Is South
Korea on Your Bucket List?
By: Coua Lee
Let me first of
all tell you guys and gal a story. The story of why I chose to do South Korea. At the
age of twelve South Korea has been on my bucket list, to visit there that is. Oh how I dream to eat there kimchi and travel the nights of city lights. Just
ask me why and we’ll be together talking about the Korean culture, food, dramas
etc. from now to Christmas! That is how much I love Korea! One thing that still
keeps me alive to this day is the Korean music they produce. The very first
band that I was introduced to was called BIG BANG. I quickly got hooked on to
it. There songs would be played twenty four seven as my family members also
became hooked on to it too!
Now wait, some
of you guys may be wondering how my story relates to this paper topic. I do
have a point but y’all would just have to wait.
Anyways, days go
by as I searched up for more Korean bands. I came upon Dong Bang Shin Ki, (also
known as TVXQ, Tohoshinki) Super Junior, and Wonder Girls etc. As I roam around
YouTube being amazed at their perfect skins, eyelids and legs in the music
video I wonder how can such human have perfect features. That wasn’t until I
did some dirty researched. The number one favorite girl group band called SNSD
(also known as Girls Generation) had a rumor going on that almost everyone had
done plastic surgery. In the entertainment of SM, (also known as Soo-man
Entertainment) nine girls come together to harmonize and melodized songs to one
of there biggest hit Gee. With
talents and singing ablilties, at the end of the day I think to myself why is it that they had to go through all of
that to be famous?
Changes of
The Body
In a youth study
Premalatha Karupiah writes an article called “Modification of the body: a
comparative analysis of views of youths in Penang, Malaysia and Seoul, South
Korea”. In this study she collects thirty youths in Penang and another thirty
youths in Seoul. The results for this study found out that mostly all of the
participants wish to change at least one or more part of there bodies. From both
parties of the group, Penang and Seoul participants wish to reduce weight from
ones body. The city of South Korea, Seoul, has definitely brought the
perspective of plastic surgery/ cosmetic surgery to their people. It states
“participants in Seoul are keen on the idea of using cosmetic surgery to change
their bodies (specifically their eyelids) while no participants in Penang
identified cosmetic surgery as an option to change their bodies. (Karupiah)
In
Korea, the most popular cosmetic surgeries are eyelid surgeries
(blepharoplasties) and nose jobs (rhinoplasties). (Holliday) Looking at The
Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, number 17 or page 53, we can that Korea
has joined the participation of Miss Universe or Miss World 2007. Though on
this map, we don’t see that they have any winners, they won’t be stopping any
undergo beauty. Going back to the study of Karupiah, it states, “This study
shows that the choice of body modification procedures is influenced by cultural
and societal values even though it may not be strictly prescribed by the
society. Knowledge and understanding of one’s society may influence choice of
body modification techniques”
My
body flutters as I look up to my Korean celebrities. It’s not just the ladies
that would undergo it but the gentlemen’s as well. They are my role models. But
when they undergo cosmetic surgery to fix their human flaws whether the signing
company wants them too, or believing that they are ugly, that’s when I
reconsider whether if I truly look up to them. Because one have to love oneself
and believe that they are beautiful from inside out. So at the end what does
the word beautiful mean?
Korean
Woman Role
Is
there anything that a woman can do to find herself powerful?
Watching
some Korean channels on YouTube, I came upon a channel that I’ve been addicted
to for the past few days. They are called SimonandMartina. I would call them,
teachers in the daylight and hungry Canadians by night. (The term hungry, I
mean wanting to learn more about the
Korean culture) I came upon a video about respecting elders and here they
say respecting an elder is the most important. Whether it may be a woman or a
gentleman.
Like
I said, being a senior woman of the house hold or someone who deals with
supernatural on behalf of the house, these women are in hold of power. Men’s
would often remind them, ““Man is respected and woman lowly,” where men hold
public power and prerogatives”, Laurel says in the book of Shamans, Housewives,
and Other Restless Spirits. In this book, I was surprised that woman can have
power. But that is if she’s a shaman.
In
an article called "I'm my mother's daughter, I'm my husband's wife, I'm my child's
mother, I'm nothing else", Helene K Lee writes an article about her
studies about traditional roles as Korean American working women in Seuol. In
this study Helene finds out that “Korean American women relied heavily on
dominant notions of white privilege and patriarchy of the US to South Korean”
and that in the US, the ideologies is achieved as equality. While in South
Korea, everything is “remained constrained by traditional patriarchal attitudes
and practices that left little room for successful women in workforce”.
For those that don’t me, I love to watch Korean dramas. When I’m not busy
with reading textbooks, writing papers or in the library, I find myself
addicted with Viki. (Viki.com is a place to go and watch foreign dramas or
movies) From romantic to comedy to fantasy, these scriptwriters choose words to
best fit there. In the gender roles of women they have slowly been taking as
the center role in a movie or drama. “Back then women in Korea are constrained
by confusion of expectation of being a good wife, good mother” but now Korean
women are seeking out into the work force not just to work but for some to
start ones own business. Because of success some older woman with kids now
wants to divorce their husband. Being single is like being “Korean sex in the
city” (Cinema Asia” South…)
In the sea of Jeju, Haenypo divers dive into the deep sea to collect sea
creatures from underneath the water. Taking it with only one breath, these
woman in there fifties blend in with the big rocks under the cold water. Doing
this has been a hundred year old tradition and of culture. Historically, it is
said that the man found the land and the women found the sea. Woefully, this
tradition will come to an end as younger generations now are finding other
things to do.
Woman in South Korea has been growing only stronger. The year of 2013,
the first female president has rise up to take charge, Park Geun-hye. Though
women aren’t feeling comfortable with their bodies and grabbing a hold onto
cosmetic surgery, at least they are happy! It’s not just the Koreans that feel
that men’s are over powering woman, it’s almost every ethnicity group. But from
the looks of it now, I believe that Korean woman will change that!
Work Cited
"Cinema
Asia: South Korea." Films On Demand. Films Media Group, 2007. Web.
17 Oct. 2013. <http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=1687&xtid=40156>.
Gender,
Globalization and Aesthetic Surgery in South Korea (2012): n. pag. Sage Journals.
Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
<http://bod.sagepub.com/content/18/2/58.full.pdf+html>.
Holliday,
Ruth.“Gender, Globalization and Aesthetic Surgery in South Korea”(2012): n. pag. Sage Journals.
Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
<http://bod.sagepub.com/content/18/2/58.full.pdf+html>.
Karupiah,
Premalatha. "Modification Of The Body: A Comparative Analysis Of Views Of
Youths In Penang, Malaysia And Seoul, South Korea." Journal Of Youth
Studies 16.1 (2013): 1-16. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Kendall, Laurel.
Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1985. Print.
Seager, Joni. The
Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. New York, NY [u.a.: Penguin, 2009.
Print.
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