@JudicatorHammabi You have to give respect that almost all (if not all) Asian countries have been 'invaded' by other countries and Western Civilization at some point in their history. Our ancestors lived through their days in constant 'fear' of getting harassed/enslaved/raped.
Yes you should be glad you're American. You were the first superpower, and no one ever dared mess with your country until recently with Bin Laden. I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't call other cultures shitty. There's a reason for all the racism, anti-American remarks, etc.
It's part of the East Asian culture that you have to really take care of your outer appearance and blend in with society. If you look way different, then people would look at you differently (in negative way). That's just how the culture is. Just take the information about other cultures and go. No need to say things like: insane, shitty, etc. Okay you think that Korean culture is shitty and everything - keep it to yourself, cuz you're only gonna hurt other people by telling the world about it. If you don't believe me, take the UCLA girl incident (pretty sure you knew about this).
Just respect other cultures man. I might be Indonesian, but I rejoice living here in USA. People are very open and friendly to each other, and very seldom do they judge other people by their looks. I know this won't be possible in my home country, so I'll just adjust myself back to fit in my home culture again. My relative lives in Japan, so I've been to East Asia lots of times and yeah, it's different there, so adjust accordingly.
On March 20 2012 00:17 Verrano wrote: I'm a Korean adoptee living in Norway. I'm 1.80m, skinny, broad shoulders, natural double eyelids, V-shaped face and HEAD TO HEGHT RATIO OF 7.9 - Does this mean I would be the shit in SK? :D
you could have been part of the likes of 2PM
No, but seriously. Would I automatically be treated as "attractive" based on those features? (given that other features are normal-attractive and not incredibly ugly).
So what I got from this blog: Korea is a land of amazingly beautiful people who try really hard to be beautiful in order to create a country filled with beautiful people. What a kickass country to visit.
Question: Why don't Koreans go to equal length to take care of their teeth? Most Americans value perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth which seems in total contrast to Korea.
On March 20 2012 00:17 Verrano wrote: I'm a Korean adoptee living in Norway. I'm 1.80m, skinny, broad shoulders, natural double eyelids, V-shaped face and HEAD TO HEGHT RATIO OF 7.9 - Does this mean I would be the shit in SK? :D
you could have been part of the likes of 2PM
No, but seriously. Would I automatically be treated as "attractive" based on those features? (given that other features are normal-attractive and not incredibly ugly).
I think so. Also if u would care of ur face / clothes. As it was mentioned in the blog. ^^
On March 20 2012 00:49 setzer wrote: Question: Why don't Koreans go to equal length to take care of their teeth? Most Americans value perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth which seems in total contrast to Korea.
I think you're confusing korea and japan, bracers are pretty common in korea and straight, white teeth are valued
And also i would like to chip in few cents of my own knowledge. Like when there are auditions for singers, dancers, actors, models or what ever else you going for height / looks are the most important thing - almost the only important thing. They say that things like acting, singing, dancing and what not, all of that can be learned through being a trainee. But main characteristics of your body you CANT change. Like your height, or the body ratio as blog mentioned.
So even if you are great dancer/singer, if you are not tall or at least have the body ratio, there is no way that you will be signed. Also there is a very famous korean singer - Rain, that said " In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great but I did not make it because I did not have double eyelids.". Eventually, he was signed to JYP and was one of the biggest stars in Asia to this day.
So if a guy like that almost lost his way to be a singer purely because of not having double eyelids, they you can see how it is with korean industry.
On March 19 2012 06:23 Lexpar wrote: Pretty neat article. The minutia of other cultures is always so interesting to me. I knew that in SK was stuck in something that resembled western-90s pop culture, but had no idea what extent people my age were going through to look good there. Are all young Koreans really obsessed with looks? I know people here in Montreal who are fairly obsessed (artificial tanning, hair extensions, nose-jobs), but I think the vast majority of people I know don't really care (or at least the style is to look like you don't care).
Even very good looking girls (unless their look-obsessed) usually only have a few outfits they wear, and long messy hair has always been popular/sexy here.
Maybe it's the french aspect- but wearing jeans and a wool/leather jacket, unkempt hair, and stubble has always been the height of male sexiness here.
o.0, i must be hot shit in Canda^^ no but seriously, it sounds awesome in Canada I want to go there :=)
I would be the bomb in Korea by the standards set out, except my eyes being the wrong shape. I actually think the no double eyelids on korean guys looks really cool. I get complimented on my eyes all the time, but I can see why Pangirls swoon so hard over it.
I don't have any problem with people looking after their appearance, I go to the gym for strength training purposes and that has afforded me a great body, but I could never personally have any sort of cosmetic surgery or wear makeup of any type. I feel kinda ridiculous if I spend more than 10 seconds doing my hair.
