The pressure for people to meet societal beauty standards is rising as technology and online sharing have increased.

Compared to the past, there are more online platforms that we can use to communicate with people.

TikTok and YouTube are widely known as a platform where people can upload a video to anyone who wants to.

The content on these platforms can be shared worldwide and people create their trends.

When people start to get noticed and grow an audience, they are able to advertise the products and make money.

Their paid advertisements will influence people to follow and purchase the products

Affordable technology and countless ads endorsed by “perfect” celebrities constantly bombard people in the same way YouTube and TikTok have influenced people.

However, these “perfect” images of idols are produced through Photoshop, makeup, extreme exercise, and dieting to have this “ideal” body.

People want to be like the celebrities that they admire and try to have the same body type to be pretty like them.

They are trying the products that the celebrities are endorsing.

People compare themselves to these celebrities, undermining themselves, and becoming more insecure.

People post their pictures on social media that trigger people by showing ‘Before and After’ pictures of plastic surgery, make-up tutorials, and dieting.

Young people see these pictures and suffer to meet this beauty standard and do extreme dieting in order to be slim.

So many ads, dramas, and multimedia are based on these unrealistic beauty standards and how difficult it is for people to achieve them.

The number 1 rated show for a few weeks in Korea was the Netflix series, Mask Girl.

As the appearance of the movie's main character becomes far from her long-lasting dream of being a celebrity, she wears a mask and a wig and starts broadcasting on the Internet under the name of “Mask Girl.”

The reason why she hid her face and broadcasted was that people praised her when she hid her face which got bullied and made her intimidated in real life.

So, she realized that in order to be loved by people, she needed to cover her face.

The discrimination she received when she entered the real world naturally made her ashamed of her appearance.

The series was not only a hit in Korea but gained popularity globally, and it became a lesson for people.

Many argue that it became a story that they usually reflect on their unwitting appearance evaluation and were too obsessed with their appearance and self-conscious.

Many people are under extreme stress due to their obsession with appearance.

People are trying to match the beauty standards of celebrities online.

As technology increases, people grow more and more obsessed with their physical appearance.

Multimedia in Korea has caused so many people to feel defeated.

This should be stopped, or the people’s mindsets will not change in South Korea.

Lucy Huh

Grade 12

Jones International Christian School