South Korea

Homogeneity in Seoul Made Me Appreciate the Diversity We Do Have Here

Model Media post by Yoonj Kim on May 9, 2013 - 10:09am; tagged body image, plastic surgery, South Korea.

I spent last week in Seoul, the modern cultural hub of South Korea, where international sensation Psy first made his mark. It's a crowded city plastered with images of celebrities on buses, billboards, storefronts, giant windows, and any other usable space. As I traversed the city, one thing that struck me was how uniform all their faces were: big eyes, white skin, raised nose bridges.

As the modeling industry here is accused of conforming to a white, northern European look as the standard of beauty, South Korea seems to be chasing a different ideal: a generic Caucasian look.

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On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

News post by Hannah Siobhan ... on February 7, 2013 - 8:16am; tagged abortion, domestic violence, kids' meals, South Korea, teen pregnancy.

Good morning Bitch readers! Here's your daily feminist news, fresh off the press.

• The Pakistani schoolgirl activist attacked by the Taliban speaks out and announces the creation of a new foundation for children. [Democracy Now]

• Shocker: Teen pregnancy declines in NYC thanks for use of contraceptives. [NY Daily News]

• Do you want a dolphin or a tiger with those fries? Sounding off on gender stereotyping in kids' meals. [The Baltimore Sun]

• Ugh. Take a look at the Western coverage of South Korean beauty standards. [Racialicious]

• In Britain, people are having sex-selection abortions. [The Telegraph]

• Writing characters of color on TV is not as hard as it’s made out to be. [Geek Quality]• Activists in Nepal are trying to eradicate the practice of child marriage. [Global Press Institute]

• Getting Closure: Oregon has a new program where domestic violence survivors can ask questions of their abusers. [Willamette Week]

• Call for submissions! Share your strategies for wealth redistribution in Dean Spade's project Enough: The Personal Politics of Resisting Capitalism. [Enough]

That's all for today folks! Stay tuned for more news from our radar.

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South Korean Feminists Look Good in a Tiara

Social Commentary post by Mandy Van Deven on April 30, 2009 - 11:12am; tagged Anti-Miss Korea Festival, beauty pageants, If Festival, South Korea.

In a show of humorous feminist triumph, a group of South Korean women organized the eleventh annual Anti-Miss Korea Festival to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the death of the beauty pageant in South Korea...

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