Aegyo Sal

According to the Chosun Ilbo the rate of cosmetic surgery for women in Korea, is the highest in the world.

For whatever reason I am interested in Korea’s obsession with plastic surgery. Guaranteed most of the Korean celebrities have had some sort of  facial tweaking. I’m not certain of this point at all, but I am aware of some cases in which the celebrities become famous before they went under the knife. It leads me to wonder if the idea of surgery came before or after being famous. Most likely the idea was in their head long before their goal of fame came to fruition. Even some of my sixth grade students expressed what areas of their face they would like to have altered.

It can be said that most people would think you were attractive based on celebrity alone.  As many normal looking western people (who then become famous) turn into idols, creating something to be desired. I’m sure that female celebrities in the States face the same amount of criticism as Koreans do when it comes to how they look. The rate of plastic surgery could also quite possibly be on par for celebrities within Korea and the USA. I feel as though that Koreans are more open to talking about their procedures, where as other people try to hush it up.  However, the trickle down effect of looking beautiful seems to effect Koreans more so and perhaps this is because of the openness surrounding surgery.

In particular, 81.5 percent of women between 25 and 29 felt the need for cosmetic surgery and 61.5 percent of that group said they have already had it, suggesting that cosmetic surgery has become commonplace for 20-something Korean women.

This stat was taken from another site, but it comes from Um Hyun-Shin’s doctoral dissertation thesis from Kyunghee University, not too far from this blogs namesake, Jegi Dong. I’ve heard from some Koreans that parents have even suggested to their kids that they should change their appearance so they can attract a good husband. As well, it has even been given as a gift for high school graduation. Koreans getting plastic surgery is not that big of a surprise, and perhaps not that big of a deal. There is something to be said about accepting yourself for who you are, but is better to struggle through that pain, and perhaps never get over it, or perform a surgery and make yourself feel better? I don’t know, depends on the percentage of people that are satisfied after the fact, something tells me they will still have insecurities and will still need to work through their personal problems. One thing that I had considered or joked about was, once this good looking girl and guy get married and have kids, they will be left wondering why their kid is average looking. I wonder what cosmetic surgery does for the process of mate selection and reproduction. Moreover, are they setting their child up for an inferiority complex of their own. “I wish I was pretty like mom” or “I wish I had big eyes like mom.” I guess it’s a good thing there is an easy solution for that problem.

This is a little beside the point, for now I am interested in just “aegyo sal.”  Aegyo sal is a type of cosmetic eye surgery that will give you small “bags” under the eyes. (Click on the link to see an example of some before and after shots). Aegyo itself, means “sweet” or at least that is what it tells me when I type it into google translator. You can hear, mostly girls, speak in an Aegyo tone when talking to a guy they like or parents etc. It’s kind of higher pitched and more drawn out, a cuter way of speaking.

From what I’ve heard people think Aegyo sal makes the eyes look bigger, perhaps draws attention to them. I just thought it was a naturally occurring look, and for some people it is. But, the reason why I find it interesting is because although it doesn’t look bad, I just thought perhaps it wasn’t something to be desired. In fact, it isn’t really. Belpharoplasty is a type of cosmetic surgery that does just the opposite, removes the “bags” from under the eyes. I kind of thought, when I did notice it, that the person must be tired. It’s interesting to know that some people desire that look.

So far I haven’t been able to find the English word for the surgery, but I would like to know, just to see if other people are having this procedure done.