Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Davew125]

It appears that Koreans dislike the sun, or at least try to avoid it. Where i live theres lots of parks and green open spaces, when ever the sun is out they are completely deserted. This to me is strange coming from England where the two days of sunshine a year are greeted with delirium, bbqs and hose pipe bans. Does anyone know why this is? is it it to do with the 'sun tan means you're a peasant who works the fields' thing or is there some other reason.

Also is it OK to take your top off when laying in the sun? I've never seen a Korean guy with his top off when its hot but as i mention above Koreans dont seem that taken with trying to tan up at all, so is it frowned upon or do Koreans just not care for tanning?

[butlerian]

[cdninkorea]

I don't know about parks, but on Haeundae beach last year on Busan there were women laying on their backs with the straps undone to avoid tan lines, and lots of guys tanning topless too.

The sun is generally avoided but this is changing, and like everything else in Korea, the change is happening quickly compared to my country (Canada) and likely yours too.

One thing that amuses me though is how the same Koreans who avoid the sun will still talk about how 'gloomy' they are when it's not sunny; if they hate the sun, shouldn't they welcome cloudy days?

[Chris Kwon]

People don't wanna look like they are from the country side or be mistaken for a southeast asian.

Me personally I can't stand pale Korean women, gotta have somewhat of a tan or dark enough to where I can't see their veins.

[Scotticus]

[mikekim]

Freaking hilarious when I ask who the students think the most beautiful students are. Its always these really ghost, pasty white thin kids that spend half the day applying SPF 50 and the other half sleeping. Good luck later in life.

[ryouga013]

Let's not forget the visors and umbrellas!

[jetrash]

Simple,this one.
In the korean mind mad-machine :

white(ie.western looking) = GOOD,NOBELESSE,RICHE,modern etc etc etc

yellowish(ie.korean,asian looking)=BAD,WORKING CLASSE,POOR,OLD FASHIONED, etc etc etc

plus the cosmetic work to get rid of asian eyes nose etc





So,Korean "pride", is it real,or a load of shouting to hide this shame?

[teachteach]

You misunderstand jetrash. Even before koreans knew of westerners they always have a 'skin color' divide.
That's why they never like cholla-do people.

[excitinghead]

If anyone's interested, I'm in the middle of typing up a paper for a Korea Studies conference on the exact same subject, and have already written most of what I'm going to say in these posts of mine on my blog:

http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/korean-women-part-3-final-a-caucasian-ideal/

http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/korean-women-part-2-exercise-and-cosmetics/

Sort-of in these posts too:

http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/womens-bodies-in-koreas-consumer-society-part-3-final-nation-family-self/

To give you an idea of how much especially Korean women avoid the sun, one of the links I found showed that by the age of 55, they have the most serious vitamin D deficenices of any group of women in the world. I guess that's what 3 decades of not so much as being able to cross a sunny street without covering your face does to you.

A lot of commenters to those posts also argued that Koreans liked pale skin before meeting Westerners, like in many other countries associating it with the elite that didn't work on farms, but the consensus of the all the books and journals I researched was that all the evidence suggests that Korean women have definitely adopted a Caucasian (not merely "pale") ideal of beauty now.

[Mr. Pink]

You could also add, why when it is sunny as hell outside why Koreans do not wear sunglasses, and when you as a foreigner are wearing them, people think you are trying to be "cool". The concept of protecting your eyes from the sun doesn't really ring a bell with most Koreans.

I think the fact that when a yellow Korean gets sunburned and goes brown they resemble people from India, the Middle East or Africa. Since Koreans are the most racist again people with that type of skin color, is it any surprise why people don't want to get sun burned to get that dark?

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

[browneyedgirl]

[crazy_arcade]

From a health perspective--walking around with a sun umbrella or visor is beneficial.
I go out in the sun with bucketloads of sunblock, a hat, and sunglasses on. Otherwise, I'd be right fuked. Sun visors and sun umbrellas are no different other than the fact that we don't think it's "cool."

A lot of young Koreans enjoy tanning and such--my girlfriend loves tanning.
However, among the older people there is a different in culture.
If you were tanned then it meant you did labouring work outside and if you had light skin it meant that you were rich enough to not have to do work outside.

In the West it's the opposite. People have a tan to show their affluence--they can afford to go somewhere and lie in the sun all day instead of working.

[crusher_of_heads]

In movies and TV, vampires look sexy.


Korean vampire hags are less than desirable.