Blog Post 2 - Researching the Joseon Era Part One - Women

In the last blog post, I talked about all the background knowledge I had on Korean beauty standards as I know them to be today in Korea, as well as preliminary research. Moving on from that point, I decided to look back, all the way to the Joseon era, which was founded in 1392 and lasted until 1897 and is considered to be the last dynasty in Korea.

Needless to say, the beauty standards of those times were vastly different from what modern day Korea's standards. The time period valued women who had a very round face, with broad and rounded foreheads, thin and curved eyebrows, thin and long eyes with monolids, low and rounded noses, and small and concave lips. Just as a reminder, this is vastly different from modern day Korean beauty standards, which are basically the opposite; small, v-shaped faces, small foreheads, thicker and straight eyebrows, big, round eyes with double eyelids, and delicate, petal-like lips. An interesting detail I found, however, was that both modern day and Joseon era beauty favoured fair skin. This is due to the fact that not being tanned meant you didn't have to work outside in the sun, while nowadays it's favoured because of 'white beauty' being the baseline for 'real' beauty across the world.

Modern day beauty

Joseon era beauty

Why would there be such a big shift in beauty standards, especially in a country that's so homogenous? Of course, the first thing I thought of was the influence of westerners discovering Korea. If you were to compare the two sets of beauty standards to the natural features of Europeans, it's very obvious the influence that this has had on Korean beauty standards. 

After looking at this, I wondered to myself, what exactly influences beauty standards? Of course, the easy answer for our time right now, is media. It's all around us, and it's what we take in every day. But what about back in the Joseon era? 

So I decided to do some more research into the Joseon era as a whole. And I found out that the country was very much rooted in the Confucianism, which states that your relationship with your family is to be valued over anything else. It also states that your body is a gift from your parents, and altering it in any way (be it cutting your hair or wearing makeup that makes you look too different) was considered dishonourable.

Confucianism also puts big emphasis on the connection between everything living harmoniously. During this time, especially in Korea, nature was a big part of the daily life, which might once again, affect the beauty standards.

A quote I found about the how women should look like during this time was "round and smooth face like the moon, wide a rigid forehead like the sky, eyebrows like a branch of a willow tree, horizontally long, slender eyes, and small lips like a cherry" 

Another interesting thing I found about about Confucianism is how it reinforced male authority, and that women must remain subservient to men. Keeping this is your mind, the connection is clear when looking at what the different parts of what was considered to be 'beautiful' mean. For example, a broad and round forehead meant that she was a virtuous housewife. Thin and curved eyebrows meant that she had wisdom and excellent sensitivity. Monolids and thin eyes meant she possessed longevity, while the low and rounded nose curve meant that she would be a good mother and wife. The small lips meant she was gentle and intelligent, while the round face meant she had good memory.

Hair was another big deal during this time. Women's status was often determined by how they worse their hair. 어여머리 (pronounced Eoyeo meori, and shown on the left by Lee Yowon in historical Korean drama Queen Seondok) was how women in the royal palace wore their hair after being married. 첩지머리 (Cheopji meori and shown on the right by Han Hyojoo in the drama Dong Yi) was another way married royal women wore their hair, but this hairstyle could also be worn by high ranking noblewomen.

얹은머리 (Eonjun meori, shown on the left by Seo Joohyun in Scarlet Heart: Ryeo) was the way many rich women showed off their wealth by making their hair look big using wigs. This look was later taken on by courtesans and prostitutes, especially in the latter half of the Joseon era. 귀밑머리, or kwimit meori was worn by women before they were married (on the right by

Confucianism told women that to be beautiful, you must be beneficial to your husband. And by rooting these physical features in these traits, is what made them so valued. Combine this with the fact that people wished to be in harmony with nature, and you have the reason behind these beauty standards for women in this time.


Citations
Cho, Bokyung. "Beauty Standards in Korea." Wordpress. Accessed November 12, 2018. https://bokyungcho.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/beauty-standards-in-korea/

Kim, Hyunmee. Yoo, Theodore K. “Shifting Beauty Standards and Aesthetics from Joseon to Colonial Period.” Gender, Family, and Social Change in Contemporary South Korea. Online lecture at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. Accessed November 12, 2018.

Lee, Hyunok. Ku, Yangsuk. 2012. “Aesthetic Characteristics of Face in the Late Joseon Dynasty’s Beauty Paintings.” Fashion and Textile Research Journal volume 14, issue 6. https://doi.org/10.5805/KSCI.2012.14.6.918

muchadoaboutlove. "A Guide to Joseon Hairstyles and Headgears." The Talking Cupboard. Accessed November 12, 2018. https://thetalkingcupboard.com/2013/04/17/a-guide-to-joseon-hairstyles-and-headgears/

Song, Jooyeon. "Standard of Beauty: Choson vs Contemporary Korea." Blogger. Accessed November 12, 2018. http://learnpremodernkorea.blogspot.com/2011/12/standard-of-beauty-choson-vs.html

"Women and Confucianism." Women in World History. Accessed November 12, 2018. http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson3.html