I posted sth about a dream where the world won’t place emphasis on physical beauty…so @oldawyer replied which I want to share with all beanies as I enjoyed it. Here goes the reply..
Yes it very much is a dream that cannot become true- at least to some extent. At least some of our attraction to beauty is hardwired into us, according to many scientific studies. Which is why the actress in this interview is right is saying that we should honor the choice that some people make to undergo plastic surgery- at least in reasonable amounts- if they want to.
But I would also like to point something else out- physical beauty is not all important- and not the only way to be attractive. And there are many examples of this, but I am going to limit myself to just one: Cleopatra.
From the movies you have been lead to believe that Cleopatra was a gorgeous beauty (like Elizabeth Taylor). She was not. We actually have a good idea of what she looked like from the many coins from her time- and she was really fairly ordinary looking- not totally plain but no looker either. Yet she is famous for a being an amazingly seductive and alluring woman. That did not come from her physical appearance but from her high intelligence and her personality. It was not her looks that made her so attractive- it was everything else.
Our problem- here and in Korea- and elsewhere- is that we teach young girls that physical beauty trumps everything else- when in fact it never really has. It certainly counts for something and always will- but it will never be everything nor more than just one factor among several.
Yes, and this was the particular reason I was not alright with the hidden message being proclaimed in Gangnam beauty. Physical beauty doesn’t matter at all, really. That episode when mi rae was almost horrified at the prospect of do kyung seok finding out her old picture, that scene was really cringe-worthy, embarrassing, and gave us a wrong message IMO. Why should it be shameful, or humiliating or demeaning to herself at all that she used to look like this? While I won’t go to the argument that it’s outright wrong to even give the verdict that she used to be ugly looking, but beyond that, the old mi rae had a sensitive, kind and mature outlook towards life, a girl who loved perfume, appreciated good music, and enjoyed her time even when she was alone, even after being bullied by the insensitive people around her. So the way she outright reduced her old self to a face who doesn’t matter, it broke my heart. My heart went out to her old self, who seemed to be a more pitiful, but a more loving person in my eyes. I would rather prefer a drama was about mi rae’s old self and a drama made about her coming of age story and how she defeated her own demons.
Instead, this became a story about a girl with a perfectly pretty face, and how even after that she was mortified about ever looking unpleasant and made losing weight a big deal in her life. She wasn’t a winner in my eyes by the end of the story. I don’t know what message the writer tried to give, by showing us that being with our ordinary face without anything impressive in the so-called society’s standard would not do and we need to excel, either by drinking weight losing juices or cutting on the diet. Throughout the series, mi rae kept looking down at her old face, and it was not okay for me. It was sad and disheartening. Also, I would rather be a person of brain or humility, and heart than a person of beauty. So, all in all, it was a mixture of unpleasant events for me. Anyway, I digress, sorry for the rant! 😀
‘I prefer intelligence than beauty besides inner beauty should matter most..
—
Ditto! Inner beauty is most important. Which shines through your personality and skin no matter how you look. Sadly the drama never discussed these topics and made it mostly about the insecurities without giving doors into the issues and how to look past them. Like you gave the example of Elizabeth Taylor and like you said it was her character and persona which made her such a strong force to reckon with. People forget the inspiration part and only focus on the visuals. Which is quite sad..
Beautifully spoken fay! I have to agree. Gangnam Beauty was a failed attempt at being a feminist piece to me – the one sided portrayal of men didn’t help though it did serve to highlight some of our experiences as women.
These views are subjective but I personally place no value for or against plastic surgery. I’m completely neutral & fail to see what the fuss is about. The issue lies in toxic notions of beauty & the value placed on beauty – while it would be ideal to combat it, I can’t sit back and tell someone like Mi Rae – who was ready to commit suicide at one point – to live her life with the face she hates.
