A customer examines various products at the Korea Beauty and Cosmetic Expo. Photo: AFP
Meet the South Korean women rejecting their country’s intense beauty standards
- South Korea is a deeply conservative country, and experts say its patriarchal society encourages rampant sexism
- But rising feminist movements and changing values among South Korean women are redirecting depictions of beauty
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South Korea
A customer examines various products at the Korea Beauty and Cosmetic Expo. Photo: AFP
A World Health Organisation survey found that nearly 40 per cent of women polled in nations including China, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea said they regularly used whitening products. Photo: Shutterstock
Asia’s addiction to whiter skin runs deep – but the backlash has begun
- The multibillion-dollar skin-whitening market in China, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea is rooted in unrealistic beauty ideals
- However, a push to embrace darker skin and more Asian-seeming features over Eurocentric beauty standards is picking up in the region
Topic |
Beauty
A World Health Organisation survey found that nearly 40 per cent of women polled in nations including China, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea said they regularly used whitening products. Photo: Shutterstock