What is to be handsome? What is makes a man a man? It may not be common knowledge that the ideals of "manliness" do not hold true for all countries. In Seoul, I've spotted quite a few examples of men behaving in ways that men back home wouldn't be caught dead doing.
Take Evidence #1: Pink Cellphone
This lovely shade of princess pink is not a color an average American Joe Smith would likely choose. I will continue to investigate further as to why pink is not a taboo color for men.
Evidence #2: Make-overs at Manskin Men's Beauty Shop
This isn't for a photo shoot or a television appearance. This is taken at a shop entirely devoted to men's skin health and beauty. And from some of the smiles he gave the camera, he seems to be enjoying it....
American men, pay attention~!!! You too can powder you nose a bit and cover up your unsightly pimples!
Evidence #3: Male Manicure
This was shocking even to my Korean friends. A Korean couple are getting a manicure TOGETHER. Korean couples have a very strong "togetherness" factor. They tend to cling to each other like 2012 is tomorrow. My guess is that she talked him into buffing up his nails.
Conclusion:
Concern for a man's beauty is more of a health consideration and has nothing to do with being "feminine". Overall, Koreans seem to place great value on health and hygiene so there isn't anything "gay" about caring for your health.
The pink cellphone though... that's just way out there.
Peace~
Claire
2 comments:
> From: arthur(at)speakeasy(dot)net
> To: hikaruclaire(at)hotmail(dot)com
> Subject: Gendered colors, just because...
> Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:26:56 -0700
>
> Blogger is not being friendly to me at the moment, so I'll just email
> you my comment.
>
> The pink/blue gender divide is mostly a Western social construct, and
> (where it existed) it actually worked the other way around up until
> the late 1950s. Pink (as a watered-down version of the aggressive red)
> was considered masculine, and blue was considered feminine. Take a
> loot at the old Disney movies - Snow White (1937) wears blue and
> yellow; Cinderella (1950) wears blue; Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, 1959)
> is a pretty good marker for the switch - the faeries in the movie
> actually fight over the color of her wardrobe, and she switches back
> and forth (ending up with pink). I don't know that it was a deliberate
> bit of symbolism from the animators, but it is a good reminder,
> chronologically.
>
> I remember reading a pretty spiffy article on this, so I dug out a
> SpringerLink for you (if you're that interested).
> http://www.springerlink.com/content/v17324p7g47771gk/
>
> Over in Korea, there may be different gender-colors, or colors may not
> have developed strongly-associated genders at all. That's my guess.
> The pink phone may have no more meaning than a green one.
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