I didn’t watch the show to the end, but I’m sad to read that the show didn’t see her come to terms with her old face. Without it, the show is promoting plastic surgery as the answer, and not our overcoming those notions/the value placed on beauty.
Essentially I wonder if the trendy show Gangnam Beauty treated feminism like a trend too. It beautifully highlighted women’s experiences but then went and made caricatures out of the male characters by making all of them pretty horrible.
Without it, the show is promoting plastic surgery as the answer, and not our overcoming those notions/the value placed on beauty.
Exactly! I wouldn’t say you missed anything by not following up. It is a failed attempt at trying to take a dig at the way women have been dissed over time because of their face/prettiness. I also share your views on the show treating feminism as a trend. The repetitive scenes on going after girls, pursuing them because of their popularity/ attractive features come to mind. Like even on the last episode we saw the sunbae [who kept harassing mi rae on the first episode, i.e, calling her a monster, pushing her to be his gf ] going after Su Ah, and even invading into a place where another guy who was also in a questionable way trying to ask out Su Ah. So these disturbing examples were still prevalent and the show didn’t give us any answers/ solutions regarding these things, just gave us a documentary on what’s happening. I don’t understand the popularity, maybe it’s because of the otp, but I found the questions more intriguing than mi rae’s romance with do kyung seok. Just wished they focused on the subjects that demanded attention.
For me a beautiful person is like a combination of an attractive sculpture/painting and an attractive piece of music, like a skilful piece of work – she/he is pleasant to look at and pleasant to listen to (partly due to genetics partly due to self-improvement). I must admit I like people to be both aesthetic and intelligent even if I do sound shallow. But I never ever ignore people because of their looks. I’m a plain Jane too.
You know what though, over time I have discovered that actually, every person is beautiful/ aesthetically pleasing to look at. Sometimes either their beauty or kindness or intellect or some other feature make their characteristics so special that we are just forced to look at them.
Reflecting on what you’ve just said there seems to be some truth in it. For example I find the guys in The Big Bang Theory attractive because of their brains, dry wit, fashion choices so characteristic of them each, and their consuming passion for science fiction, fantasy, role-playing games and such. They all are quite eccentrics. By contrast, the girls in it are rather annoying and unpleasant than interesting and pleasant.
So you watch big bang too…I like them cos of their brains most especially Sheldon with his physics or Howard that thinks he can flirt with any girl. I also like raj that can’t talk to girls and Leonard that’s awkward around penny….
Sorry I rambled on….what exactly were we talking about..###scrolls up to check###….I have no idea in what I was supposed to reply…
I wanted to say with my previous comment that despite their unflattering looks they are attractive in my eyes because of the above-mentioned characteristics. So there are exceptions as well for me when I don’t care about a man’s appearance. Their eccentric behaviour compensate for their lack of good looks.
‘ Their eccentric behaviour compensate for their lack of good looks.’
–
Exactly, or sometimes it could be their kindness, their intellect, their smart ways of handling things or just managing life. I have watched a few public figures online for instance like in Ted talks or lectures, where a simple looking person just transformed because of how sorted out their brain or personality is. So then they would appear beautiful to you because of their approach towards life.
Safeenah
September 28, 2018 at 8:17 AM
I posted sth about a dream where the world won’t place emphasis on physical beauty…so @oldawyer replied which I want to share with all beanies as I enjoyed it. Here goes the reply..
Yes it very much is a dream that cannot become true- at least to some extent. At least some of our attraction to beauty is hardwired into us, according to many scientific studies. Which is why the actress in this interview is right is saying that we should honor the choice that some people make to undergo plastic surgery- at least in reasonable amounts- if they want to.
But I would also like to point something else out- physical beauty is not all important- and not the only way to be attractive. And there are many examples of this, but I am going to limit myself to just one: Cleopatra.
