Beauty

The concept of "universal beauty" has always been interesting to me. In general, it seems that most countries have the same general ideas of what makes someone beautiful (symmetry, body type). However,  the smaller details vary greatly throughout the world. In America, tan skin is usually considered to be more attractive than pale skin. People spend lots of money to lay in tanning beds even though they know there is a high risk of skin cancer. However, most other countries consider lighter skin to be more beautiful. Skin-whitening creams are sold throughout Asia and Africa, while self-tanner is popular here.

The country that I would consider to have the most radical view of beauty is South Korea. There seems to be a vary narrow concept of beauty there. If you watch a lot of Korean drama or K-pop videos, you will notice that after a while the people tend to look very similar. It's not that they are born that way, but because plastic surgery is incredibly prevalent throughout the country. Feminine, youthful features are considered ideal for both men and women. When you look at American plastic surgery before-and-afters, the person usually looks the same but just slightly 'improved'. South Korean plastic surgery is often used to change your whole face so you look like an entirely different person afterwards. I think it will be interesting to see the effect that this has on the next generation. Many kids will be born looking nothing like their parents, since there is no way to change your genetics! I can understand why people get plastic surgery, but I think that the South Koreans take it to a whole other level. Take a look at these pictures, it's hard to imagine that these are the same people!