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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
“Ultimately, research shows the quest for perfection can be both addictive and self-destructive setting people on the path to depression, anxiety, and life paralysis when they become afraid to put anything out in the world that could be seen as imperfect.”
Loved this book! I learned so much about K beauty, the nexus of neoliberal constraints on feminism, and the future of plastic surgery that’s happening in Korea already.
Loved this book! I learned so much about K beauty, the nexus of neoliberal constraints on feminism, and the future of plastic surgery that’s happening in Korea already.
This was a fascinating take on Korean beauty norms and the rigid standards they set for women there. Increasingly for men as well, but more variation is accepted for males. For women, there is only one ideal, although it keeps changing so that keeping up with the trend is taxing. It’s also expensive, many women spend 500$ a month on beauty products.
I don’t spend that much in a year. I will often go for men’s moisturizer, because it’s half the price of the women’s equivalent for the same brand. Last time I bought an eyeliner the poor woman behind the counter wanted to sell me some anti-aging cream. “It’s all snake oil”, I said, and left.
The reason to read this book is that Korea is probably about a decade ahead of the west in terms of beauty regime. Plus the government invests heavily in the spread of Korean culture, just take “squid game” and their pop groups as examples.
I was shocked to read in a paper a couple of years ago that 2 in 5 women in my income segment in Norway have had a surgical cosmetic procedure. In Korea, cosmetic procedures are ubiquitous. The industry is huge and the surgeons do up to ten surgeries a day. Not just on Koreans, they cater to foreigners as well.
There is a need to conform, to look good for others. Non-conformity is not condoned. Since everyone is getting the same procedures, everyone is beginning to look alike. As what is beautiful narrows, what is considered ugly broadens.
The author is an Asian-American journalist who lived a few years in Korea. Her personal experience of the pressures and discovering the local customs is fascinating and adds a broad layer of interest to the topics she portrays. Definitely recommended! If we know what’s coming, we can perhaps prevent and curtail it before it’s invaded all of our lives.
I don’t spend that much in a year. I will often go for men’s moisturizer, because it’s half the price of the women’s equivalent for the same brand. Last time I bought an eyeliner the poor woman behind the counter wanted to sell me some anti-aging cream. “It’s all snake oil”, I said, and left.
The reason to read this book is that Korea is probably about a decade ahead of the west in terms of beauty regime. Plus the government invests heavily in the spread of Korean culture, just take “squid game” and their pop groups as examples.
I was shocked to read in a paper a couple of years ago that 2 in 5 women in my income segment in Norway have had a surgical cosmetic procedure. In Korea, cosmetic procedures are ubiquitous. The industry is huge and the surgeons do up to ten surgeries a day. Not just on Koreans, they cater to foreigners as well.
There is a need to conform, to look good for others. Non-conformity is not condoned. Since everyone is getting the same procedures, everyone is beginning to look alike. As what is beautiful narrows, what is considered ugly broadens.
The author is an Asian-American journalist who lived a few years in Korea. Her personal experience of the pressures and discovering the local customs is fascinating and adds a broad layer of interest to the topics she portrays. Definitely recommended! If we know what’s coming, we can perhaps prevent and curtail it before it’s invaded all of our lives.
Elise Hu’s Flawless provides a window into how Korean beauty standards have dominated the world, exacerbated by technological advances and social media. I’ve lightly participated in the Kbeauty standards of the 10-step beauty regimen and personally know of women who have considered traveling to Seoul for plastic surgery, so this book hit close to home.
As a science writer, I think Hu’s writing is satisfying to read because she cites every fact mentioned in the book and skillfully weaves in storytelling and insightful observations, including personal anecdotes of her time spent in Seoul as NPR’s bureau chief correspondent. Hu’s reporting is, dare I say, flawless and speaks to her journalistic prowess. I’m usually wary of absorbing cultural content that is created by an outsider, but this book is so well researched and thought out that any initial qualms I had quickly dissipated. Aside from the research aspect, Hu’s voice and relatable personality shines through the book, making her points easy to understand and think about.
I docked a star because the chapter where she talked about taking her baby to get a facial was a little weird, especially considering how previous chapters described how toxic and restricting these beauty standards can be and how she was only doing this for research.
All and all, a highly enlightening read.
As a science writer, I think Hu’s writing is satisfying to read because she cites every fact mentioned in the book and skillfully weaves in storytelling and insightful observations, including personal anecdotes of her time spent in Seoul as NPR’s bureau chief correspondent. Hu’s reporting is, dare I say, flawless and speaks to her journalistic prowess. I’m usually wary of absorbing cultural content that is created by an outsider, but this book is so well researched and thought out that any initial qualms I had quickly dissipated. Aside from the research aspect, Hu’s voice and relatable personality shines through the book, making her points easy to understand and think about.
