In a country known as the plastic surgery capital of the world, South Korea’s women are now starting to rebel against impossible standards of beauty by publicly destroying make-up and defiantly cutting their hair.
I n a country known as the plastic surgery capital of the world, South Korea’s women are now starting to rebel against impossible standards of beauty by publicly destroying make-up and defiantly cutting their hair.
In posts across social media, women who call themselves “beauty resisters” have been denouncing the pressure imposed on them by South Korea’s patriarchal society, which emphasises flawless feminine beauty as the key to career and marital success.
The trend, which has been dubbed the “remove corset” movement, is the latest in a series of high-profile feminist initiatives in the East Asian nation since the #MeToo campaign began to pick up speed at the start of the year.
Beauty YouTuber Lina Bae racked up five million views and more than 340,000 likes for her video ‘I am not pretty’, where she first shows herself applying false eyelashes and heavy make-up alongside comments she has received about her appearance.
“Your bare face is a terror to my eyes, lol,” or “your skin isn’t good for women” are among the comments that flash up on the screen before she scrubs the foundation and eye shadow from her face and concludes that “I am not pretty, but it is fine.
