The  Dongguk   Post's October   cover  story   on the           plastic/cosmetic surgery boom was just another reminder           of the   whirlwind changes   that have  taken  place  in           Korean society over  the past  two decades.   After all,           college girls  were  only beginning  to  experiment with           cosmetics in the early 1980s.               This cover   story inspired  me  to  make  cosmetic           surgery the  topic  of an   in-class composition for   my           writing class,  especially because  most of  my students           are young ladies.  Given the  time limit (two hours) for           an in-class composition,  the topic  should be of  human           interest so students can begin writing without having to           do too much  brainstorming and  detailed planning.  No           one was at a  loss for words  when it came  to writing           about cosmetic surgery.               While many   students looked   upon the  cosmetic           surgery boom and  all it  entails with  a jaundiced  eye,           there was a  consensus that  such surgery  is simply  a           personal choice.  And rather than sneering at those who           choose surgery, most students said that if it  makes you           feel better  about yourself,  then by  all  means have  it           done. They reserved their strongest criticism for a "cruel           society"  that  "pressures" women to alter themselves to           satisfy the   current dictates   of the   job or   marriage           market.               What struck me as I read the compositions  were 1)           how common cosmetic surgery is, and 2) the stress that           young    women   undergo    to    conform    in   this           hyper-competitive society.               Getting eyelids altered, for example,  is so common           it barely qualifies as  cosmetic surgery nowadays.  And           when  I  gave  a  student  a  quizzical  look  during  a           classroom discussion   after she   said  "80   % of   her           friends"  had undergone  surgery, other  girls nodded in           agreement, saying they were often the only ones  among           their friends who  had not  had it  done.  Even  though           these girls were  putting off  surgery, they said  it was           compelling   since   they   all   knew    former    "ugly           ducklings"  whose surgery had turned  them into raving           beauties with numerous suitors.              I expect Seoul  will soon become  like Mexico  City,           where young   bourgeois women  meet  at  posh  coffee           shops  to  celebrate  a   friend's return   from  surgery.             Rather than disappear  for the  customary 10 days  until           the bandages, black  eyes, and  swelling from  a  "nose           job"  are gone, this senorita proudly exhibits herself and           revels in her status as a new member of the club.  I do           know a Korean  woman, in fact  a medical  doctor, who           was not so forthcoming, telling me that  her recent nose           job was the  consequence of  being hit  by a  golf ball.             Gimme a break.               Two other   common student   concerns were   the           legacy of this cult of beauty on the next generation, and           the  role  of  the  fashion   and cosmetics   industry in           perpetuating the   cult. What   choice is   there for  the           adolescent daughter who desires her  mother's surgically           enhanced looks?  And  what sort  of Pandora's  box is           being  opened  by  parents  who  give  their  daughters           surgery as a high school graduation gift?                 Isn't  it   curious  that   American  black  girls,   a           demographic   virtually   ignored   by  the   advertising           industry,   are  generally   satisfied   and  much   more           comfortable   with   their   physical   appearance   than           suburban white girls, the  target of numerous marketing           ploys aimed at  seducing them into  believing that  they,           too, can be a cover girl?  Sound familiar?                     Students also wrote  of insufferable  mothers telling           less than perfect daughters  that their futures  are bleak           unless they undergo  cosmetic surgery.  I'm  sorry, but           isn't it mommy's role to say,  "Of course you're pretty,           my little darling?"  And then there was the mother from           hell who  "dragged"  her teenaged daughter into a clinic,           where  "she  [the daughter]   kicked and screamed   and           was held  down by  ten nurses" until  the surgery  was           performed.  "To this  day she  has no  self-esteem and           thinks she is ugly."               Women have  been enhancing   their natural beauty           with cosmetics  since at  least the  days of  the ancient           Egyptians.  (Liz   Taylor wore   tons of   the stuff  in           CLEOPATRA.)  So I don't  think it's too  difficult of a           decision  for   women, especially   those   who put   on             cosmetics daily, to choose surgery.  Why go through the           daily hassle of  putting a line  across each  eyelid when           after very simple surgery they're permanent?                I also believe  cosmetic surgery  is quite  normal in           the feminine scheme of things.   "Vanity," said the bard,           "thy name is  woman."  What  is abnormal  is deluding           yourself into believing that a visit to a surgeon can turn           you into the self-confident person you always wanted to           be.   However,  facial  alterations,  according  to  most           accounts, do work magic on women's psyches.              A case  in point:   One coed  wrote that  for some           inexplicable reason she  began to  "hate my  face"  and           "stayed home in bed for a month crying my  eyes out."             Crying was   getting her  nowhere; so   she decided  to           change the color of  her hair and, presto,  she became a           self-confident woman.  Since there is absolutely nothing           wrong with this girl's  perfectly attractive face,  perhaps           she should   have replaced  crying  her  eyes  out with           SMILING.              Should anyone with a similar silly notion be reading           this essay, don't be so self-critical.  Maybe all you need           to do is smile a bit more.                 This University enrolls  all sorts of  movie and  TV           stars, singers and  super-models, and  wannabes.  Some           of them attend my  classes.  My usual  private reaction           to their obvious surgical makeovers  is, BORING.  They           have traded away what was unique about their faces for           bland, nondescript visages.  And how sad it was  indeed           to read of a student who rues the day she got her nose           job and pines in vain for her old nose.                There's   this    joke   going    around   American           universities:  "Now that you've got  your BA, MA, and           PhD, all you need is a  JOB."  The punch line could  be           "cosmetic  surgery" at  Korean  universities.   For  it's           patently unfair that  after years  of jumping through  all           the academic hoops Korea  throws at you, going  abroad           for an expensive year  of English study,  getting a high           TOEIC  score,   and  acquiring   computer skills,   your           success  in   the  job  market   now  may   depend on           expensive cosmetic surgery  that you  don't need,  can't           afford, but  think you  can't do  without.  And  isn't it           time you went  on a  starvation diet?   I'd be  thinking           about emigration.
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