10 Responses for "Is This You?"

1. jazzler April 15th, 2008 at 11:40 am 1

   The first thing I noticed was the girl's bra was too small. (Note plz ladies that if your bras look like that on you, you are totes wearing the wrong size and you need to go get fitted. Good underwear is key.) And then after I had my bra moment, I was like uh is this girl supposed to be fat? Cos yeah, I don't understand why the fat girl is "fat". I wish my stomach were that flat. She just looks young and healthy to me.

   Though to be honest, I don't want to say skinny is ugly either cos there are plenty of people who are naturally skinny and can't help it. I think I'm more about accepting that people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and they're all beautiful.

   And ultimately, I do think a lot of girls have warped self body image, myself included, and I don't know if this is a phenomenon that is worse in Korea per se, I just think Koreans are more blatant about it? Not that I really have a purely American perspective on the issue but that's okay.

2. baohee April 15th, 2008 at 2:14 pm 2

   I think it's sad when girls view themselves like that. I know that every girl including me goes through the cycle but watching that video makes me sad. The girl in the mirror was perfectly healthy and yet she was seen as fat. This is why girls like her are all given the wrong ideas about what is healthy. We should be happy with what we have and not yearn for things that might kill us.

3. Mark April 15th, 2008 at 6:29 pm 3

   I've witnessed a lot of this disorder in Korea.

4. FMS April 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm 4

   Yeah, this problem is pretty apparent in Korea, since people are always talking about their weight, their appearance. Of course, though, it may be the more blatant concern about appearance, but I also think that people think about weight and appearance far more here.

   One difference here is that the difference between TV and reality doesn't seem to be so marked. People actually try to look like and wear clothes like the people on TV. Men say, "I want a girlfriend who looks like XYZ star." I know the fashion industry and television play a big role anywhere, but I don't get the sense back home that "I have to look JUST LIKE X" or men go, "My girlfriend had better look JUST LIKE Y." I think, though, now it's getting worse in America, since the fashion industry and looking fabulous has started taking over things, but I still think the majority of Americans see Hollywood as a distant fantasy, and the difference between the next "it" starlet and "me" is far greater than it is here.

   Just a thought.

5. jazzler April 16th, 2008 at 5:34 am 5

   You mentioned the lack of distance between TV and reality with Koreans and I thought you were right the first time you mentioned it XD I wonder though when Americans became so casual. I think Europeans tend to be dressier and Americans arguably got their cultural DNA from Europe. Hmm.

   Well, after having just come back from Korea, I can say with certainty that thinner does not translate into more attractive, (that's right Mom and Dad, you heard it here first~) tho the peeps of the motherland do have that 깔끔한의모 down in a way Americans do not. I admit to having some hate for the skinny girls, which is not fair to those naturally thin girls. Hate the game, not the playa, so to speak.

   Also, growing up in NYC, and nearby bouegy suburbs of, has given me sort of a skewed understanding of "American" notions of beauty and appearance. Many of the people I grew up with would disappear for months and return like 30-50 lbs lighter, clearly underweight. Discussions of missed periods, due to malnutrition caused by eating disorders, was pretty common. Boob jobs, nose jobs,–such things were not uncommon graduation presents. 쌍꺼풀수술 was pretty common amongst Korean acquaintances and relatives but not my town. My classmates wore $100 pairs of jeans when I was in junior high school, many many moons ago, long before $100 jeans were the norm (okay, the early 90s.) But yeah, I can never tell if I'm fucked up cos of my Korean-ness or cos of my NY 공주 background XDD~

   Seriously tho, I think the oppression of thinness has existed in the West and for quite some time, irrespective of the distance between TV and reality. I think it's more socially acceptable for Koreans to say 'I want to look like X' or 'I want my girlfriend to look like Y' out loud, but I think people in the US think those things too and don't say such things out loud because it's socially unacceptable, but there is still that same pressure to be thin and beautiful. Why else all these talk shows about how to lose weight? These ads for weight loss, drugs for weight loss, constant talk of the latest diet, best exercise regime.

6. FMS April 16th, 2008 at 6:05 am 6

   Yeah, it's hard to flesh out, and maybe pointless to try to show who's worse. I just think one difference is that since people are constantly reminding you, pointing out to you, telling you that you're "fat" here, in a way, it's easier to stick to one's extreme diets here, and totally change one's body shape.

   I have so many high school students who, upon graduating, get plastic surgery, lose 25 lbs, and keep the weight off, having become this new "agassi." In a way, I kind of thing that Americans not being so blunt about it allows more room for diets to "fail" and people not being backed into the corner of extreme dieting. What surprises me here in Korea is how, at certain times in life, people (esp. young girls) go from healthily built to rack thin by sheer matter of will, and then keep it off, using continuously unhealthy ways.

   What scares me is the kind of "triumph of the will" ways in which super dieting is achieved here. Because it seems to work…in a certain, scary way.

7. jazzler April 17th, 2008 at 2:16 am 7

   I know, potato/potahto. I think it's better described as different, not worse, when it comes to talking about women and body image in Korea vs. the US, say.

   Koreans are terribly single-minded about body image/appearance. I've seriously had conversations with my parents where they say that they think being anorexic for a few months isn't a bad thing if it means you are thinner as a result=Korean way of thinking. But honestly, as a woman with Korean parents, none of this way of thinking is new to me. I think I rejected fashion and girly things for a long time because of the Korean mandate. (I'm contrarian, what can I say? ^_~) Seriously, what is the point in going to grad school and being all edemecated if I have to go and get plastic surgery and be anorexic like all the other girls? I wasted a whole lot of time and money on pieces of paper when I could have just gone and been anorexic, hi?

   But I suppose that's what growing up is all about. Finding a way to be fashionable of your own volition <3~ Bless independence.

8. sungwon April 17th, 2008 at 10:03 am 8

   I agree with jazzler that indeed you can't say one body image culture is any healthier than any other. One thing the US does have that I haven't seen in Korea, though, is the counter-vibe of "big is beautiful" kind of love-aaaallll-of-me streak in American culture. Not sure if that's a good thing either, but it does offer an alternative.

   LOL at "Triumph of the will". If only that kind of effort were put into maintaining a healthy body, there'd be Amazonian goddesses roaming the streets, kickin' ass and takin' names.

   The "fat" girl in the video clip above is kinda hot, by the way. ^^

9. FMS April 18th, 2008 at 7:36 am 9

   I have to agree, Sungwon. I hate to totally miss the point of the video, but I'm glad you said it: the "fat" version of the girl in the mirror was totally hot. What was that all about? I guess they're in a dilemma: get an unattractive heavy girl and buy into the image of the "ugliness" the girl sees in the mirror (which would make more sense) and or have someone look more attractive to counter that image. So I wonder if they were meaning to say, "Hey, she's much bigger than her real body, but she is so beautiful" or…

   Ehhh, my head hurts. She's hot.

10. Aniitaz April 24th, 2008 at 2:32 am 10

    It's so sad that girls thought they look fat or whatever u_____u
    And …. also the tv had a lot of influence in teens **believe me n.n**
    The most of ma friends wanna look like ppl in tv …and i say: WHY????They r just ppl like us no?