Week 4 - K-beauty, K-fashion, K-food (August 23th)

[Taylor Bub]

The articles reminded me of a case I heard about in China, where a woman had plastic surgery and became very beautiful.  She married a man and had children with him, but he did not know about her surgery and their children looked how she did before the surgery, and he sued her because of the China's strict laws on having children.  I wonder if this type of extreme plastic surgery might happen in other places, that don't have the same strict laws on children.

[Taylor Bub]

I know that right now Korean beauty products are so extremely popular right now.  I know a lot of people (including myself) that have switched from certain american products to Korean beauty products, and even huge magazines are writing articles about the best K-beauty products for your skin.  I think it is so interesting that these crazy skincare routines exist, when really people that have 'good' skin just wear sunscreen and avoid being in the sun for too long.

[Daniel Moon]

Great insights. I think a popular phrase going around right now that describes the fighting back of the colonized against colonizers is, "don't yuck my yum." Generally well-liked TV show hosts, like James Corden, are coming under fire for using traditional foods in cultures of people of color as "disgusting" food challenges that they conduct on the show with celebrities. Although food can be used to divide and to other, food also has such a way to unify people, and I hope as societies progress, people will come to see that unifying human condition.

[Taylor Bub]

I agree that it seems like such a dramatic assumption to make.  When I was growing up, we only ate food like hamburgers and chicken and pasta, and any type of 'foreign' food came from places like panda express or americanized mexican restaurants.  I wasn't exposed to other types of food until I met my best friend, who is Salvadoran, and we started eating at more traditional places.  I find that it is so much better that I got to be exposed to so many new types of food.  This also reminded me of the idea that the whole reason that Europe began looking to venture out into the world was partially to look for spices to change up the blander foods that they had.  And, while having food brought into your country is very different than going to a country to find new foods, I agree that having experience with different types of foods and flavors is something that we might be more cognisant about, but also we should understand that it enriches our experiences.

[ParkLisa]

A lot of beauty products, whether Korean or Western, don't really do anything. Wrinkles don't disappear, yet, people buy in hopes that the product will diminish some wrinkles. Surgery will not make someone look pretty/handsome the way they think it will and defintely will not change the person's life. Maybe they will get more dates in the beginning, but the inner core of that person will be the same. What Korea is doing well is selling products through K-dramas and K-pop stars. Through the dramas, the audience sees the make ups being used and sees the actors who have had surgery.  Some dramas are almost like commericals for phones, make ups, coffee makers, vacuums, etc. I've read in different forums how people bought certain K-beauty make up brands, a cordless vacuum cleaner, or an LG refrigerator because they saw them in a drama. 

[ZhangTina]

I just wanted to share this one because I saw this at my local Internation grocery store!

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[ParkLisa]

I think you bring up something interesting.  I think by stylizing everything, there is a sameness.  What you are saying is that by stylizing something, they are being unique and standing out of the group  But because everyone is now doing whatever was stylized, there is a sameness.  So for example, by having the skin ritual, Korean beauty stood out compare to the rest of the world.  But within Korea, most Korean women were following the skin ritual. Now, the rest of the world is trying it out as well.  I don't think the skin ritual was a conscious decision to stand out, but because of the results - great skin - the rest of the world trusted Kbeauty products: they worked. Is stylization a historically Korean trait? I think that's a great question that needs to be researched more!

[ParkLisa]

Lol! That is great! I think people are jumping on the BTS bandwagon to sell lots of products. Another lol moment.  We recently had BTS night and when I saw the announcement, I immediately thought of the group BTS, then realized it was back to school night.

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