South Korean Beauty Standards Depicted Through Female Characters in Frances Cha's If I Had Your Face

Abstract

If I Had Your Face is a novel written by Frances Cha which was first published in 2020. It discusses the struggle of five women characters to make a better life. The two characters, Kyuri and Sujin, need to fit the South Korean beauty standards by doing plastic surgery to improve their life. The objective of this study is to examine how the representation of South Korean beauty standards in Frances Cha’s If I Had Your Face novel is and how the critical position of the author is. As the novel sets in contemporary Seoul, South Korea, this study reveals the construction of beauty in the 21st century. The method used is descriptive qualitative. It uses Stuart Hall’s representation theory as the theoretical framework. In addition, this study uses Hall’s encoding/decoding concept to reveal the media construction of beauty. It also uses to reveal how the South Korean beauty issue is consumed by the characters in the novel. The findings show that South Korean beauty standards are seen through physical appearance: small face, big eyes, pale skin, slim figure, and hairstyle. The construction of beauty standards is the result of the various media’s influence: television programs, commercial advertisements, and magazines.