In a capitalist society, someone has to teach the younger generations what beauty means. No beauty standards can stand as a universal choice. It also transcends aesthetics as it leans into the realm of race. Wall Street Journal and Oprah took the Korean plastic surgery craze as an extreme method to achieve a more Western look. This could not be more wrong. of an update of what Korean beauty has been considered. Also used as a further tool to enhance its economic goals in K-Pop. As quoted in the Lee selection, “Korean popular music is driven by the visual.” It is a way to upgrade their stars and country as a whole. What is more visually pleasing than groups and tv shows full of beautiful people?
In this video, the before and afters of several K-Pop stars are shown and they explain why they chose to do it. In many cases, it is viewed as a necessity or a form of body positivity.
As seen in the video above, men have also gone under the knife for a new look. Lots of the literature on the topic of beauty portrays the dilemma as a sexist one in which women are the ones forced to conform to these beauty standards. In history, women have been the ones held to higher standards globally, but in today’s world, especially in Korean, men are right under a magnifying glass with them. Men are putting in body work and using the technologies of beauty just as much as women in K-Pop. They are just as active consumers of beauty products from makeup to plastic surgery as women are.
In K-Pop groups, both men and women undergo intense grooming from to forced plastic surgery contracts to even be allowed to debut on stage. Different standards are afforded to each gender, but in general both require a lot of change. In the following video,
Featured are members from EXO, BEAST, SuperJunior, and more. The K-Pop contract can lock in a production company’s right to the person’s voice down to having agency over their body. It says it in the world itself, “idol.” To become an idol, a person must be practically perfect for the eyes of the public.
The process of this is well explained in last week’s readings. In the Kimberly Hoang’s article, Dealing with Desire, she refers to the act of changing herself to conform to beauty standards “bodily labor” and “body work” which will then result in “body capital” (127, 129). This is essentially part of the process of any K-Pop artist, male or female, to continue to advertise the beauty of Korean people to make Korea more appealing in everything that they do.
The Politics of K-Pop 
“Beauty sells” and “sex sells.” These statements are accepted all over the world as marketing strategies. Your blog post seems to concern the idea of the kpop body as a commodity used to sell something else- music, makeup, and the likes. While idols’ exposure to beauty criticism might be a valid reason for undergoing plastic surgery, their bodies and appearances are high-profile visuals that further strengthen specific beauty ideals. The videos you embedded mention some k-pop stars who are open about their procedures, which I think is important in this context- so that consumers can know what is “natural” and what isn’t. Plastic surgery becomes a problem when it is kept a secret and flaunted as a natural look that others can only attain if they too undergo surgery. The notion that Korean plastic surgery’s goal is western features clearly ignores class issues and local, Korean history of beauty standards. Pale skin is not desired because it is white, but rather because historically, pale women spent less time in the sun, meaning they spent less time working outside, so they are of higher social class. This is reminiscent to last week’s readings about sex workers using fashion to supercede their social standing. While idols undergoing surgery does not mean that they want to have higher social standing, I question whether anyone is ever fully secure in their social position. Clearly, becoming a kpop idol does not assure your safety as a celebrity. Instead, idols’ bodies are consistently subjected to scrutiny and change without an end in sight. This also highlights idols’ lack of permanence. Through a gendered lens, female idols will not pass these traits onto their children, neither will male idols. Furthermore, male idol beauty will not strengthen their physicality within the military. Plastic surgery for Korean celebrities very much concerns their idol status, but once their jobs become something else, these new features don’t have much value.
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Growing up in Seoul, South Korea, I have always been aware of beauty trends and standards. Everytime I come back to Korea during the summer, or winter break, I realize that there is always a slight change and progression in the beauty standards. Everytime I go and get facials and beauty aesthetics place, the consultant always tells me “oh you would look so much better with double eyelids, higher nose bridge, etc…” In my opinion, I think plastic surgery has become such a natural and normal thing that a lot of people in Korea might not even think twice. For me, I think it is saddening, but also quite interesting to see how plastic surgery has become such a norm in Korea. It’s more rare to find someone without surgery than someone who’s gotten work done. There is a misconception that the reason for all this plastic surgery and beauty aesthetics place is that Koreans just want to look more caucasian. However, I think this thought is not true at all. Pale skin,“double eyelids”, and higher nose bridge has always been preferred in Asian cultures. Even with plastic surgery, as many who have gotten procedures done don’t often times resemble Caucasian features at all. In recent years, plastic surgery has become a procedure women and men. Now, it’s common to see men on billboards advocating plastic surgery hospital, etc. In my opinion, the number of plastic surgery procedures is going to decrease any time soon.
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In idol groups, idols are assigned with different roles in the group. One interesting role is the “visual”. I think it is interesting to look at this concept of “visual” in the k-pop industry. The invention of this role shows how much the k-pop industry and k-pop fans value appearance, sometimes even over talent. Sometimes, the visuals in the k-pop groups are even the ones getting the most attention and popularity. For example, yoona in Girl’s Generation is the visual in the group. In group poster, she is often the one positioned in the middle of the group, since she is essentially the “face” of the group. Also, due to her appearance, she also receives more advertisement offers then other members. However, whether her talent, either her singing skill or her dancing skill, is the most outstanding is questionable. Some will even say she is not particularly talented in either, and the reason why she is given the title of the “visual” is because she is comparatively less talented than others. Nonetheless, her below average skill still does not stop her from gaining popularity. Her appearance seems to outweigh her professional skills. Yoona is not the only “visual” who is the most popular in their respective group. As a result, I think the idol groups’ emphasis and creation of “visual” is a phenomenon worth reflecting upon.
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