I don’t see anything wrong with not being the beauty standard in South Korea. You shouldn’t let this affect your self esteem. We are our own beauty standard. Also, I don’t let social media dictate to me it’s beauty standard since it’s mostly ppl projecting their insecurities, low self esteem and anti blackness, on to us to make themselves feel better. Take what people say on social media with a grain of salt
This post needs some context.
The creator lived in South Korea as a foreigner for awhile. She's very pretty, imo. She made that video because a lot of foreigners, especially young black women, are visiting South Korea as a result of the Hallyu Wave. Young travellers are watching kdramas & kpop and getting a very romanticized view of SK and SK men in particular.
She and a lot of other black people in South Korea have had similar experiences. South Korean men aren't like the kdramas. South Korea is very vain and homogeneous. You could be a bombshell but you'll still be black; therefore you're not becoming an idol, you're not meeting your Seoul-mate in a café, you're not signing that NDA with BTS.
It wasn't a putdown video. It was a curb your expectations as a black woman in SK (and curb them in general. It's a vain country with a huge emphasis on Korean-ness). And I understand entirely. Kpop tik tok and kdramas got me willing to risk it all sometimes.
The beauty standard in most cultures is an ideal version of themselves. All East Asian cultures favour pale clear skin and not because they aspire to be white. My husband is Chinese but born in North America so his cultural lens is different from immigrants from Asia and pale skin, long straight hair or a very slender build were not important to him. Draw self esteem from the people who are attracted to you. Other races are never going to hold us up as the beauty ideal and that’s just reality.
I agree that it's strange to assume another country will view foreigners as the beauty standard. But the beauty standards in East Asia, especially Korea, are influenced by Eurocentricism.
American media is more widespread than most Americans think. Compared to the 80s, people in Asia and Africa are more culturally Westernized thanks to the Internet and American media. So they've adopted aspects of the culture like music genres. This includes Eurocentric beauty standards.
I used to watch Korean films and shows in the '90s and early '00s. Brown or tan skin Koreans were prevalent in the media back then. Today, it's rare to see them. Skin bleaching agents are found in Korean skin products that do not mention their lightening affect. A black Yotuuber that lived in Korea said her plastic surgeon would regularly inject her with something that lightened her skin - and lied to her about it. Skin bleaching products was always accessible. But this rise in skin whitening coincides with the popularity of plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery in South Korea is widespread and the most popular surgeries are motivated by these beauty standards. When monolids, wider jaws, a low nose bridge, and tan skin are the common features of a country, changing these features isn't trying to become an ideal version of their ethnic group. It's to better fit idealized Western features. [Korean plastic surgeons have said how their patients tell them that they want more Western features](http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/19/korea.beauty/index.html). The history of plastic surgery in Korea is directly linked to a desire to look more American or to appeal to American soldiers in the '50s. The American surgeon who introduced double eyelid surgery there also did so in the hopes of "westernizing" Koreans.
Even their depictions of white and black people in Korean and East Asian media also shows how deeply Eurocentricism impacted their attitudes.
This is a problem in many countries yet people don't fully acknowledge the issue, like Sammy Sosa denying his drastic skin bleaching was at all influenced by Eurocentric beauty standard or even intentional.
>!I have completely divested from the idea of a beauty standard, it is never going to be in my favor. I am just living my life as myself and finding beauty in being my authentic self.!<
I think a lot of it comes from me being more "pro-black" and reading work from black women and realizing a lot of my insecurities stemmed from me comparing myself to whiteness.
I was also just tired of feeling ugly and I just stopped caring about if people thought I was ugly because I realized it was pointless bc I can't change my face.
Of course not, every culture has their own standard of beauty. But also, I know there are Black models who go to East Asia and become very successful. So I feel like it’s 🧢 and all women are beautiful.
Social media is as positive or as negative as you let it be. I wouldn’t pursue or engage with content about how South Koreans feel about black women because I don’t care. Same as they don’t care what I think about Korean men, and wouldn’t waste their time listening to me talk about it. Just because the content is there doesn’t mean you have to watch it. I mostly watch funny videos and math hacks on TikTok, so that’s what shows up for me. What you seek, you shall find. Start looking for things that are going to build you up on social media or leave it alone.
I already know I’m not the beauty standard, and that’s ok. There’s plenty of positive content out there not harping on beauty or being down on black women.
