I have lived in South Korea working as an ESL Instructor for three years (at the time of writing this). One of the benefits of living in another country long-term is that you get to experience things first hand, not just reading about them through media outlets.
I’ve had the chance to learn about many aspects of Korean culture since arriving; from martial arts, to cultural nuances and expectations, and pop culture fads. It’s the last of these that made vivid the whole phenomenon of plastic surgery in South Korea.
The more I interacted with students (particularly middle school girls), saw advertisements on the streets, watched Korean movies, and everything in between, I began to realize that plastic surgery is an integral part of Korean society.
Take for instance, eyelid surgery. Something I’ve commented on a few times through blog and vlog. That is a wholly unique part of Asian culture. At very young ages, many Korean girls are not only contemplating the procedures, but in many cases heading out to have it done. It’s not just Korea though, as you should know by now. Throughout East and even South East Asia, this is an extremely common procedure.
I’ve had many conversations with YouTube viewers, and though the reasons for the procedure can vary, the prominent driving force is for aesthetic purposes.
In South Korea, facial plastic surgery is a soaring industry with procedures being done to eyes, noses, and jawlines in countless numbers. Body modification is not so popular, but I believe this will soon change.
South Korea is not alone though. In fact, there are medical tours run frequently into South Korea for purposes of cosmetic enhancements. Medical tours are essentially organized trips excursions to bring in patients from other countries seeking high-quality results for reasonable prices.
In fact, the waves of patients from nearby countries has become so common that clinics are now beginning to issue “face certificates” to patients so they can pass though immigration when going home.
Being from America, the concept of plastic surgery is by no means a foreign concept. Moreso, my home is next to Boca Raton, Florida. This is arguably one of the top contenders by any standard for sheer volume of plastic surgery.
Even more-moreso, the area where my home is has the highest concentration of Brazilians in the United States. Brazil is also one of the top plastic surgery nations in the world. And I see it around my home as well.
For this reason, I wasn’t completely shocked to hear about the Brazilian guy who had plastic surgery to make him look more Asian. More specifically, Korean.
There are many points of view on the ‘whys’ and ‘why-nots’ of having plastic surgery done. It’s simply amazing how commonplace procedures have become these days. In cultures like America and South Korea, ones driven by Photshopped images and glitzy music videos, it becomes increasingly difficult for younger generations to escape the pressure of meeting the standard regardless of how altered or edited it may be.
Older generations too. Middle aged women and men alike are finding it hard not to go under the knife for their own reasons.
At this point, there’s really no ebb and flow of cosmetic surgery. Just ebb. It’s growing and being fueled. And growing and being fueled.
Has it become a new type of drug? Where one procedure begs the next. Is there a sweet spot where an individual is content with one or two procedures?
Here in South Korea, in other nearby countries, and countries in the West, South, and North…all signs are leading to the fact that it’s quite possibly becoming an insatiable desire.
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