美国国家公共电台 NPR--South Korean beauty culture reveals a grim future in 'Flawless'

South Korean beauty culture reveals a grim future in 'Flawless'

Transcript¹

Brittany Luse, of the NPR podcast It's Been a Minute, talks to NPR's Elise Hu, who writes about Korean beauty standards in the book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

No matter where you live, people make judgments² based on how you look. Those judgments are a little different in different places, as one of our longtime colleagues discovered when she moved. NPR's Elise Hu found Korean beauty standards so revealing she wrote a book called "Flawless" and talked with Brittany Luse of It's Been A Minute.

BRITTANY LUSE, BYLINE³: When Elise moved to South Korea in 2015 to set up the first NPR Seoul bureau, her reporting focus was quite clear - a pretty busy time for geopolitics and a lot of missile provocations⁴ from North Korea. But in the midst of geopolitical tension, she noticed that at every street corner, in every magazine, TV show, and even from other people, that there was an expectation she wasn't meeting.

ELISE HU, BYLINE: I saw so many before-and-after signs and so many advertisements of what to look like and skin care places and face shops across from face shops and across from face shops.

LUSE: A few years later, she found she was still thinking about Korea's vision of beauty. After exhaustive research and many revelations, she brings us this new book which lays out some pretty high stakes for beauty.

HU: Korean women accurately⁵ perceive that failing to be thin or failing to be beautiful will literally⁶ cost them. Korea is still a place where you're encouraged to attach a headshot to a resume, where passport photos come photoshopped by default. There's also - the hypermodernity of Korea, I think, really plays a huge role. So South Korea being very forward in developing technology is another reason why visuals matter a lot - right? - because our projections⁷, our digital avatars, supersede⁸ our physical bodies because that's the way that we are seen and we want to be seen. And you can be seen all the time.

LUSE: And there is a collectively understood ideal for women. The standard is more than a cute face, minimal⁹ makeup¹⁰ and smooth skin. Elise found specs, actual metrics that tell you whether or not you qualify as beautiful.

HU: And for a woman would be weighing under 50kg, so 110 pounds, having at least a C cup bra. Cosmetic¹¹ surgeons will say the ideal beauty - the chin part of the face is slightly smaller, and so that helped popularize the jawline or V-line surgery that would shave down the jaws¹² to make more of a heart-shaped jawline. There's all these ratios that are applied¹³ in the same way that we apply to, you know, nonhuman things.

LUSE: Elise also notes that the wheels are greased for you to buy into the standards because it's culturally acceptable, easy and relatively¹⁴ affordable¹⁵ to get surgery.

HU: So crucially, because of the glutted¹⁶ market, it's a lot more affordable to get Botox. It's a lot more affordable to get an eyelid¹⁷ surgery or get your jawline shaved down. So all the conditions are there to make it rational to drastically modify your body. But just as I don't think the way to address homophobia is to make everybody straight or the way to address fatphobia is to make everybody skinny, I don't think the way to address a lookist (ph) society where you are discriminated¹⁸ against because of your appearance is for everybody to be so-called pretty.

LUSE: This book is full of interesting dives into fixations on legs, government-driven beauty and the technological¹⁹ gaze. I was regularly pausing to absorb what I had just read. And for those of you who think that none of this has anything to do with you, Elise has convinced me that a lot of the intense beauty pressure is headed here, if it hasn't already arrived for some of us.

HU: There's that quote, right? The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed.

LUSE: Elise Hu's "Flawless: Lessons In Looks And Culture From The K-Beauty Capital" is out now.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: She spoke²⁰ with Brittany Luse of the podcast and radio show It's Been A Minute.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

8 supersede   

v.替代；充任

参考例句：

• We must supersede old machines by new ones.我们必须以新机器取代旧机器。
• The use of robots will someday supersede manual labor.机器人的使用有一天会取代人力。

9 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

10 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

11 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

12 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

16 glutted   

v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满

参考例句：

• The market was glutted with shoddy goods. 次货充斥市场。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The tour of Guilin glutted my eyes. 桂林一游使我大饱眼福。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 eyelid   

n.眼睑，眼皮

参考例句：

• She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
• My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。

18 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

19 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

20 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。