Since the 1950s, the United States of America has been the dominant player in exporting its culture to the rest of the world. The most valuable soft drink in the world is Coke, followed by Pepsi. The most common pair of pants are jeans. The biggest film awards are probably the Oscars. Indeed, America has the advantage of size and technology advancement to achieve its current status and probably will do so in the foreseeable future. It is a form of soft power, an idea that has been taken in by South Korea government in recent years to boost its influence overseas using Korean pop, also known as K-pop.
K-pop is a successful story. It is wildly popular in Asia and has overthrown pop culture from Japan since the late 2000s. I am not a fan of it, but I can feel the effects around me. TV screens in the malls display the pretty looking men and women dancing in sync and singing. Youtube recommends me the hottest K pop videos when I browse the web. My colleagues talk about the latest Korean drama. I continue to be an exception in my country and probably belong to the minority, simply because my taste is different.
Like it or not, culture affects our tastes and beliefs to a large extent. The current trend for a woman to be considered beautiful in US is to have beautiful make up, nice hair, nice chest, great flat tummy and curvy bum. Statistically though, hourglass shape women are the least common. The most common shape is pear, meaning most women are generally slightly rounder at the bottom compared to the top. So to achieve a nice hourglass shape, women are getting implants for the curvy look, simply because the Kardashians started the "thicc" trend. Plastic surgery is on the rise, with boob jobs and bum jobs being popular.
Moving to Asia, the definition of beauty changes. A woman is considered beautiful when she has nice fair skin, a slender body and a v shaped face. Why? Because the Korean celebrities look like that. The number of plastic surgery in Asia are rising as well, as women wish for double eyelids, round eyes and nice chest implants. In fact, people are starting to realise that asian women after plastic surgery tend to look alike. Or at least they like to put on makeup to look alike...
In China, you find twins everywhere...
A portuguese lady used to complain that in my country, whenever she wears a top that reveals her cleavage, the men seem to stare at her. When she wears the same top back home in Europe, no one really bothers to look. If she does it in America, the staring happens again. The second observation she complained was that she found it super distasteful for women to wear shorts that are too skimpy, an observation echoed by another lady from Ukraine.
Interesting? I think so. My guess is this. I have to say guess because I have not lived in Europe long enough to understand the culture there. Also, Europe is vast and made up of too many countries. So it's going to be a generalisation.
Nudity in Europe is probably portrayed in a different manner compared to the States. In US, the sexiness of a woman is played up greatly by the giant advertisements splashing across screens, by musical videos with clubbing scenes and movies cracking jokes about boobs. Conversely in Europe, topless may be considered socially acceptable, or tolerable. Nudity does not equal to sex. Observe the fashion shows in Paris and Milan and you will realise that the clothing sent down in these shows may require the models to be seen semi nude from the belt above. Compare to a US fashion show in NY and you will probably see the American sportswear being sent down the runway. Of course, I am generalising here because you can have American sportswear designs gracing a European show and European fashion style in NY Fashion Week, but there is usually a difference in the fashion styles between Europe and US.
Gucci Fashion Show in Milan. Wear that in Asia and be prepared to get stared a lot...
The next question that I will ask is this. Is it more rude for a woman to show her top or her bottom? The Europeans will probably argue that it is vulgar to show the bottom or the crotch, simply because the crotch is where you do your toilet stuff. Hence they have a distaste for skimpy shorts. Unfortunately for them who live in Asia, skimpy shorts are considered normal, thanks to Korean celebrities who frequently parade around in such outfits in their music videos. Conversely, you will be hard pressed to see Asian celebrities showing off cleavage unnecessarily. Note the word unnecessarily. There are asian celebrities who show their cleavage to gain viewership, in movies or whatever reasons, but in general the cleavage is shown for some purpose because sex sells.
That's probably lewd in Europe but acceptable in Asia...
In short, cleavage is sexy in Asia and skimpy shorts are a little like white bread. As for US, I may be wrong, but I seem to get an impression that as long as a woman is showing more skin than usual, it is considered sexy...
K-pop is a successful story. It is wildly popular in Asia and has overthrown pop culture from Japan since the late 2000s. I am not a fan of it, but I can feel the effects around me. TV screens in the malls display the pretty looking men and women dancing in sync and singing. Youtube recommends me the hottest K pop videos when I browse the web. My colleagues talk about the latest Korean drama. I continue to be an exception in my country and probably belong to the minority, simply because my taste is different.
Like it or not, culture affects our tastes and beliefs to a large extent. The current trend for a woman to be considered beautiful in US is to have beautiful make up, nice hair, nice chest, great flat tummy and curvy bum. Statistically though, hourglass shape women are the least common. The most common shape is pear, meaning most women are generally slightly rounder at the bottom compared to the top. So to achieve a nice hourglass shape, women are getting implants for the curvy look, simply because the Kardashians started the "thicc" trend. Plastic surgery is on the rise, with boob jobs and bum jobs being popular.
Moving to Asia, the definition of beauty changes. A woman is considered beautiful when she has nice fair skin, a slender body and a v shaped face. Why? Because the Korean celebrities look like that. The number of plastic surgery in Asia are rising as well, as women wish for double eyelids, round eyes and nice chest implants. In fact, people are starting to realise that asian women after plastic surgery tend to look alike. Or at least they like to put on makeup to look alike...
In China, you find twins everywhere...
A portuguese lady used to complain that in my country, whenever she wears a top that reveals her cleavage, the men seem to stare at her. When she wears the same top back home in Europe, no one really bothers to look. If she does it in America, the staring happens again. The second observation she complained was that she found it super distasteful for women to wear shorts that are too skimpy, an observation echoed by another lady from Ukraine.
Interesting? I think so. My guess is this. I have to say guess because I have not lived in Europe long enough to understand the culture there. Also, Europe is vast and made up of too many countries. So it's going to be a generalisation.
Nudity in Europe is probably portrayed in a different manner compared to the States. In US, the sexiness of a woman is played up greatly by the giant advertisements splashing across screens, by musical videos with clubbing scenes and movies cracking jokes about boobs. Conversely in Europe, topless may be considered socially acceptable, or tolerable. Nudity does not equal to sex. Observe the fashion shows in Paris and Milan and you will realise that the clothing sent down in these shows may require the models to be seen semi nude from the belt above. Compare to a US fashion show in NY and you will probably see the American sportswear being sent down the runway. Of course, I am generalising here because you can have American sportswear designs gracing a European show and European fashion style in NY Fashion Week, but there is usually a difference in the fashion styles between Europe and US.
Gucci Fashion Show in Milan. Wear that in Asia and be prepared to get stared a lot...
The next question that I will ask is this. Is it more rude for a woman to show her top or her bottom? The Europeans will probably argue that it is vulgar to show the bottom or the crotch, simply because the crotch is where you do your toilet stuff. Hence they have a distaste for skimpy shorts. Unfortunately for them who live in Asia, skimpy shorts are considered normal, thanks to Korean celebrities who frequently parade around in such outfits in their music videos. Conversely, you will be hard pressed to see Asian celebrities showing off cleavage unnecessarily. Note the word unnecessarily. There are asian celebrities who show their cleavage to gain viewership, in movies or whatever reasons, but in general the cleavage is shown for some purpose because sex sells.
That's probably lewd in Europe but acceptable in Asia...
In short, cleavage is sexy in Asia and skimpy shorts are a little like white bread. As for US, I may be wrong, but I seem to get an impression that as long as a woman is showing more skin than usual, it is considered sexy...