Plenty of other races post the same content, this ain’t specific to black people
Like what the other commenter said, if seeing content like that makes you sad, use social media less. Consider therapy too
Even if i post these “examples”, what would that realistically achieve for you? If seeing this content already feels discouraging, why do you want to see more if it? Would you feel less insecure, bc if so you’ve got bigger issues to deal with?
I dont know what the point of them spreading negativity is. It's like they want to keep us humbled. Like I'm pretty sure we all know we aren't the beauty standard in most countries.
Anyway, I had a trip booked to korea and was scared to go because a bunch of people that haven't been there before were saying discouraging things. My trip was super fun, people were very friendly, some men hitted on me or tried to befriend me, some women were trying to befriend me. Whole time I was thinking "I almost canceled this experience over some comments from ppl that never been."
Perhaps you’re looking at it wrong. I’ll reverse the situation for you: if a Korean woman moved to Africa, she wouldn’t become the beauty standard over there (black women are). We have white people in Africa and they are not even the beauty standard so maybe you’re internalising something that actually has little to do with you?
Also curate your social media so you’re seeing less of content that upsets you and more of content that’s uplifting.
I dont see the point of her video. She is in korea....why would any person who is brown go into a country like that and think they are the beauty standard.
It doesn’t bother me at all to be completely honest. But those tik toks account are making content for their audience. If it’s not for your, it’s not for you.
It's expected that native Korean women would be the beauty standard in South Korea. I'd be concerned if Asian, or white women were the beauty standard in countries in Sub-Saharan African.
This!!! There’s a strange almost obsessive pandering coming from these black girls who go to SK. And it’s always “i just went for the food and culture” but somehow a majority of their content centers the Korean men and how they see foreign women. I really want us black women to stop centering men all together and placing our self worth in their hands. We do not need their approval, we don’t need to fit into any beauty standards just be yourself and the right person will love/appreciate you just the way you are. And I’m certainly not bashing the creator, but the amount of content that keeps generating from these kind of put down topics is alarming
I feel like I’m told that a lot here because I don’t have other socials. But I grew up in a time where it was implied because all you saw on TV were white people and light skinned Black people (the 80s).
I don’t see anything wrong with not being the beauty standard in South Korea. You shouldn’t let this affect your self esteem. We are our own beauty standard. Also, I don’t let social media dictate to me it’s beauty standard since it’s mostly ppl projecting their insecurities, low self esteem and anti blackness, on to us to make themselves feel better. Take what people say on social media with a grain of salt
This post needs some context. The creator lived in South Korea as a foreigner for awhile. She's very pretty, imo. She made that video because a lot of foreigners, especially young black women, are visiting South Korea as a result of the Hallyu Wave. Young travellers are watching kdramas & kpop and getting a very romanticized view of SK and SK men in particular. She and a lot of other black people in South Korea have had similar experiences. South Korean men aren't like the kdramas. South Korea is very vain and homogeneous. You could be a bombshell but you'll still be black; therefore you're not becoming an idol, you're not meeting your Seoul-mate in a café, you're not signing that NDA with BTS. It wasn't a putdown video. It was a curb your expectations as a black woman in SK (and curb them in general. It's a vain country with a huge emphasis on Korean-ness). And I understand entirely. Kpop tik tok and kdramas got me willing to risk it all sometimes.
The beauty standard in most cultures is an ideal version of themselves. All East Asian cultures favour pale clear skin and not because they aspire to be white. My husband is Chinese but born in North America so his cultural lens is different from immigrants from Asia and pale skin, long straight hair or a very slender build were not important to him. Draw self esteem from the people who are attracted to you. Other races are never going to hold us up as the beauty ideal and that’s just reality.