I docked a star because the chapter where she talked about taking her baby to get a facial was a little weird, especially considering how previous chapters described how toxic and restricting these beauty standards can be and how she was only doing this for research.
All and all, a highly enlightening read.
Very interesting to learn about Korean beauty culture and how pervasive the need to be perfect it. My favorite parts were learning about how the beauty obsession changed over history. It's interesting seeing comparisons to how I feel as a woman living in Los Angeles to the authors experience with K-beauty overall.
If you’ve kept up to date on skincare and “wellness” trends (or are just a woman existing in 2024), much of this book will not be earth-shattering. What I enjoyed most were the descriptions of South Korean culture, the viewpoints and life experiences of Koreans, and the context this book offers for “lookism”.
Fascinating look at Korean beauty culture as it coincides with history, K-pop and the author’s experiences as a journalist living in Korea. An excellent read that asks superb questions of our “look” world.
For someone who didn’t know much about K-Beauty going in, I appreciated the narrative writing style of the author discovering the industry rather than direct to research/analysis.
That being said, K-Beauty is both terrifying and awe inspiring, and I don’t know how to feel! Probably more on the terrified side.
That being said, K-Beauty is both terrifying and awe inspiring, and I don’t know how to feel! Probably more on the terrified side.
It's a well-written non-fiction that reflects on normative beauty standards in a hypermodern society. And it also helps me gain a better understanding of Korean society, a place characterized by a blend of "vestigial Confucian emphasis on societal harmony" and neoliberalism.
1. My new learnings from the book are on technological gaze, self-policing, and how neoliberalism dictates the beauty standard.
The writer illustrates the phenomenon of technological gaze with the following quote:
"A crowd-pleasing image becomes a mold, and a beauty is followed by her imitator, and then by the imitator of her imitator,” writes Etcoff. Social platforms, driven by ad-based business models, are exceedingly good at blasting us with the imitators of imitators of crowd-pleasing images, teaching us what to find beautiful—and then enforcing and reinforcing those standards. We then, crucially, turn that critical eye on ourselves."
Unconsciously, we're internalizing the standard shaped by technology and the market force behind it. The writer also cites Foucault's panopticon theory, explaining the process of internalizing social control due to the constant possibility of surveillance, namely, 24/7 online presence.
The writer also warns how algorithms and TikTok are promoting "symmetry beauty" which is dangerous, fallible, and feeds into more sameness.
"Our “primitive” brains are “under constant assault and control by our culture,” wrote psychologist Judy Scheel, not specifically about Korea, in an essay straightforwardly titled “Culture Dictates the Standard of Beauty.” “Culture and media do succeed at deciding what is or ought to be visually desirable, regardless of our own intuitive draw or what we really want or find attractive.”
2. And on neoliberalism:
"And yet in neither path do women get to transcend an economic machine and the neoliberal logic that we individually must take full responsibility for ourselves in an endless competition in a market. In both types of transactions, the Korean woman is taught that if her beauty isn’t acceptable enough, she has no worth."
And writer warns that neoliberalism's "overreliance on individual solutions to systemic problems has failed".
I'm familiar with the topic but it's still worth reading.
1. My new learnings from the book are on technological gaze, self-policing, and how neoliberalism dictates the beauty standard.
The writer illustrates the phenomenon of technological gaze with the following quote:
"A crowd-pleasing image becomes a mold, and a beauty is followed by her imitator, and then by the imitator of her imitator,” writes Etcoff. Social platforms, driven by ad-based business models, are exceedingly good at blasting us with the imitators of imitators of crowd-pleasing images, teaching us what to find beautiful—and then enforcing and reinforcing those standards. We then, crucially, turn that critical eye on ourselves."
Unconsciously, we're internalizing the standard shaped by technology and the market force behind it. The writer also cites Foucault's panopticon theory, explaining the process of internalizing social control due to the constant possibility of surveillance, namely, 24/7 online presence.
The writer also warns how algorithms and TikTok are promoting "symmetry beauty" which is dangerous, fallible, and feeds into more sameness.
"Our “primitive” brains are “under constant assault and control by our culture,” wrote psychologist Judy Scheel, not specifically about Korea, in an essay straightforwardly titled “Culture Dictates the Standard of Beauty.” “Culture and media do succeed at deciding what is or ought to be visually desirable, regardless of our own intuitive draw or what we really want or find attractive.”
2. And on neoliberalism:
"And yet in neither path do women get to transcend an economic machine and the neoliberal logic that we individually must take full responsibility for ourselves in an endless competition in a market. In both types of transactions, the Korean woman is taught that if her beauty isn’t acceptable enough, she has no worth."
And writer warns that neoliberalism's "overreliance on individual solutions to systemic problems has failed".
I'm familiar with the topic but it's still worth reading.
