Rejecting Societal Beauty Standards
“Everyone tries to look beautiful and be the best version of themselves — which isn’t bad, but they seem to have an ideal beauty standard that they all try to live up to and hence all the plastic surgery,”shares Michelle yang to the varsity.
companies advertise korean beauty products as a necessity
This quote describes the Korean community at the University of Toronto. Many of these students at the University of Toronto are second generation, but the pressure of Korean beauty standards are still ever prominent (Park). The beauty standards in Korea are a pressing issue. There is pressure for women to get plastic surgery, have dewy and smooth pale skin, and wear “natural-looking” make-up. Korean pop idols are often held as the standard, with their flawless make-up and expensive clothes they wear. There are countless advertisements everywhere, enforcing the idea that it is necessary to invest in beauty products.
lina bae, a youtuber, joins the movement by removing her makeup
In response to these beauty standards, a wave of feminism has manifested itself in the form of the “Escape the Corset” movement. The movement is about getting rid of the idea that women in Korean must get plastic surgery, wear make-up, and conform to other beauty standards (Bicker). Many popular Korean beauty accounts are posting videos of themselves without make-up and some people have gone as far to destroy all of the beauty products they once spent so much money on. “No” by Korean girl group CLC covers this issue as the movement continues to peak. In the music video “No”, CLC uses various female-empowering imagery, such as burning and burying cultural artifacts imposed upon women, and feminist lyrics to challenge the idea that there is a uniform set of beauty standards that women must abide by.
"Red lip? no. Earrings? no. Hand bag? no. High heels? no."
being watched under society's careful eye
In the beginning of the song, one of the girls walks in and other girls are posing in display cases. Display cases are typically used for mannequins wearing clothing as they are subject to judgement. The display cases symbolize the way the girls are constantly watched and scrutinized by society’ standards and the pressure of feeling trapped by these standards. They have to pose like mannequins, and they must dress the way other people want and cannot act out. While they are being observed in these display cases, many of the members look discontent, showing that they are displeased with being viewed as objects for consumption.
objecting to conformity
Next in the music video, we see this scene unfold. Strawberries are a symbol for Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty because it is red and almost heart shaped. As strawberries are associated with Venus, they have come to represent purity and romance. Since she is surrounded by the strawberries on both sides, she is unable to move, which constitutes the image of purity and romance is something that is imposed upon her and she cannot escape. In the song, she sings that people who pretend that they are trying to help her by giving her advice should stop wasting their breath. She sits with her legs wide as it is considered a “rude” or “masculine” thing to do because she is refusing to abide by those standards. She rejects the advice of those who want her to conform, because she wants to live by her own standards, rather than the normal standards society has created.
lipstick that suits me best
There are various scenes of the girls walking through a hall of mirrors, observing themselves, or kissing the mirror. The girls are showing that they are infatuated with themselves because they would rather love themselves the way they are than wear what society wants them to wear and feel unhappy with their appearance. One girl sings about wearing a lipstick color she thinks suits her best as she applies it. She wants to wear the lipstick that suits her best rather than what society deems beautiful. She does not want to be brainwashed into conforming to the beauty standards. This conveys that rather than these beauty standards—women must undergo cosmetic surgery, wear make-up, and follow extensive beauty routines—women should only wear make-up if they enjoy it and to wear the make-up they enjoy rather than the products that are advertised as necessary to be beautiful.
taking the wheel
In this scene of the music video, all the girls are seen surrounding a large black truck, one of the girls sitting in the driver's seat. Trucks are often associated with masculinity because they are built to fit the larger physical size of a man and their functionality relates to outdoor or physically taxing work which is generally attributed to men. The girl is seen sitting in the vehicle wearing makeup and high heels since she wants to live her own life— driving and wearing what she wishes. She is in the driver’s seat because she is commanding control of the direction of her life as opposed to letting societal standards direct her. This scene also suggests that she possesses strength as it is a quality associated with owning a truck and masculinity.
A paradox of standards
Towards the end of the music video, one of the girls sets fire to a singular pink peony flower, holding it while it burns. They later set fire to a lot of flowers in a display case. These flowers often represent beauty, and many of the flowers in the display case like lavender and roses, represent the same thing as well. They burn the flowers, implying that they want to eliminate the idea of a uniform standard to beauty. In the end, they fill a coffin full of things they are saying no to (high heels, bags, etc.), yet in the entire music video, they are wearing all of these. They are rejecting these standards and want to get rid of the uniformity of it, while also embracing that it is okay to want to wear these things, which is why they are wearing these themselves.
rejecting standards and embracing yourself
In this music video, CLC is defiant towards the uniformity of beauty standards and they sing and show imagery to support their stance. As mentioned previously, despite the fact that they are saying no to high heels, red lipstick, earrings, and handbags they still use all of these. This is to emphasize that in spite of this, they are still allowed to enjoy these different facets of beauty and they are strong for embracing it. This song and music video conveys to women that they must find themselves beautiful by their own standards. Its message healthily encourages women to abide by their own personal beauty standards, rather than those society creates. It is necessary to analyze this visual argument because of the pressure women face by society today to change and conform in order to become beautiful. This pressure is immense and only continues to grow, and it is an issue that should be resolved as soon as possible. This visual argument was released at the peak of the Escape the Corset movement, fueling the movement further and encouraging women to abide by their own standards.
works cited
Bicker, Lauren. “Why women in South Korea are cutting 'the corset'.” BBC News, BBC World News Asia, 10 December 2018 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46478449
Park, Carol Eugene. “For Many South Koreans, Beauty Standards Represent A Cultural Struggle.” The Varsity, The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880, 5 March 2017 https://thevarsity.ca/2017/03/05/for-many-south-koreans-beauty-standards-represent-a-cultural-struggle/
Tai, Crystal “The Korean Beauty Industry: Ugly Face of a National Obsession.” South China Morning Post, South China Morning Post, 20 July 2018, Retrieved 30 April 2019 www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2125286/k-beauty-ugly-face-south-koreas-obsession-women-looking.
authors note
In order to keep this project organized, I did resort to using a structure but I used headers and sub-headers to keep the reader engaged and interested, so it did not look like large blocks of text. I varied the use of photos and gifs to keep the media interesting and engaging, and included the video in the beginning to excite the reader. I used quotes as the headers to hook readers, and overall I like how it turned out.