Talk:Cosmetic surgery in South Korea

Aquino and Steinkamp

It does not say anywhere here that a high bridged nose is the ideal in Korea and it also makes clear that there are two camps in the scholarship on Korean cosmetic surgery: one that suggests a Western origin of ideals and one that rejects this hypothesis.

"In surgical alteration of ethnic features, the debate looks at whether such procedures result in clients aligning their appearance to the western ideal, or whether these proce- dures are to be considered a means of improving the self within the culture of origin.

Studies have shown significant differences in the facial characteristics of Caucasian with Asian populations (Biller and Kim 2009). The eyes and nose are two of the more common ethnic facial features in Asians that have been subject to modification in cosmetic surgery (see Fig. 3 for a stylised photographic comparison of Asian and Caucasian female face). Asian eyes are distinct due to the absence of or simplified palpebral crease and thicker fat pad on the upper lid (Bernardino and Rubin 2003; Wong 2009), among other key variations. Creating an upper lid crease to create a double eyelid is one of the main features of “Asian blepharoplasty” (Bernardino and Rubin 2003). The Asian nose has been described as having a wide, low bridge and less prominent nasal tip projection, making it appear flatter than a Caucasian nose (Choi et al. 2013; Wong 2009). Therefore, augmentation rhinoplasty may involve enhancing the tip and/or alteration of the nose bridge using implants (Wong 2009).

Authors who defend the notion of westernisation discuss how medicalisation of ethnic features has resulted in Asian women internalising a Western standard of beauty. This standard may have been based on the so-called golden proportion used in cosmetic surgery based on the Greco- Roman ideals (Jayaratne et al. 2012). With the use of Western-oriented golden proportion, surgeries of Asian features are interpreted as “corrective” and that the features are to be qualified as “abnormal” (Bernardino and Rubin 2003), to use a medically unforgiving yet highly evaluative term. According to Kaw (1993), such corrective surgeries promote beauty standards that influence people to “muti- late” their bodies, just to conform to mainstream appearance in Western communities. Ja (2004) argues that the corrective surgeries have branded the Asian body as inferior and flawed. Even in their countries of origin, the author argues that Asians have similarly adopted the infe- rior branding and have internalised the Western ideal (Bissell and Chung 2009; Johnson et al. 2014). Arguments against the westernisation hypothesis, which has been considered to be (too) reductive (Davies and Han 2011), can be understood firstly from the perspective of cosmetic surgeons and the cosmetic industry. Cosmetic industry in Korea tends to market the golden proportion as being removed of ethnic significance, and therefore uni- versally applicable. Davies and Han add that universal features are advertised as “consumer” ideals of beauty and symbols of success more than an imposition of one eth- nicity to another. In respecting ethnicity, Lam (2002) posits that most plastic surgeons do not necessarily aim for westernisation as exemplified by the pioneering efforts of the Japanese surgeon Mikamo. Rather, the double eyelid surgery Mikamo developed in 1896 aimed to eliminate the look of a traditional Japanese woman, considered impas- sive and non-energetic, and to reflect the newly emancipated feminine beauty (Dobke et al. 2006). Ouel- lette (2009) and Wong (2009) argue that feminine beauty with large eyes and double eyelids does not automatically imply westernisation as 50 % of Asians are born with double eyelids. In fact, one study found that some Chinese hospitals present double eyelids as “Oriental beauty” that showcases the “delicate Oriental facial contour”, reflecting a resistance against the Western feminine look (Luo 2012). Arguments against the westernisation hypothesis can also be understood from the perspective of women as consumers. Based on in-depth interviews with Asian- Americans, Dobke et al. (2006) claim that Japanese women in the US try to avoid artificial alterations to the point of obvious noticeability. Obvious traces of alterations are often defined as “unnatural” western appearance and are also avoided by Koreans. This may be partly explained by their strong sense of nationalism (Holliday and Elfving- Hwang 2012). Instead of aiming for an unnatural western appearance, Luo (2013) contends that women in China aim for a harmonious integration of the so-called wai zai mei or external beauty and ne zai mei or internal beauty. The integration of internal and external beauty also explains how identity in Asian countries like Korea (Holliday and Elfving-Hwang 2012; Kim 2003) is neither rigid nor con- stant, with the self being considered as fluid, socially embedded and in a state of flux. In China, the fluid self also manifests in how a modern society changes and re-inter- prets traditional cultural identities and values through body modification (Lindridge and Wang 2008).

Hence, instead of copying Western appearance, cos- metic surgery in Asia may rather be interpreted as a means of self-improvement (Holliday and Elfving-Hwang 2012; Kim 2003; Lindridge and Wang 2008; Luo 2013). According to this interpretation, aesthetic enhancement of Asian features is believed to be feasible within Oriental standards of beauty. Consequently, this understanding considers identity as fluid. It depicts the body as an on- going project that can be modified for the purpose of construction of self rather than for the compensation of perceived cultural inferiority (Luo 2013)."

So it is unwarranted to use this source to suggest something it does not say (that a high bridged nose is the ideal in Korea). 2603:8080:2C00:1E00:39F0:88E7:2C8C:D77B (talk) 16:15, 6 March 2023 (UTC)