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tanja_alina_berg 's review for:
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.