Plastic surgery in South Korea is nothing new. Korea is one of the biggest beauty capitals of the world, along with Europe and the United States. However, it also known that the epidemic of plastic surgery is becoming a bit too pressurized and typical, for example, it can usually be something given to a young girl as a graduation present. Not only is the widespread encouragement of plastic surgery a problem, so is the idea that a woman must not leave the house without some type of makeup on or work done, something masking her true features. If she is seen without any on, she can expect negative comments on her bare face throughout her entire day. All in all, plastic surgery, makeup and other cosmetic constraints that most females have to deal with on a day to day basis are resulting in a lack of confidence and self-worth for people of all ages in Korea, not only women.

A movement that has since been established very recently in South Korea to push back at these constraints of a woman’s appearance is the “Escape the Corset” movement. This group is run by women for women, to let them know that they are beautiful without any of the type of cosmetic work to their physical form.

In the video above, Bae Eun-jeong, a Korean YouTuber who goes under the name Lina Bae, is seen performing the many tedious steps of applying her makeup and then by the end of the video takes it all off, telling her audience that she is not pretty but that is ok, telling her viewers, “Don’t be so concerned with how others perceive you. You’re special and pretty the way you are.” This small yet powerful movement is what can guide us, small steps mind you, to slowly breaking down the barriers of the impossible beauty standards set on individuals, in Korea especially, then slowly around the world. Though “Escape the Corset” has to do with such a great and positive cause, the backlash it receives is disturbing. Lina Bae and other members of the group have gotten death threats and an immense amount of online hate because of this cause. This just goes to show how hateful people are and what happens when women try to fend for themselves and their beauty standards.

I feel that this movement is not only a huge step in the right direction for feminism in Korea, it is also a huge step in breaking down the frustrating walls of misogyny. Misogyny is something extremely prevalent in South Korea and the beauty industry just piles onto that issue. The amount of advertisements and endorsements by celebrities for various beauty products alone is great for the economy but devastating for the individuals that are being brainwashed into buying these things, and if one doesn’t, they are automatically judged and looked at as not good enough. They don’t want us to evolve into individuals that are empowered not by our appearance but by our actions and voices.

Kimberly Hoang’s reading, “Constructing Desirable Bodies,” talks of the constant alterations made to conform to the desires of men globally, whether it be Vietnamese, South Korean men or western men. It is sadly no surprise that women have been forced by society to feel that they should conform to a certain “type” to be appealing. To conform, certain physical alterations, products, and procedures can be made to be deemed acceptable, alterations that I know most of us are familiar with: a rhinoplasty A.K.A. nose job, a face lift, breast augmentation, lip fillers, permanent makeup, double eyelid surgery, the list grows endless. Yet, the beauty standard that is causing an absolute stir, not only in Asia, but all over the world is skin-lightening cream.

The following video is a Thai advertisement for pills that whiten the skin, very evidently causing absolute turmoil in the media due to the blantant racism towards darker-skinned individuals. It was immediately removed by the company Seoul Secret and they issued a quick apology for the racist overtones.

“Eternally white, I am confident.” This advertisement makes it a point to show their audience that if you are not fair-skinned, you automatically don’t take care of yourself, you are not confident, ultimately not being good enough f0r society and being considered lower, not looking like the idols and stars of Korean pop culture.

Hoang writes specifically about Vietnamese sex workers and their struggle to look beautiful to their male clients. “People come to Asia for beautiful Asian women, not for women who look Western” (Hoang). The workers were encouraged to look like the K-pop group, the Wonder Girls, by wearing lots of makeup and baby powder, embodying the “beauty ideals of Korean pop stars.” All over Asia, the beauty standards have been set and reinforced by South Korea. Even if that means, taking a pill to lighten one’s skin because “white makes you win.”

A bigger problem that various countries in Asia are dealing with, including Vietnam and Thailand, is that more affordable skin-lightening “products” are becoming available to consumers of a lower societal class. Individuals who cannot afford these creams and pills endorsed by so many idols can now buy much cheaper online concoctions that contain various harsh chemicals that contain chlorine and “salmon sperm” according to the Thai Food and Drug Administration. People are damaging and literally burning their skin to feel valid.

Skin whitening is not only a way to seem more attractive, it is a way to seem higher in class. Being white is being rich. This idea is maintained by advertisements for these products being sponsored by celebrities and household names, and what an effective way to do so. People of all ages see their inspirations endorsing a product that will cause their fans to look like them, what more could a devotee want.

People must know that having lighter skin does not guarantee validation and there is absolutely nothing wrong with being of a darker complexion. The more these idols support these terrible products, the less hope there is for change to be made.