Ji Yeo Exhibition on View in Photography Area

Ji Yeo’s exhibition Beauty Recovery Room is on display in the Dodd Photography Area’s Hardigree Hall on the second floor south wing through October 20. The show was curated by Photography Fellow Forest Kelley.

Beauty Recovery Room shows the wounded faces and bodies of women who have recently undergone plastic surgery. They show the physical cost that many Korean women bear by adhering to the social pressures of attaining beauty—specifically, a more Western look.

Data compiled from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery confirms that South Korea is indeed the country with the highest per capita rate of cosmetic plastic surgery. It is a culture where men are judged on their financial balance sheet and women by their beauty. The male-dominated media endlessly reinforces its model of the ideal woman. As a result of these cultural forces, Korea has become a beauty-oriented society where people are judged more for their appearance than their character. Korean women often fall into the trap of trying to live up to an ideal depicted in the media. The combination of these factors has dramatically increased the burgeoning plastic surgery industry while creating another set of standards for women to adhere to. Enduring general anesthesia, cuts, bruises, and often intense scarring for the sake of vanity is no longer considered risky or extravagant behavior; quite the reverse, it has become commonplace.