The word “beautiful” holds more meaning to it than you would think. It could mean you have a beautiful soul, or a beautiful smile, or you are a drop-dead gorgeous angel that fell from the sky. What you do not realise is, you could be beautiful in one country and not even the slightest bit of attractive in other.
The famous saying “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” does seem to reflect the enriched human culture, nature and perceptions of what beautiful is. As an International student studying in an International community, I noticed a very strange thing about perceiving beauty in others. I would personally find some people more attractive than the others because of my own upbringing or my own cultural bubble that has set rules about how a beautiful person should look like.
Everyone has a different perspective and this made me want to look into how different cultures define beauty.
After a lot of research, I came up with what beauty is defined as around the world. Here are some of the countries that I focused on:
KOREA
If you walk around in the streets of Korea or even come across Koreans abroad, you will notice a certain pattern in their physical appearance.
* No Tan
The most apparent physical trait is the lack of tanning. Koreans will walk around with ajumma visors, hats, arm covers and every skin lightening cream that has 15+ SPF built into it. There are many arguments as to why Korean men and women like to be pale, one of which targets their historical context of being tanned. Historically speaking, if you were tanned, that would mean that you are a poor peasant working outdoors as compared to people who have pale skin, which represented luxury, wealth and lack of wrinkles.
* Double Eyelids = Big Eyes
Next trait that defines a Korean beauty is having “double eyelids”. That is correct. Eyelids define your attractiveness in Korea. Celebrities are known to have surgery done to get them and the people who cannot afford surgery, simple use double eye-lid tape. This type of surgery is one of the most important surgeries in Korea and it is argued that people get it done to look more western.
* Face, V-line Face
Last but not the least physical trait makes you a true Korean beauty is having a “V line” face. If you do not have a V line shaped jaw, surgery is readily available to you in Korea because that is an essential beauty code. Ads on subway are used to encourage people to get that shape and majority of the celebrity photos are taken in a n angle that creates the illusion of a V-line. As if that was not enough to set a beauty trend, products are sold in heavy masses to help trim down your jaw and face fat.
Other minor traits such as: having a small face; X-line and S-line body shape; long legs, help define a true Korean beauty.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fashion/whos-beautiful-how-beauty-is-defined-around-the-world/#sthash.XHHCBcEw.dpuf
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