According to special research institution Trendmonitor, 8 out of 10 Korean adults think that ‘lookism’ in Korean society is serious. Also according to kids portal site Kidszzang’s survey, many elementary school students new year’s goals appears to be something regarding appearance such as ‘dieting’, ‘be good looking’. These results show that Korea’s lookism is getting worse every year.
           You can feel the lookism by just looking at the TV stars. No matter what their specialties are, pretty or handsome ones get the spotlights. Even the sports players have to be good looking to get in the spotlight. However good they are at anything, if they are not pretty or handsome enough, people won’t recognize them as a good one unless they win something. Worse, Korean fans leave their stars if they gain weight or become less pretty than before. Lookism applies to our lives also. According to part-time job portal site Albamon’s survey, 98 percent of Korean university student agrees that ‘appearance is competitiveness’. Moreover, university students supposed that in any circumstance such as human relationship, getting a job, etc, people with good looks would have an advantage. With this trend, plastic surgery has become really popular, and new words regarding appearance (such as ‘lookism’) have been spread all over Korea.
           No one knows when lookism started in Korea. However, it is certain that many people are getting hurt because of it. To be honest, there is no certain standard of ‘beauty’ , but people are still judged by their looks, which is wrong. As a result of the trend, Korean people tend to take care of their outside rather than inside. So Koreans are often beautiful outside, but have nothing inside. Lookism is getting serious, not only with people but also products, which, in Korea, tend to be pretty rather than functional. With the trend going further, some people realized it should be stopped. Famous K-pop singers sung about songs that criticize serious lookism in Korea. Also female comedian Jung Joo-ri satirized lookism by showing her so called beautiful back in the comedy show. Now, the Korean government should make a move to reject lookism. The Korean government can ask Korean corporations to do blind interview, and they can conduct a campaign about plastic surgery and lookism.

            Now, lookism should be rejected in all society. MBC program ‘I’m a singer’ started a move to reject lookism. Currently the singing industry cares more about appearance than one’s singing ability. The show shows that one’s ability should be more appreciated than one’s appearance. This goes for all of us. We should spend more time on gaining knowledge and specialty than making ourselves look good in the mirror.

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