Koreans and the Small Face Phenomenon
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 11:48PM Having grown up in the U.S., I have heard on more than one occasion that celebrities possess larger heads compared to those of the general population, the idea being that the larger head will have larger features, which will show better on screen. There is even an episode of Entourage where Turtle proclaims, "The bigger the head, the bigger the star."
However, in Korea, the exact opposite is true. The smaller your face, the more attractive you are.
;)
A picture of Ivy, a Korean celebrity, posing between two fans. Notice how small her face is compared to that of "normal" people. (image source)
It is not uncommon for foreigners to be utterly confounded when first met with this phenomenon. "Gosh, your face is so small!" may sound like an inappropriate remark, but it is in fact a high compliment among Koreans.
Online Korean forums are often abuzz with face size discussions. When debating up-and-coming stars, it is not unusual to find comments such as "Her face is so small...she's so pretty!" or "She'll never make it because her face is too big." In 2008, one of the most popular articles on Naver, a Yahoo-like portal, concerned the average Korean face size.
Koreans' fascination with small faces often delve deep into the celebrity world, with stars with unusually small (and coveted) faces are asked to hold up every-day objects next to their heads...even busting out measuring tapes for proof!
Actress Han Yehseul can cover her entire face with a CD. (image source)
Model/actress Koh Ara's face is a mere 17cm, or 6.69 inches, long. (image source)
I'm not really sure where the small face phenomenon originated. However, it is widely believed among Koreans that small faces photograph/video well, and that a smaller face will make you look skinner in photos as well. In a culture so obsessed with media and image, it is not difficult to see how this idea established such a strong foothold in the Korean psyche.
The cultural fixation on small faces has even coined a new term: the "V-line." To Koreans, a small, perfect oval is no longer ideal. That oval must be made even smaller to create a V (a pointed chin).
Koreans are so obsessed with small faces that one of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures involves shaving down one's cheeks and jawline to undo what mother nature gave you. Take a look at these "before" and "after" photos of actress Park Minyoung:
(image source)
I once read that the jaw-shaving surgery is so in demand because it kills two birds with one stone: your diet is restricted to liquids for a full month after surgery, so you end up losing a lot of weight too!
I'm not sure where I stand on this issue. I think that if the size of your head/face is in proportion with the rest of your body, you should be happy, no? However, the Korean side of me longs to have a small face, because let's face it - I have a rather large head.
And with that in mind, I have one last question: is it possible to be pretty, or even beautiful, with a large face?
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Reader Comments (16)
Wow I've never heard of this! Maybe that's why my Korean FSIL agreed to marry my brother - he has a really small head for his body. :P
Personally, I think that people look best when their heads are in proportion with the rest of their bodies but I've never really given this much thought. Maybe I'll change my opinion after some more observation.
I never really considered face size to be so important either, until I started hanging out with more Koreans, watching more Korean shows, and reading more Korean websites. Some people have actually straight-out told me that I would be prettier if my head was smaller.
Cosmetic surgery has become so rampant in Korea that Asian blepharoplasty (the double eyelid surgery) is almost considered a rite of passage for young women. I think that pretty soon, the big-eyed, small-faced look will become so exaggerated that girls will not look human anymore. Case in point:
+ makeup and hair =
It's so that they look more childlike, but DAMN that is some screwed up ish to get your JAW shaved down just for "beauty"
On the one hand, the big-eyed small-jawed baby look seems to be a universal measure of an attractive female. But the emphasis on an actual small head -- or countries that believe well-fed is beautiful as opposed to the Western norm of thinness, or whatever -- just goes to show how arbitrary these cultural beauty standards can be. Sad that we women (and increasingly, men) beat ourselves up so much over something that arbitrary.
Interesting. I lived in Seoul when I was a teenager, I got some interesting comments on the way I looked. I was told on several occasions that I had big eyes like an alien. I was told it was a good thing, but I thought it was strange. Like the comment before me every culture has their idea of what beauty is. It's just unfortunate that beauty tends to be something that has to be surgically created.
look, let's all face the simple TRUTH. They want to look more WHITE. It is pitiful and shameful! Please, everyone, let's all love ourselves!
The other day, my Korean friend randomly brought up how small my face was. I didn't really get it --I thought being able to cover your face with one hand was kind of freaky. But now I get this bizarre trend.
