Impossibly Beautiful

Created on 1st February 2023

Conference: The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS10)
Title: Impossibly Beautiful
Stream: Media, Film Studies, Theatre, Communication
Presentation Type: Virtual Poster Presentation
Authors:
Cienna (Sieun) Kim, University of Utah, South Korea

Abstract:

What is beauty? What establishes the standard of it? The business of beauty continuously grows worldwide. Especially in Korea, high beauty standards and media portraying certain features of prettiness are influencing people to alter their appearance which is often being emphasized in the company of big eyes with double eyelids, pale skin, and skinny body (Sohn,n.d.). This phenomena emerged with increased numbers of beauty-marketing posters in subway stations which can be overwhelming and self-esteem crushing. To resolve the complaints regarding popular beauty image, Seoul Metro, the organization for subways that operates through Seoul, announced a plan to eliminate all the plastic surgery marketing on the subway station walls (Ko, 2017). According to a survey conducted by Seoul state in 2022, people used the subway 461 million times a day (Kim et al., 2022). This shows how often people are exposed to face modification and dieting advertisements.
This oversaturation of beauty marketing on public transportation can be compared to the experience of viewing heavily filtered and edited photos on one of the most popular social media platforms, Instagram. These images are problematic for adolescents who are forming self-identity and just beginning to understand themselves. The pressure of trying to look like the figures on Instagram has led some Korean students to skip lunch to avoid taking off their masks and showing their faces (High_nity, 2022). “Impossibly beautiful” discusses various daily factors, such as public transportation, social media, and merchandise, influencing people's thoughts. It hopes to establish more embracing cultures in Korea.