The world is very male dominant and in South Korea, it’s particularly so. Stereotypes still exist when it comes to men and women, even though they deal with the same issues. Women in South Korea have come very far, in a more conservative country. But in the entertainment business, there's more pressure to uphold a certain image. An idol image. To look, act, and be a certain way. The Kpop star is seen not only as a woman, but as the face of her country. This article looks at the struggles that Korean women go through in the spotlight and what some of them are doing to change that image.

Plastic Surgery

When K-pop idols confidently talk about plastic surgery

Both men and women struggle with issues related to plastic surgery; however, it is more common for women to undergo plastic surgery. The face is most important. It’s the object of first impressions and subjected to constant judgement. Plastic surgery has been deemed an acceptable way of perfecting a person’s image. Many idols use it as a stepping-stone in their career. The most popular is double eyelid surgery, but surgeries can range from face sculpting to breast implants.

With as much information there is on the Internet about plastic surgery in South Korea, price is the overlooked factor. A couple of years ago, each member of a four-member female group, named Six Bomb, went through plastic surgery totaling in the high thousands. They promoted this change through their music, by releasing two music videos of their before and after process, creating a more open discussion of this controversial topic. Nowadays, plastic surgery is no longer an issue and has become a norm. In the West, plastic surgery is still frowned upon, no matter if celebrities do it or not. Many families are raised with the knowledge that beauty comes from within, and with every new generation this idea is being enforced.

The process behind an airjet face lift and doublo gold treatment.

On a positive note, I think it’s good that South Korea is so open about this, and instead of being ashamed, women have pride in themselves. However, I also feel that it blurs the lines of individualism.

Girls Generation

Girls' Generation's 1st mini album "Gee" has been released.

Girls Generation debuted as a nine-member girl group in 2007. Starting out, especially in that era of Kpop, members of a new group tended to look similar to one another: same length of hair or hair color, same outfits, same pale skin tone, and same slim physique. Some groups may have started out like this temporarily, whereas other music labels do this on purpose. Girls Generation became known as one of the best female Kpop groups in the second generation of Kpop. Many of the male idols would cite a Girls Generation member as their ideal type of woman.

The video above is about Korean women explaining what the ideal Korean woman looks like, starting with height and weight, ending with what body features men typically like. Obviously, it can’t be all about looks when it comes to dating in Korea. But, like in any culture, looks are a major factor in first impressions. That idealized Korean woman that all those other women were describing doesn’t exist, it's the stereotype of perfection that’s been rooted in the culture for a long time. Idealized looks come with an idealized image of how Korean women should act. Women who are pretty on the outside are assumed to have desirable personality traits: soft, delicate, kind, cute, and helpless in a way that makes men want to protect and shelter them.

In reality, Korean women don’t always look like that. Their body types, personality, and features can vary just like everyone else in this world. The views of what Korean men look for in Korean women have also changed in recent years. Not all Korean men want this type of Ideal Korean woman. However, this vision of an ideal Korean woman is still being pressed upon women through the marketing of tools that help achieve the look, such as plastic surgery and beauty products, and the media presentation of idols who look and act a certain way.

Sexy Sells

Hyomin from T-ARA Source:https://www.nickiswift.com/103390/k-pop-stars-plastic-surgery/

I don’t know why, in history and throughout society, women are viewed as the weaker sex. Yes, we can be emotional. Yes, we can be vulnerable. We can also be strong, cunning, and even manipulative. Beauty is how we present ourselves. However, from reading this article that discusses the mistreatment of women in the Kpop industry, I feel that South Korea believes beauty comes before talent.

Beauty is still an important factor in the Kpop industry, but it's more than just being pretty. There’s another side to beauty which is being sexy.

The most common reason given for media getting banned from Korean TV or the radio is sexually explicit lyrics or sexual choreography. Take the song, “Joker” by the female kpop group Dal Shabet. The title track pronounced in Korean translates to a male’s private parts, and the choreography has been deemed too sexual for television. I really love this song and listen to it all the time. I watch the video and see women who are beautiful and mesmerizing while knowing how to work it. This is sexy without it being over the top.

The banning of certain videos and songs being banned in Korea has been going on for years, and not just for overtly sexual lyrics or visuals. But it doesn’t stop music labels from producing music like this. On the contrary, it often makes the song and video even more popular.

While both female and male artists can risk having their work banned for sexual or suggestive content, it is more likely to backfire for women. Fans can respond with public humiliation and emotional abuse. Women idols have to always be on guard, and has to watch what they say or do while the majority of male artists can get away with similar behavior and the situation won’t turn into a big deal.

The Not so Ideal Type

Breaking the norm is not easy; it’s a rebellious move away from traditional standards. It can come from all forms. These ladies take pride in who they are and their stage presence, and go above and beyond to improve their craft, making them influential to their fans.

