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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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 Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:30 pm Post subject: I Wasn’t Beautiful Enough To Live In South Korea |
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Interesting article I found on BuzzFeed. Did not see it here so I thought I would post it. A great look at some of the struggles that women here have to go through.
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Coming to Korea as a Cuban/Filipino/Korean-American, I was excited at the idea of finally being amongst the majority, at least in terms of my looks. Though I don’t consider myself ugly, I can’t pretend it was always easy to grow up as the only Asian in a sea of white friends. However, I quickly learned that despite sharing the genetic traits of many Koreans (round face, high cheekbones), I would not be accepted as a true fellow Korean. In a culture where so many people strive to look the same way, any slight difference in appearance rapidly singles you out. In my case, I was too tall, too fat, and too dark — traits that are not typically considered beautiful by Korean standards. In many ways, being partially Korean actually made my experience more difficult than that of my foreign white friends. Whereas Koreans admired their white skin, small faces, and upturned noses, I remained a vaguely Korean-looking girl who didn’t quite stack up.
At first, I pushed back. I tried to fit in. I made multiple trips to Korea’s seemingly endless makeup stores, only to find there was no makeup for me: My skin was too dark. “No, no — very, very dark,” the saleswomen would say, fervently nodding their heads as they escorted me toward the face washes or nail polishes that I could actually use. And as for buying clothing, I’m sorry to say the experience was not much better. Every major subway station in Korea feels like a giant Forever 21, each stall packed full of the latest trends, most of them for under 10,000 Korean won (about $10). Everyone buys the exact same clothes, no matter what stall you stop at. Wearing the same exact things, armies of young Korean teens and twentysomethings end up looking like clones. (Stores sell only a limited variety of things; my friends and I would routinely end up buying the same shirt on accident.)
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Actually, I think this topic has been covered. |
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Threequalseven
Joined: 08 May 2012
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| Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, it was. The general consensus on here was that the girl deserved it because she's plain-faced and a bit overweight. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Threequalseven wrote: |
| Yes, it was. The general consensus on here was that the girl deserved it because she's plain-faced and a bit overweight. |
Yeah you go EPIK, GEPIK! They manage to get the cream on the top. |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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inner beauty... lol. i guess she doesn't realize that people have eyes.
and when people spew the statistic about plastic surgery in korea they never seem to realize what the hell they are talking about. sure 1 in 5 might have gotten surgery but many of those are double eyelids which are hardly world changing. it's not like all these women are getting facial reconstruction, boob jobs, etc. the people who try to use this stat tend to be the defensive girls like the author or the guys who can't get a pretty girl here so they get up in arms about it. people get plastic surgery. it's their business and tossing out a silly stat only makes you look childish and petty.
this article makes me happy she decided to leave. if you can't better yourself in whatever situation you are in or are too self deprecating to hack it somewhere i say good riddance. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
inner beauty... lol. i guess she doesn't realize that people have eyes.
and when people spew the statistic about plastic surgery in korea they never seem to realize what the hell they are talking about. sure 1 in 5 might have gotten surgery but many of those are double eyelids which are hardly world changing. it's not like all these women are getting facial reconstruction, boob jobs, etc. the people who try to use this stat tend to be the defensive girls like the author or the guys who can't get a pretty girl here so they get up in arms about it. people get plastic surgery. it's their business and tossing out a silly stat only makes you look childish and petty.
this article makes me happy she decided to leave. if you can't better yourself in whatever situation you are in or are too self deprecating to hack it somewhere i say good riddance. |
I'd say your post fits the description of "childish and petty."
One in five is one in five; your defensiveness about it isn't going to change the facts. |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
inner beauty... lol. i guess she doesn't realize that people have eyes.
and when people spew the statistic about plastic surgery in korea they never seem to realize what the hell they are talking about. sure 1 in 5 might have gotten surgery but many of those are double eyelids which are hardly world changing. it's not like all these women are getting facial reconstruction, boob jobs, etc. the people who try to use this stat tend to be the defensive girls like the author or the guys who can't get a pretty girl here so they get up in arms about it. people get plastic surgery. it's their business and tossing out a silly stat only makes you look childish and petty.
this article makes me happy she decided to leave. if you can't better yourself in whatever situation you are in or are too self deprecating to hack it somewhere i say good riddance. |
I'd say your post fits the description of "childish and petty."
