetic focus began in the 1970’s, with creating “perfected” facial features and making aesthetically pleasing body parts. Cosmetic surgery boomed in the 1990’s, with 1.2 million procedures performed in the United States alone (plasticsurgery.org). The swiftness in which these procedures have infiltrated society has lead to a change in our view of the value of the body. The modern ease and accessibility of cosmetic surgery has intensified the need for external beauty and has influenced the loss of personal identity.

Feminism is secondary as the means to challenge the abnormal body which generates suffering. Cosmetic surgery was found to be important as a solution to problems of self-identity. Popular representation of surgical culture authorizes and expresses its normalization and is reflected by post-feminist ideologies.

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

The article, “About Face” (2015) by Patricia Marx discusses the overwhelming appeal of plastic surgery in South Korea. She travelled to Seoul, South Korea to get a closer look at the importance of plastic surgery here. In her research she discovers that South Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world with appearance being incredibly important in attaining a job, spouse, or approval from one’s own family. The author also found that the most popular surgeries including double-eyelid surgery, nose jobs, and jaw-slimming surgery. The article proves how important body image is in society.

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

Aug 21, 2016 – Plastic surgery as Rhinoplasty is not just for woman. A number of males are reaching out for a nose job, considered as male rhinoplasty. While it is not as widespread or as shown like female rhinoplasty, it is significant to note that countless men have the similar issues through self-assurance that women achieve. Rhinoplasty in Korea is an immense way to overcome those aspects. Particularly if the male patient experiences that his nose is far more feminine or girly. Men are less likely than women to express their feeling regarding this kind of surgery and could attempt to step in to get a fast fix without communicating through their doctor regarding their expectations.

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%.

Elizabeth Haiken, "The Making of the Modern Face: Cosmetic Surgery," Social Research, Spring 2000. The American culture that produced cosmetic surgery is the increasingly visual, psychologically influenced culture of the twentieth century United States. For those surgeons who perform cosmetic surgery, the relationship between the physical face and the construction of individual identity has always been and continues to be central. "In our modern twentieth century United States, our attitudes toward cosmetic surgery have been based on a series of assumptions: that inside every person who looks different is an American struggling to get out; that inside every homely girl a confident girl is trying to emerge..." These surgeons,

Plastic Surgery has become a worldwide epidemic in today’s world. The number of plastic surgeries continues to increase since 2010. In today’s day and age, plastic surgery is one of the most popular and requested procedures. Females are opting to have plastic surgery because they dislike their body image. Society has impacted many people by brain washing them to believe that a person’s body has to be perfect. In order for one to be considered beautiful, television and media influence people’s perceptions of beauty.

Plastic Surgery is a controversial topic nowadays. Some men and women believe that plastic surgery is a great chance to have finally the body, face, and even romantic life always dreamed about. In the U.S. the plastic surgery television shows have made these ideas more popular and common than ever. Some men and women have other reasons for want plastic surgery Such as people who want plastic surgery have disfigurements to the face or body because of birth defects or genetic problems. The rise in plastic surgery in U.S. is a bad sign for future. Plastic surgery is not always a good thing for everyone. Cosmetic surgery should be prohibited for teenagers and people having psychological problems.

With the reputation of having some of the most beautiful women in the world, South Korea is also a country widely known for its excessive execution of plastic surgery procedures. According to Zara Stone, based on data from a 2010 Survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, she addresses that one out of every five women of all age groups in South Korea undergoes some sort of surgery procedure, making South Korea the leading country of plastic surgery (2). Plastic surgery is popular among many women in South Korea today because of one reason, to escape the reality of being non-compliant with the cultural standard of beauty, which is having small eyes, a flat nose, or a round face. Like many countries, women in South Korea solely believe that beauty correlates with the way they physically look rather than the beauty that comes within (Stone 3). Many South Korean women are unhappy with their appearance, especially when they compare themselves to attractive models, celebrities, and westernized women who meet and satisfy the standards of beauty portrayed by the media (Stone 2). But what is beauty, and what is it that makes plastic surgery so widely accepted in South Korea? In order to be compliant to the cultural beauty standard, South Korean women view plastic surgery as their definite solution to be validated as a beautiful woman. Influenced by the idolization of having a westernized look portrayed by media, South Korean women

We live in a society where people worship beauty. As far as recorded history people have gone to extremes to seek beauty. From foot binding in China to wearing strangulating corsets in Victorian era. People from different race and culture have experimented in every way possible way to look beautiful prior to this popular age of plastic surgery. It’s very common to hear people complain about their appearance, whether it’s their crocked nose, thin lips or flat chest. Remarkably, plastic surgery has been the solution for people who complain. Most people tend to think of plastic surgery as only cosmetic surgery and not as reconstructive surgeries. Plastic surgeries seems to be an invention of modern technology; however its roots lie in the ancient history of India. An Indian surgeon contributed towards the establishment of plastic surgery, it was intended to correct physical deformities acquired during birth, accident, disease or war. These surgeries did not gain the popularity it has today until the First World War. It was during the late 60’s, when doctors started realizing the endless possibilities of plastic surgeries. With the help of this surgery a trained surgeon can replace an amputate body part, remove skin cancer, get rid of unattractive scars and visible birthmarks or rescaling a nose or enhance body parts. Today more and more people from different age groups opt for plastic surgeries to obtain dramatic physical changes. These surgeries were envisioned to restore

As the Korean wave becoming popular all over the world, more and more people also want to try to imitate the faces of Korean stars or improve their appearances in order to become more beautiful. So, the industry of plastic surgery in South Korea has drawn many tourists’ attention. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), the number of “individuals in South Korea who undergo plastic surgery have reached approximately 20,000 per 100,000 of the general population” (Seok-Chan, 2013). It makes South Korea become famous as a country with high technology of doing plastic surgery. The Korean National Assembly also passed a medical law in 2009 in order to provide a legal basis for hospitals to attract foreign patients from overseas countries (Seok-Chan, 2013). Moreover, the cost of plastic surgery in South Korea was 80% lower than that in the US or the UK (Denisenko, 2010). As a result, many people in different countries have travelled to South Korean for doing plastic surgery by