From the movies you have been lead to believe that Cleopatra was a gorgeous beauty (like Elizabeth Taylor). She was not. We actually have a good idea of what she looked like from the many coins from her time- and she was really fairly ordinary looking- not totally plain but no looker either. Yet she is famous for a being an amazingly seductive and alluring woman. That did not come from her physical appearance but from her high intelligence and her personality. It was not her looks that made her so attractive- it was everything else.
Our problem- here and in Korea- and elsewhere- is that we teach young girls that physical beauty trumps everything else- when in fact it never really has. It certainly counts for something and always will- but it will never be everything nor more than just one factor among several.
fay17
September 28, 2018 at 10:14 AM
Yes, and this was the particular reason I was not alright with the hidden message being proclaimed in Gangnam beauty. Physical beauty doesn’t matter at all, really. That episode when mi rae was almost horrified at the prospect of do kyung seok finding out her old picture, that scene was really cringe-worthy, embarrassing, and gave us a wrong message IMO. Why should it be shameful, or humiliating or demeaning to herself at all that she used to look like this? While I won’t go to the argument that it’s outright wrong to even give the verdict that she used to be ugly looking, but beyond that, the old mi rae had a sensitive, kind and mature outlook towards life, a girl who loved perfume, appreciated good music, and enjoyed her time even when she was alone, even after being bullied by the insensitive people around her. So the way she outright reduced her old self to a face who doesn’t matter, it broke my heart. My heart went out to her old self, who seemed to be a more pitiful, but a more loving person in my eyes. I would rather prefer a drama was about mi rae’s old self and a drama made about her coming of age story and how she defeated her own demons.
Instead, this became a story about a girl with a perfectly pretty face, and how even after that she was mortified about ever looking unpleasant and made losing weight a big deal in her life. She wasn’t a winner in my eyes by the end of the story. I don’t know what message the writer tried to give, by showing us that being with our ordinary face without anything impressive in the so-called society’s standard would not do and we need to excel, either by drinking weight losing juices or cutting on the diet. Throughout the series, mi rae kept looking down at her old face, and it was not okay for me. It was sad and disheartening. Also, I would rather be a person of brain or humility, and heart than a person of beauty. So, all in all, it was a mixture of unpleasant events for me. Anyway, I digress, sorry for the rant! 😀
Safeenah
September 28, 2018 at 10:42 AM
Nope don’t bother about you ranting. I liked your opinion.
I think when mi rae was looking down at herself she was not confident and had low self esteem.
I prefer intelligence than beauty besides inner beauty should matter most..
fay17
September 28, 2018 at 11:02 AM
‘I prefer intelligence than beauty besides inner beauty should matter most..
—
Ditto! Inner beauty is most important. Which shines through your personality and skin no matter how you look. Sadly the drama never discussed these topics and made it mostly about the insecurities without giving doors into the issues and how to look past them. Like you gave the example of Elizabeth Taylor and like you said it was her character and persona which made her such a strong force to reckon with. People forget the inspiration part and only focus on the visuals. Which is quite sad..
Safeenah
September 28, 2018 at 11:15 AM
And if we all accept and enhance our inner beauty…it will show…
greenfields
September 28, 2018 at 12:42 PM
Beautifully spoken fay! I have to agree. Gangnam Beauty was a failed attempt at being a feminist piece to me – the one sided portrayal of men didn’t help though it did serve to highlight some of our experiences as women.
These views are subjective but I personally place no value for or against plastic surgery. I’m completely neutral & fail to see what the fuss is about. The issue lies in toxic notions of beauty & the value placed on beauty – while it would be ideal to combat it, I can’t sit back and tell someone like Mi Rae – who was ready to commit suicide at one point – to live her life with the face she hates.
I didn’t watch the show to the end, but I’m sad to read that the show didn’t see her come to terms with her old face. Without it, the show is promoting plastic surgery as the answer, and not our overcoming those notions/the value placed on beauty.
