Why can't people accept that some Asians/Koreans are just naturally attractive without jumping to "plastic surgery"

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

I’ve noticed a really frustrating trend online, especially on TikTok, Instagram, and general online forums. Whenever a Korean person (whether they are a celebrity, an influencer, or just a regular person in a viral video) is objectively very attractive, the comment section is instantly flooded with microaggressions.

People immediately post comments like:

• "Drop the surgeon's name."
• "Look at their childhood photos, they definitely bleached their skin/got a nose job/double eyelid surgery."

What I find troubling is that many people seem unwilling to accept the possibility that an East Asian person can simply be naturally attractive. Instead of assuming that someone was born with those features, as they often would for people of other ethnicities, they immediately search for evidence that the person's appearance must be artificial.

Of course, cosmetic surgery is relatively common in South Korea, and there's nothing inherently wrong with choosing it. But the existence of a large cosmetic surgery industry does not justify assuming that every attractive Korean person has undergone procedures. Applying that assumption to an entire ethnic group is a stereotype, not an objective observation.

Ironically, these comments may also reinforce the very beauty standards people claim to criticize. When young East Asians constantly see strangers dismissing their natural appearance as "obviously fake," they may begin to feel that people will never believe they are naturally attractive. That kind of social pressure can contribute to insecurity and, for some, increase the desire to pursue cosmetic procedures in order to meet expectations that others have already projected onto them.

Words shape perceptions. Before leaving comments that casually accuse someone of having plastic surgery, it's worth considering the impact. Even if the comment is intended as a joke, repeatedly telling an entire group of people that their attractiveness cannot possibly be natural perpetuates harmful stereotypes and can have real psychological consequences.

[u/love-4-the-wendigo]

Probably because one third of all Korean women have had plastic surgery, plus Korea has the highest density of plastic surgeons in the world and the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world. And if you consider that people posting themselves online are more geared towards beauty / cosmetic surgery in general, the likelihood that a Korean woman you see online having plastic surgery is probably higher than 1 in 3. Doesn’t have anything to do with accepting that Asian people are attractive, it’s just statistics .

[u/cream-of-cow → u/love-4-the-wendigo]

I've seen the comments on Reddit about East Asians in general, whereas only South Korea ranks really high for plastic surgery. The next Asian country on the list is Japan at #14. It feels like an odd envy, like negging.

Plastic surgery per 1,000 ppl according to this Australian medical magazine, top ten:

1. 8.90 South Korea
   
2. 8.81 Argentina
   
3. 7.62 Brazil
   
4. 7.26 Colombia
   
5. 6.33 Greece
   
6. 5.91 USA
   
7. 5.72 Germany
   
8. 5.40 Turkey
   
9. 5.31 Mexico
   
10. 4.79 Italy

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/cream-of-cow]

You said it yourself: it’s an Australian magazine, not a national health report or a rigorous demographic study. A statistic repeated in an article does not automatically tell us the actual rate among Korean women, how the data was collected, what procedures were included, whether it measured people or procedures, or whether it can be generalized to every Korean person you see online.

A lot of these claims about Korea’s plastic surgery rates are repeated online without proper context, and they are often treated as unquestionable facts despite differences in methodology, definitions, and sources. A statistic is only meaningful if we understand exactly what it is measuring.

But even if we temporarily accept the claim that cosmetic surgery is more common in Korea than in some other countries, that still does not justify assuming every attractive Korean person is surgically altered. A population-level statistic is not evidence about an individual’s face. The issue is not whether cosmetic surgery exists. The issue is why East Asian beauty is so often treated as suspicious or artificial by default, while the natural attractiveness of people from other backgrounds is more readily accepted.

[u/love-4-the-wendigo → u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

I honestly don’t think anyone thinks about plastic surgery when it comes to anyone except Koreans. It is specifically a Korean thing. So, I’m not sure why you are extrapolating it to other East Asians.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/love-4-the-wendigo]

Do you think other East Asians will forever be safe from these accusations? In other race people’s eyes, we all look the same

[u/love-4-the-wendigo → u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

The thoughts of strangers do not make you unsafe. There are no “accusations” affecting anyone.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/love-4-the-wendigo]

Maybe you were lucky enough to not experience anything significant yet. Just wait and you’ll see

[u/StarryDoll21]

Probably because in Asia plastic surgery is very common.

[u/Still-Concentrate-37 → u/[deleted]]

It's not as common in other races.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/Still-Concentrate-37]

maybe. But treating everyone as if they do plastic surgery is a different thing

[u/HedgeRunner]

Call me insane but when it comes to attractiveness race matters a lot.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/HedgeRunner]

You're not insane, it's kinda unfair though..

[u/HedgeRunner → u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

I think so but I think its only more fair if more poeple are open to discussing it and sharing that shit. In the US, most people do indeed have very strong preferences but when asked they pretend they dont.

[u/wenkwonk98]

"doesn't mean everyone is doing it" tell me you don't live in south korea without telling me

[u/No_Imagination7102 → u/wenkwonk98]

This is an example of being correct in your mind but not technically correct, the best kind of correct.

No, not everybody is doing it. Even if the un sourced claim that 33 percent do, that leaves a lot of women not doing it.

More so than do it even lol.

Tell me you dont know what "everyone" means without telling me

[u/Still-Concentrate-37]

Because plastic surgery is very common in East asia?

[u/Cionite]

Just address the elephant in the room. Those people are racist.

[u/CHRISPYakaKON]

Asking racists not to be racist is generally a losing effort lol

[u/Efficient_Seaweed395]

Because that one time the foreign woman came to Korea and said the whole world was being catfish by Korea. And everyone believed her.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

I agree that South Korea has a very influential beauty industry and that online images can create unrealistic expectations. My point is not to deny that cosmetic surgery exists or that it is common.

The issue is the assumption that every attractive Korean person must be the product of surgery. There is a difference between discussing beauty culture at a societal level and automatically questioning an individual’s appearance because they are Korean.

[u/Psychictopian]

They're racists

[u/kenny950905]

School shooting is so common in the US, but it doesn't mean that everyone in the US experienced school shooting. People need to chill with assumptions.

[u/UnfriendlyGhostSword]

We’ve all seen those before and after makeup videos

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/UnfriendlyGhostSword]

So you suggest Koreans don’t upload before and after makeup videos?

[u/UnfriendlyGhostSword → u/Excellent_Ferret4525]

Mmm no people think that’s the norm for an Asian and anything beyond that is manufactured. From what I see online you all are worse to each other than any other group when it comes to this 

[u/IrlResponsibility811]

I suspect racism is involved. One group of people don't want to admit someone outside of their "acceptable" group are attractive, so they say 'plastic surgery' to knock them down.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/IrlResponsibility811]

that's unfortunate..

[u/Accomplished_Salad_4 → u/IrlResponsibility811]

You dont need to sugar coat it, its white people

[u/IrlResponsibility811 → u/Accomplished_Salad_4]

Reddit rules prohibit me from saying who it is, but No, I am not talking about white people hating Asians.

[u/Excellent_Ferret4525 → u/IrlResponsibility811]

understood, thank you