One in five is one in five; your defensiveness about it isn't going to change the facts. |
i'm sorry, but if you're too dense to understand context means everything then you probably shouldn't be posting.
if i offer you a choice between five different foods it'd be prudent to know what the five foods were don't you think?
what makes you so butthurt about my post? are you also a defensive girl like the author or a neckbeard who can't get the pretty girls? |
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nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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| She complains that so many people in Korea get plastic surgery,but the last time I looked the number one high school graduation present in the States was a boob job. |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Try being too sexy to live in Korea. That's a real challenge. I'm thinking of getting plastic surgery just to make my nose smaller. |
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randall020105
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Location: the land of morning confusion...
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:32 pm Post subject: Aaah!! |
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Aaaah!!! Thanks to my superior genes, I fit right in the middle!
I'm not tooo handsome and I'm also not ugly...
So - I get mixed responses when people meet me...
"are you caucasian?" "are you African american?"
NOOOOO!!!!! No to all the above..!! |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
inner beauty... lol. i guess she doesn't realize that people have eyes.
and when people spew the statistic about plastic surgery in korea they never seem to realize what the hell they are talking about. sure 1 in 5 might have gotten surgery but many of those are double eyelids which are hardly world changing. it's not like all these women are getting facial reconstruction, boob jobs, etc. the people who try to use this stat tend to be the defensive girls like the author or the guys who can't get a pretty girl here so they get up in arms about it. people get plastic surgery. it's their business and tossing out a silly stat only makes you look childish and petty.
this article makes me happy she decided to leave. if you can't better yourself in whatever situation you are in or are too self deprecating to hack it somewhere i say good riddance. |
I'd say your post fits the description of "childish and petty."
One in five is one in five; your defensiveness about it isn't going to change the facts. |
i'm sorry, but if you're too dense to understand context means everything then you probably shouldn't be posting.
if i offer you a choice between five different foods it'd be prudent to know what the five foods were don't you think?
what makes you so butthurt about my post? are you also a defensive girl like the author or a neckbeard who can't get the pretty girls? |
Good job on furthering your childish and petty meme. Your temper tantrum is in perfect context. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| nicwr2002 wrote: |
| She complains that so many people in Korea get plastic surgery,but the last time I looked the number one high school graduation present in the States was a boob job. |
You misunderstood. They were saying you were a boob, not that you needed a boob job. |
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Times30
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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While I can definitely relate and almost feel pangs of pity for the girl, her expectations were very unrealistic and an incorrect assumption the culture.
We've all made this mistake coming to Korea, in different ways. Personally, I assumed an Eastern Confucius etiquette standard of student/teacher relationships. The cliché of a children bowing and giving you apples on your desk. In fact, I believe that was written on some pamphlets of EPIK. Being in the classroom was a whole other story.
Back to the matter at hand, this poor girl had very unrealistic expectations. She expected to go to Korea, have the Korean people open their arms and welcome her in. You rarely even expect such treatment in the west. Fact is, clubs are exclusive, high school was like this, and jobs are like this too. To a much lesser degree albeit, but it seems like she expected 180 reversal here in Korea.
However, her article does bring to light an important issue, and I think she definitely contributes a lot in the discussion of the value of appearance. I think most of us agree though... You cannot judge a book by it's cover... etc etc... |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:04 am Post subject: |
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| nicwr2002 wrote: |
| She complains that so many people in Korea get plastic surgery,but the last time I looked the number one high school graduation present in the States was a boob job. |
That is not remotely believable. Do you know how many boob jobs that would be every year to be the #1 present? I can only imagine it's money. |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:18 am Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
inner beauty... lol. i guess she doesn't realize that people have eyes.
and when people spew the statistic about plastic surgery in korea they never seem to realize what the hell they are talking about. sure 1 in 5 might have gotten surgery but many of those are double eyelids which are hardly world changing. it's not like all these women are getting facial reconstruction, boob jobs, etc. the people who try to use this stat tend to be the defensive girls like the author or the guys who can't get a pretty girl here so they get up in arms about it. people get plastic surgery. it's their business and tossing out a silly stat only makes you look childish and petty.
this article makes me happy she decided to leave. if you can't better yourself in whatever situation you are in or are too self deprecating to hack it somewhere i say good riddance. |
I'd say your post fits the description of "childish and petty."
One in five is one in five; your defensiveness about it isn't going to change the facts. |
i'm sorry, but if you're too dense to understand context means everything then you probably shouldn't be posting.
if i offer you a choice between five different foods it'd be prudent to know what the five foods were don't you think?
what makes you so butthurt about my post? are you also a defensive girl like the author or a neckbeard who can't get the pretty girls? |
Good job on furthering your childish and petty meme. Your temper tantrum is in perfect context. |
lol temper tantrum? i'm getting nothing but pleasure watching you struggle.  |
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