Cultural models of appearance and the social worlds of South Korean women

Women’s social worth is often determined by level of attractiveness, and conceptions of beauty can significantly shape life experiences and access to resources. Appearance is often a crucial symbol of social status and a key tool for gaining power and resources in society. Utilizing qualitative research methods of open-ended interviews and analysis software, Atlas.ti, this ethnographic research uncovers South Korean women’s shared cultural models of skin color and physical appearance for distinguishing racial identity, including these as indicators of beauty and social status among twelve first generation Korean women living in the San Francisco Bay Area. First generation South Korean women tend to use skin color and physical appearance in order to conceptualize Asian women in socially defined terms of racial identity, social class, and gender divisions. This research concludes that cultural models of beauty, specifically physical appearance and skin color, are shared cultural knowledge that drive gender divisions, classism, colorism, and a sense of Korean nationalism. This study concludes three main findings: First, white features and pale skin are associated with higher social class in Korea, and dark skin is associated with the rural poor or impoverished foreign status. Second, modernization is shifting concepts of true womanhood, as more women are entering the workforce, seeking beauty through consumerism, but still maintain domestic roles of primary caregivers within their families. And lastly, Korean nationalism and racial ignorance drive racism in Korea and extremely rigid racial boundaries that excludes dark skinned people, especially African and African American people.