We can't really judge SK by our own standards because it's much more conservative and homogenised than the melting pot of western culture. I definitely plan to have a SK holiday sometime soon, if only to gorge myself on food and watch some starcraft.
edit: 1:8.3 ratio, which according to wikipedia puts me somewhere between ideal and heroic. hawt.
On March 20 2012 00:58 mtn wrote: And also i would like to chip in few cents of my own knowledge. Like when there are auditions for singers, dancers, actors, models or what ever else you going for height / looks are the most important thing - almost the only important thing. They say that things like acting, singing, dancing and what not, all of that can be learned through being a trainee. But main characteristics of your body you CANT change. Like your height, or the body ratio as blog mentioned.
So even if you are great dancer/singer, if you are not tall or at least have the body ratio, there is no way that you will be signed. Also there is a very famous korean singer - Rain, that said " In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great but I did not make it because I did not have double eyelids.". Eventually, he was signed to JYP and was one of the biggest stars in Asia to this day.
So if a guy like that almost lost his way to be a singer purely because of not having double eyelids, they you can see how it is with korean industry.
It used to be that way, but agencies are slowly moving away from that trend by signing incredibly talented singers with less than stellar looks. The first group that comes to mind is YG, which signed Big Bang and 2NE1. The commonality between Big Bang and 2NE1 is that they have (had) 1 good looking person who would be the 'face' of the group, and the rest were talented, but not incredibly attractive, members. The 'face madam' of Big Bang was TOP, with a bombshell of a face and a stellar height (rumored to be around 5'11" although there are doubts - some say he is shorter), while the rest of the group is closer to the 5'7" mark, and while decent looking, none would be considered 'idols' purely from their looks. For 2NE1, it was Sandara Park, and the rest of the group was casted due to a specialty they had - Park Bom's voice, CL's rap/swagger and Minji's dance skills. Here is a no-makeup, pre-Parkbom surgery compilation of their faces that got leaked and caushed a huge uproar. + Show Spoiler +
However, as time went by, people started appreciating the talented members just as much as, if not more than, the face madams, and with recent additions of American Idol-esque talent shows like Kpop Star, the focus is shifting from looks to talent, at least in the music industry. Just go on youtube and search for 박지민 or 이하이 and you will see what I'm saying - incredibly young and talented, but not so good looking.
On March 20 2012 00:58 drbrown wrote: So basically the ideal for a man in south korea is to not be manly?
Here are some of the more popular male celebrities. I'm not saying they are all like this, but there is a decent amount of pressure from media for guys to bulk up and stay in shape. You be the judge.
would the ppl that know korea take at look at this video?
how much of it is true? tbh this kind of attitude is very bad for mental and emotional health -_-. how and why did korean culture develop in such a fashion?
On March 20 2012 00:49 setzer wrote: Question: Why don't Koreans go to equal length to take care of their teeth? Most Americans value perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth which seems in total contrast to Korea.
I think you're confusing korea and japan, bracers are pretty common in korea and straight, white teeth are valued
Maybe it's just my incredibly shallow look into Korean culture, but compared to the amount of work and care Koreans put into their face/hair I don't see it with their teeth. Plenty of progamers, I have noticed, have really crooked teeth and are past the ideal age to have braces. Hydra, for example, looks like a shark when he smiles.
how much of it is true? tbh this kind of attitude is very bad for mental and emotional health -_-. how and why did korean culture develop in such a fashion?
Yea, the white girl (Kelly?) is also pretty good at Korean, seems like she managed to capture a good bit of what goes on in school in Korea. I'm just gonna focus on the bit about academics. There are some pros along with the cons of such an intense academic setting: Korean students are incredibly disciplined and driven and generally carry a higher expectation in terms of achievement in life. The major con, however, is they almost always get burned out after entering college, and that's why you see everybody getting shitfaced 24/7 and getting academic suspensions left and right. When I came to America, the general lack of pressure and academic rigor shocked me: although it ensures kids don't get burned out from an early age, the base level of education for the majority of kids in the US lacks severely. For example, most Koreans who studied through high school have a comprehensive level of knowledge in a wide array of subjects, such as Korean and international history (to the level of being able to recite all the major newpaper headlines that were printed verbatim given any year in the last century), national and global geography (For example I remember having to memorize all the countries and capitals in Africa and reproduce them given a blank picture of the continent in 7th grade), English, another foreign language, ethics, math, all subjects of science, and even art/art history and music theory. The level of math high school students learn in America is elementary school level math for the smarter kids in Korea, so by "comprehensive level of knowledge" I mean enough to carry a full conversation in that subject for more than 5 minutes. They really don't mess around; studying in the US is child's play, and I mean that in the most non-disrespectful way possible.
EPT
Was really interesting.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/korea/2ne1.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/korea/guys.jpg)
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. No idea about the head:body ratio xD