Hwasa

Body Image.

Hwasa is the youngest member of the female group Mamamoo; born in South Korea, but has the swagger of an American. She’s a force to be reckoned with. While many Korean women would go for the surgery approach, especially to further a career, Hwasa openly admits to having struggles with her weight. She’s never let it hold her back. She is an amazing singer and songwriter. I look at her and I see glowing skin, a killer smile, flawless talent and curves. Her curves are her perfection. She’s an inspiration, and a wonderful influence on other women.

Amber

Gender Identity.

Starting off in one of the top three entertainment companies, SM Entertainment, Amber debuted as a rapper in the girl group, f(x) in 2009. She was born in California and is Taiwanese-American. However, her race was never what made her stand out the most as a kpop idol. Amber is considered a “tomboy”, a word used in South Korea to describe a less traditionally feminine looking girl rather than a girl who likes traditionally “boyish” things. It doesn’t refer to a girl acting more like a boy, but a less feminine appearance, different from the standard Korean norms of what a girl should look like. Amber is not your average girl, and she is not Korean, so those rules never really applied to her. Her unconventional look for a kpop artist just makes her even more beautiful. Now, over a decade out from her debut, she is no longer part of f(x) or with SM Entertainment. She is a solo artist with Steel Wool Entertainment.

What I admire most about Amber is that even though she struggled under the pressure of what beauty is supposed to look like, on the outside, she handled it with lots of grace. Debuting in f(x), she looked different from the rest of the group: short hair, baggy clothes, deep voice, which was both a blessing and a curse. Amber’s look exposed other Korean women to a different type of beauty than what they were used to seeing; however, it put a target on Amber’s back that labeled her as Korea’s tomboy. Being an idol in Korea, means that she has dealt with pressures of the Korean beauty standard and its defenders.

Amber is just really nice. I’ve never seen Amber go off at someone and I’ve never seen Amber upset. She takes it all in to the point where at times she looks drained from it all. But, she still responds with kindness. The video above shows Amber responding to hateful comments in a humorous way. She talks about her frustrations verbally and through her music. Her first solo album through SM showed the public her acceptance of herself.

Now no longer with SM, Amber is communicating more with her fans about her struggles, her anxiety, and her issues with mental health. She handles beauty and self-identity in her own way, and her work to get to this point has only made her stronger in the end. Now, I see that she is much happier. You can read more about her struggles with femininity and beauty, and finding comfort in her own skin here, in an interview she did with allure back in January of 2019.

Overall, Amber is just such a cool person and a real inspiration. All the fans who love her want to be her best friend or want a best friend like Amber.

Hyuna

Sexuality.

It’s common in music for an artist to act one way onstage but totally different off stage. In Kpop, it’s often a more seductive image on stage and a real personality that is the opposite, cute, goofy, and a lot of the times shy. Some Kpop idols are forced to have this sexy image, while other idols just have this natural ability to be sexy, and Hyuna is one of those idols. Hyuna is definitely an idol that gets a lot of mixed reactions. I’ve had the time to watch Hyuna and see how she is both on and off camera, and she really is an inspiration because she is comfortable in her own skin. She works hard at what she does, and when she commits to something, she takes it very seriously. I think she truly likes being sexy, because she loves her body and who she is. Self-Esteem. Confidence. Boldness. All the qualities that makes Hyuna an inspirational woman. Whatever the world throws her way, she will never stop being who she is.

Yoon Mirae

Racially Mixed.

Yoonmirae(윤미래) _ Black Happiness(검은 행복)

You’ve probably figured out by now that Kpop isn’t just Korean music. It’s more of a blend, a fusion of East and West, Korean culture and a foreign sound. Another factor that people often overlook is that it’s not just Korean artists singing the songs. Japanese and Chinese, Black and white, Asian-American, and all the countries in between. More and more people whom are not Korean are auditioning to become idols, and a lot of them already are.

I don’t know Yoon Mirae too well, but I know of her. She is a hip-hop artist and singer, she’s a part of the hip-hop group, MFBTY, and she’s half Black and half Korean. She’s struggled with discrimination and racism, but all I see is strength. It’s women like her that keep Korean music fresh. Women like Yoon Mirae, Insooni, Michelle Lee, to name a few, all experience the same hardships but continue to do what they love. You don’t see them much as part of the Hallyu Wave as their other Kpop idol colleagues, mostly because the racism still exists even after they made a career in the music industry. Record labels do hire foreigners to be a part of their groups; but they are usually of an Asian or a Caucasian ethnicity, people more facially pleasing to traditional kpop audiences than those with darker complexions. It still won’t stop racially mixed or non-Korean from pursuing their dreams.

Kpop and the Ideal Korean Woman