Essentially I wonder if the trendy show Gangnam Beauty treated feminism like a trend too. It beautifully highlighted women’s experiences but then went and made caricatures out of the male characters by making all of them pretty horrible.
greenfields
September 28, 2018 at 12:43 PM
(yikes. Forgot to delete the last para – same as the first para)
Safeenah
September 28, 2018 at 2:24 PM
As expected unnie you have said it all… kumowo
fay17
September 29, 2018 at 12:40 PM
Exactly! I wouldn’t say you missed anything by not following up. It is a failed attempt at trying to take a dig at the way women have been dissed over time because of their face/prettiness. I also share your views on the show treating feminism as a trend. The repetitive scenes on going after girls, pursuing them because of their popularity/ attractive features come to mind. Like even on the last episode we saw the sunbae [who kept harassing mi rae on the first episode, i.e, calling her a monster, pushing her to be his gf ] going after Su Ah, and even invading into a place where another guy who was also in a questionable way trying to ask out Su Ah. So these disturbing examples were still prevalent and the show didn’t give us any answers/ solutions regarding these things, just gave us a documentary on what’s happening. I don’t understand the popularity, maybe it’s because of the otp, but I found the questions more intriguing than mi rae’s romance with do kyung seok. Just wished they focused on the subjects that demanded attention.
Bernadett
September 29, 2018 at 2:07 AM
For me a beautiful person is like a combination of an attractive sculpture/painting and an attractive piece of music, like a skilful piece of work – she/he is pleasant to look at and pleasant to listen to (partly due to genetics partly due to self-improvement). I must admit I like people to be both aesthetic and intelligent even if I do sound shallow. But I never ever ignore people because of their looks. I’m a plain Jane too.
Safeenah
September 29, 2018 at 2:25 AM
I admire your honesty…
Bernadett
September 29, 2018 at 2:57 AM
Thanks for your respecting my point of view despite obviously disagreeing with me.
fay17
September 29, 2018 at 12:46 PM
You know what though, over time I have discovered that actually, every person is beautiful/ aesthetically pleasing to look at. Sometimes either their beauty or kindness or intellect or some other feature make their characteristics so special that we are just forced to look at them.
fay17
September 29, 2018 at 12:46 PM
So what I mean is everyone is special in their own way.*
Safeenah
September 29, 2018 at 1:31 PM
Thanks fay..you right….everyone has sth unique or special about them…
Bernadett
September 29, 2018 at 1:49 PM
Reflecting on what you’ve just said there seems to be some truth in it. For example I find the guys in The Big Bang Theory attractive because of their brains, dry wit, fashion choices so characteristic of them each, and their consuming passion for science fiction, fantasy, role-playing games and such. They all are quite eccentrics. By contrast, the girls in it are rather annoying and unpleasant than interesting and pleasant.
Safeenah
September 29, 2018 at 2:40 PM
So you watch big bang too…I like them cos of their brains most especially Sheldon with his physics or Howard that thinks he can flirt with any girl. I also like raj that can’t talk to girls and Leonard that’s awkward around penny….
Sorry I rambled on….what exactly were we talking about..###scrolls up to check###….I have no idea in what I was supposed to reply…
Bernadett
September 29, 2018 at 3:17 PM
I wanted to say with my previous comment that despite their unflattering looks they are attractive in my eyes because of the above-mentioned characteristics. So there are exceptions as well for me when I don’t care about a man’s appearance. Their eccentric behaviour compensate for their lack of good looks.
fay17
October 2, 2018 at 2:35 AM
‘ Their eccentric behaviour compensate for their lack of good looks.’
–
Exactly, or sometimes it could be their kindness, their intellect, their smart ways of handling things or just managing life. I have watched a few public figures online for instance like in Ted talks or lectures, where a simple looking person just transformed because of how sorted out their brain or personality is. So then they would appear beautiful to you because of their approach towards life.
Safeenah
September 29, 2018 at 3:20 PM
Thanks for explaining it to me…I got carried away….besides I will prefer a man that got brains not one without and just having a pretty face…