Ick, it's a shame some people go through all that surgery and pain and such just for beauty. >n<
I mean...is it really worth it? Soon everyone is going to look like carbon copies...
this thanksgiving i went to go see my boyfriends family (he is korean) and i thought it was so rude that his aunt kept staring at me and asking me why my face was so small but now i realize that -maybe- it was a compliment
Their life and their choices. A lot of people have plastic surgery these days and if they think that having it improves their looks and make them happier, then so be it.
I have a very small face, even though I am short. And I'm very self conscious about it, I feel like a look like a child, and I feel like I can't be pretty with a small face! Haha, so I'm the complete opposite! But at least Koreans would think I was pretty!
I think it's a waste. Many are pretty before surgery, and end up looking like one out of an army of robots afterward. No offense, but they are all starting to look a like.
i think they are pretty much already looking alike...so freaky.look at SNSD, they are so same!
there is a difference between small head and small face, which is it? A face area is the distance from your eye brows to your bottom lip. Here is an example of a small face http://cdn.holytaco.com/www/sites/default/files/photo/d3/8194/Why-Small-Face_500x500.jpg
I'm American & I didn't even notice big faces were what was popular. D:
I always preferred the smaller faces.
I just returned from a fantastic summer abroad in Japan. I noticed this small face trend carries true there too. In the US I've always been somewhat self-conscious about my small face, but I never really thought about it much. Then I arrived in Japan and my school friends commented on it much to my chagrin. They meant it as a compliment, they told me.
After an interlude away from home I'm intrigued by the beauty standard differences, and how they're affecting me and my own considerations. As other posters have pointed out, it's interesting to consider how our ideas about aesthetics change. I'm reminded of many painting I saw in an art history class in which the subjects were large, wide woman. At the time these woman were held as the model of feminine beauty.
What do you think has influenced our cultures in the twenty first century in both Asia and the Western world to focus on things like huge eyes?
I don't think this is about looking more white. White people tan, even at the risk of getting cancer, get lip injections, and butt implants but yet no one accusing them of wanting to be black. They also get cheek implants, face injections (for a fuller face), nose jobs for button noses, get their hair flatten bone straight, and diet themselves to be super skinny but yet no one accuses them of wanting to be Asian.
For the most part, Beauty is based on rarity. White people with tan skins, round butts, and full lips are called beautiful because those features are rare to their race. White women with high cheekbones, sculpted faces, button noses, and petite shapes are considered beautiful too because those features are rare to their race too. Think about it! Common, white traits such as pale skin, large hooked noses, beady eyes, thin lips, shapeless faces (why do you think they get cheek implants & face injections), and flat butts aren't like by Whites let alone any other race.
Koreans obsess with double eye lids and v faces because they are somewhat rare in their society. Sure there are some Asians who are born with double eye lids and v-faces but its very rare for them to be born with both. Hence, its rarity. And movie stars always want to seem so different than the average woman. So they get plastic surgery to align themselves with these rare features. It's the same story in Korea, as it is in the US with an unnatural amount of tanned, button nosed, full lipped, high cheek boned, and petite White women famous in Hollywood.
So looking "prettier" isn't always based on "looking white." Taylor Swift's small eyes doesn't make her less white. But more so universal beauty markers which are big eyes, petite symmetrical faces (for women), small noses, clear skin and full lips. This is what beautiful women of all races have. White people aren't the only ones who have the best traits, but since they control the media; it only seems like they do.
I don't like plastic surgery. I hate the idea of risking your life to adhere to a standard of beauty. Or to be "famous." Yeah, some people are born beautiful and it does seem unfair. In that way, plastic surgery is seen as leveling the playing field for average to ugly people. But there are people who are born rich, but there is still no excuse for a poor person to rob a bank. There are people who are naturally smart but there is still no excuse for dumb kids to cheat on a test. There are people who are naturally athletic but there is still no excuse for the non-athlete to take steroids. I just wish people would make do with what they got and work on their spirits, not their faces.
Anyone can be famous.
Fame is cheap.fame is easy.Fame is fleeting.
But try achieving greatness.
Greatness is hard.Greatness is lonely. Greatness is work.Greatness is humbling.
Greatness is a responsibility and greatness lasts forever.
You don’t want greatness… do you?