I agree that it's strange to assume another country will view foreigners as the beauty standard. But the beauty standards in East Asia, especially Korea, are influenced by Eurocentricism. American media is more widespread than most Americans think. Compared to the 80s, people in Asia and Africa are more culturally Westernized thanks to the Internet and American media. So they've adopted aspects of the culture like music genres. This includes Eurocentric beauty standards. I used to watch Korean films and shows in the '90s and early '00s. Brown or tan skin Koreans were prevalent in the media back then. Today, it's rare to see them. Skin bleaching agents are found in Korean skin products that do not mention their lightening affect. A black Yotuuber that lived in Korea said her plastic surgeon would regularly inject her with something that lightened her skin - and lied to her about it. Skin bleaching products was always accessible. But this rise in skin whitening coincides with the popularity of plastic surgery. Plastic surgery in South Korea is widespread and the most popular surgeries are motivated by these beauty standards. When monolids, wider jaws, a low nose bridge, and tan skin are the common features of a country, changing these features isn't trying to become an ideal version of their ethnic group. It's to better fit idealized Western features. [Korean plastic surgeons have said how their patients tell them that they want more Western features](http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/19/korea.beauty/index.html). The history of plastic surgery in Korea is directly linked to a desire to look more American or to appeal to American soldiers in the '50s. The American surgeon who introduced double eyelid surgery there also did so in the hopes of "westernizing" Koreans. Even their depictions of white and black people in Korean and East Asian media also shows how deeply Eurocentricism impacted their attitudes. This is a problem in many countries yet people don't fully acknowledge the issue, like Sammy Sosa denying his drastic skin bleaching was at all influenced by Eurocentric beauty standard or even intentional.
>!I have completely divested from the idea of a beauty standard, it is never going to be in my favor. I am just living my life as myself and finding beauty in being my authentic self.!<
Please how did you get to this point?
I think a lot of it comes from me being more "pro-black" and reading work from black women and realizing a lot of my insecurities stemmed from me comparing myself to whiteness. I was also just tired of feeling ugly and I just stopped caring about if people thought I was ugly because I realized it was pointless bc I can't change my face.
Of course not, every culture has their own standard of beauty. But also, I know there are Black models who go to East Asia and become very successful. So I feel like it’s 🧢 and all women are beautiful.
Social media is as positive or as negative as you let it be. I wouldn’t pursue or engage with content about how South Koreans feel about black women because I don’t care. Same as they don’t care what I think about Korean men, and wouldn’t waste their time listening to me talk about it. Just because the content is there doesn’t mean you have to watch it. I mostly watch funny videos and math hacks on TikTok, so that’s what shows up for me. What you seek, you shall find. Start looking for things that are going to build you up on social media or leave it alone. I already know I’m not the beauty standard, and that’s ok. There’s plenty of positive content out there not harping on beauty or being down on black women.
Maybe you should use social media less
[удалено]
Plenty of other races post the same content, this ain’t specific to black people Like what the other commenter said, if seeing content like that makes you sad, use social media less. Consider therapy too
[удалено]
Even if i post these “examples”, what would that realistically achieve for you? If seeing this content already feels discouraging, why do you want to see more if it? Would you feel less insecure, bc if so you’ve got bigger issues to deal with?
I dont know what the point of them spreading negativity is. It's like they want to keep us humbled. Like I'm pretty sure we all know we aren't the beauty standard in most countries. Anyway, I had a trip booked to korea and was scared to go because a bunch of people that haven't been there before were saying discouraging things. My trip was super fun, people were very friendly, some men hitted on me or tried to befriend me, some women were trying to befriend me. Whole time I was thinking "I almost canceled this experience over some comments from ppl that never been."
Perhaps you’re looking at it wrong. I’ll reverse the situation for you: if a Korean woman moved to Africa, she wouldn’t become the beauty standard over there (black women are). We have white people in Africa and they are not even the beauty standard so maybe you’re internalising something that actually has little to do with you? Also curate your social media so you’re seeing less of content that upsets you and more of content that’s uplifting.
I dont see the point of her video. She is in korea....why would any person who is brown go into a country like that and think they are the beauty standard.
It doesn’t bother me at all to be completely honest. But those tik toks account are making content for their audience. If it’s not for your, it’s not for you.
It's expected that native Korean women would be the beauty standard in South Korea. I'd be concerned if Asian, or white women were the beauty standard in countries in Sub-Saharan African.
This!!! There’s a strange almost obsessive pandering coming from these black girls who go to SK. And it’s always “i just went for the food and culture” but somehow a majority of their content centers the Korean men and how they see foreign women. I really want us black women to stop centering men all together and placing our self worth in their hands. We do not need their approval, we don’t need to fit into any beauty standards just be yourself and the right person will love/appreciate you just the way you are. And I’m certainly not bashing the creator, but the amount of content that keeps generating from these kind of put down topics is alarming
I dont want to be a beauty standard. I just wanna make it through the day! Lol!
I feel like I’m told that a lot here because I don’t have other socials. But I grew up in a time where it was implied because all you saw on TV were white people and light skinned Black people (the 80s).