The best invention in the world is...

Today I did a lesson with my second graders that focused on inventions.  After I showed a brief slideshow of some famous inventors and their inventions, they had to work in groups to decide on what they thought are the five best inventions of all time.  The following are some of the answers I got:

Fried chicken
Rice burgers
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Toilet paper
Fire
Religion
Telephones
PC rooms
Plastic surgery

Yes, that's plastic surgery.  I asked the student why and he said plastic surgery, and he said that it is because people can get plastic surgery and  it will change their lives and they will have more opportunities.  I asked him what kind of opportunities, and I don't think he understood, so my co-teacher stepped in to tell me that in Korea people care more about your appearance than they do about character.

Now, I don't think that is absolutely true by any means--Korean people certainly DO care about character, but lest I forget this country is number 1 in the world for plastic surgery, my students have told me on MANY occasions that this it's a big deal in Korea.

Earlier this week I did a lesson where I told the students a short story about a man who wakes up in the middle of the night and goes down to his basement to an old trunk, takes out an envelope, throws it in the fire, goes back to his room, kisses his wife on the cheek, and goes to sleep.  The students basically had to write a back story to tell me why he threw the envelope into the fire.  I got some pretty entertaining stories, but it was really interesting to see how many of the stories mentioned plastic surgery.  I would say at least a third of the stories had at least some mention to plastic surgery at some point.

These two lessons have really reminded me that plastic surgery is just a fact of life for many Koreans today.  When I turn on the tv and see models in commercials or any of the Korean celebrities on a tv show, it is beyond obvious that they have had considerable plastic surgery.  They simply don't look like the Korean people I encounter on a daily basis (which is really a shame because Korean people really are naturally beautiful).

To finish my lesson today, my students had to create an invention of their own. One group created a cream that lightens your skin.  I told them about how Americans think that it is beautiful to have dark skin and they were perplexed. It is so crazy to me that many people tan obsessively, to the point where they get cancer, when in Korea people want absolutely nothing to do with being tan (they would never want to be mistaken as a southeast Asian).

When I hear my students talk so nonchalantly about plastic surgery, I want nothing more than to tell them that the plastic surgery craze is nonsense.  For a country that values its culture so deeply, I cannot understand why physically they strive for a western ideal instead of valuing what is unique about their identity.  There is a complete contradiction that exists in Korean culture--they are proud of their heritage and the obstacles they have overcome, but do not think their natural appearance can be acceptable without undergoing surgery.  One of my classes voted Hangul (the Korean writing system) as the best invention in the history of the world because "they are Korean and it has kept their culture", but two minutes later the same students were telling me about the importance of plastic surgery.

 I want to tell my students to fight against this notion that they need to change their appearance to have a good life. I want to tell them not to buy into it--to ignore these messages from society.

Of course, it's easy for me to say...I will one day leave Korea, and return to the US.  The majority of  my students will always live in Korea.  Their opportunities for marriage and employment often DO rely on their image. Of course, we have our own image problems in the US. There are plenty of teens in the US who feel the pressure to be something they're not.  But I can without doubt say the pressure in Korea is far more intense.  Or maybe Koreans are just more honest with themselves about the issue.  Maybe it is just as bad in the US, but we don't acknowledge it or we try to bury the subject.  I don't really know, but what I certainly DO know is that there is something incredibly disturbing to me about a beautiful sixteen year old girl telling me that plastic surgery is the best invention ever because it can "change your life and help you get a boyfriend."

I know I can't change this part of the culture, and it's neither my job or place to do so. It's disheartening, but I suppose I can only try to find the little things I can do, like telling my girls that they are beautiful or giving them compliments when I talk to them.

Maybe if they hear it enough they'll actually start to believe it.