In this current day, changing how you look is treated as natural as showering. Although plastic surgery is not as abundant as it is in South Korea, the United States is right behind them in the subject. For Americans, plastic surgery is a method to look better, to feel good about themselves, to please those around them, etc. For Koreans, it’s quite different. This article is not written to put South Korea in a bad position, but to bring awareness on what is happening. According to NBC News, South Korea has a ratio of 1 in 5 women receiving some sort of cosmetic surgery. The women who get procedures done, do it in order to satisfy the whole nation. The idea of changing a part of your face, is heavily embedded in the Korean culture. Plastic surgery is something that Koreans do to fit into society, and not because they want to. Girls and guys are highly encouraged by their culture to get something done to their faces. It’s sort of like a fashion trend that mostly everyone follows because it’s there. From a young age, children are shaped to think in the way the adults think. Children think that getting plastic surgery is a normal thing to do, it’s something that they must do to fit in society. To show how “normal” this type of event is in South Korea, parents usually give their child a graduation gift. That graduation gift just happens to be a large sum of money that will be used for their plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgery has become really common over the ages, yet people don’t admit to having it. Although plastic surgery is their culture, it is also considered a taboo. The whole idea of plastic surgery in Korea's culture is one that is brainwashing the people.
Plastic surgery is problematic when it doesn’t look right to the person. There is usually post-surgery depression in some people, where they can’t accept themselves after the changes. They start to wonder, “if this was really right” or “if they will look normal again”. Obsession also plays a part in the side effects of plastic surgery.
Looking at themselves,
they think there is room
for improvement, until
ultimately they look
like dolls.
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Won't You Be a Doll, and Do this for Me?
by Joseline Saucedo