Over the past few weeks, I have been speaking with my students about plastic surgery and I have received mixed reactions in regards to whether or not it is acceptable and at what age it is acceptable for someone to undergo the procedure. The general consensus among my 13 and 14 year old students is that by age 20, it is alright for a women to get plastic surgery. Although they realize the dangers and some even refer to it as ‘scary’, ‘dangerous’, and ‘expensive’, their thoughts mainly focus on the end result: a more beautiful person.
In the discussion about plastic surgery, I showed my students a short video about a young girl who is exposed to images about dieting, beauty, and plastic surgery at a young age. I connected the video to modern day Korea where images of beautiful women and advertisements for plastic surgery can be found everywhere. My students admitted that they see advertisements for plastic surgery in their daily lives through the television, internet, and signs around Korea.
I then proceeded to show my students another video about different American celebrities that have had plastic surgery. Some of the celebrities, my students said, looked much better after plastic surgery, while others’ appearances were completely ruined.
I thought the conversation was very interesting so I brought questions about beauty and physical appearance to my local English club, which is comprised of a group of Koreans in their mid- to late-twenties. We discussed what their idea of beauty was (for most it was light skin) and if they had considered getting plastic surgery (all of them had).
When we discussed plastic surgery, I wanted to know what kind of changes they wanted to make to their physical appearance. Some said they wanted a bridge in their nose to make it appear more elongated, some said they wanted to have a ‘v-line’ (cutting you chin to make it more v-shaped), and some said they wanted double eyelid surgery (to give them eyelids). All of the group members said they had friends who had gotten plastic surgery and they felt pressured to have plastic surgery themselves. One member even referenced his friend, who he said had between 5 to 6 different procedures to improve his appearance. He said his friend changed from being completely ugly to being very handsome.
Plastic surgery is a very big industry and common procedure in Korea. Recently, CNN did a story (below) about the commonality of plastic surgery in Korea and highlighting a 12-year old girl who is undergoing plastic surgery to obtain larger, more westernized eyes. The reporting on plastic surgery holds true to what I myself have witnessed during my time in Korea.
I’m glad you have the freedom and tact to get your students to think critically about cosmetic surgery. Any time I walk thru Apgujeong I wonder what it must be like to be a Korean woman. So much pressure. This video is crazy too.
Thanks for bringing it up with your students. It’s a touchy topic and I’m sure it means a lot to them to get a foreign take on the situation.
It’s deeply troubling. Women shouldn’t have to go through these physical life changes to suit societal standards of beauty–sadly, it’s been going on for years and in every country.