South Korean girls' obsession with double eyelid surgery
outh Korean girls' obsession with double eyelid surgery as they strive to look
like 'pretty western celebrities'
South Korea now has the highest number of surgeries
performed per capita, overtaking Brazil as the plastic surgery capital of the
world
South Korean women have become so immersed in western
celebrity culture that double eyelid surgery, which creates the Caucasian crease
many Asian women don't naturally have, has become as common as going to the
dentist.
Overtaking Brazil as the plastic surgery capital of the
world, South Korea now has the highest number of surgeries performed per
capita.
Going behind the scenes of Seoul Fashion Week for Vice
magazine's online series Fashion Week Internationale, host Charlet Duboc
uncovers their quest for a stereotypical vision of a western
face.
Miss Duboc asks a young K-pop singer from the band D-Unit
why one in five women have undergone some sort of cosmetic procedure in South
Korea, which have become popular graduation gifts from students' parents.
'Because of their distinctive looks, our ideal appearance
would be that of westerners,' the singer said. 'Big round eyes, straight nose,
round face.'
Eyelid surgery involves cutting the outer end of the eyes
to make them wider and rounder, something plastic surgeons say boosts
confidence.
Dr Seo, a surgeon from Seo Jae Don Plastic Clinic,
described one of his patients that day, who had flown from Japan to have facial
surgery, has small eyes.
He explained: 'We will do eyelid surgery, as well as give
her a higher nose. She also has a flat forheard so we'll extract some fat and
inject it into her forehead and chin. By doing so her overall profile will look
much more appealing.'
Talking Miss Duboc, a British-born, one-time model, he
added: 'Most of our customers are eager to have facial features like
yours.
'A face with more volume is considered to be more popular
these days, having an apple shape face means there's more chance to change a
person's destiny, they think their fortune will change for the
better.
'There are lots of girls who come in after breaking up
with their boyfriends...there are doctors who cure the illnesses that we can
see; we cure the heartbroken people. There is no need to live with a sense of
discontent because of their appearance,' he said.
However it seems that Seoul Fashion Week is actually
trying to distance itself from this K-pop plastic surgery
culture.
Miss Duboc explained that backstage, there were many
people who wanted to reverse the trend, favouring a more natural
look.
A fashion student born in North Korea and smuggled into
the south as a child, who sat next to Miss Duboc at one of the shows, said 'if a
person is doing it to boost their confidence by covering up their handicaps I
think its fine, but to completely change the way one naturally looks is totally
wrong.'
She added: 'I see many of my friends getting it done. I
think our desire to look as pretty as celebrities is far greater than in any
other country.'
A make-up artist agreed, commenting: 'I hate people
getting double eyelid surgery, personally I like the natural
look.'
And a model who had just walked int eh show said: 'I
think Korean beauty is a look with natural
eyelids.'
One patient outside of Fashion Week's culture, who
recently had the surgery and was disappointed when Miss Duboc admired her
'natural and unique' look, explaining that her different features, from that of
westerners, is what makes her beautiful, said: 'My mother would always support
me in my quest to look better, my father would be a bit more worried.
'The older generation... think natural is beautiful,
being original is better. The importance of beauty is different to each
individual.'
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