This is why there is a market for items like butt pads and padded bras, in lots of countries, because women feel like they have to have it all. The problem with dieting and exercise is that you can’t choose which parts of the body lose weight, and with women it is often the chest and butt that get smaller first. S-line is just what it sounds like when the idol stands sideways their butt and chest stick out, causing the vague shape of the letter S. Sojin’s waist, for example, is supposedly 22 inches, a size that can be compared to plenty of people’s thighs.Ĭompare to that, the list of idols with an s-line includes Hyuna, SECRET’s Zinger, and Minzy of 2NE1. Some idols known for their ant waists are Girl’s Day’s Sojin, Seo In-Young, and Taeyeon of SNSD. This is where the ideal proportions of having an ant waist and having an s-curve conflict, because it is hard to be very skinny but also maintain weight in just the right areas (ahem, chest). What about body size in general? Well, obviously being skinny is the ideal, but having curves is also important. On the other hand, the Korean audience seems to find the twins extremely handsome, which speaks to the culture difference in beauty standards. This has resulted in them being compared to many small animals (such as sugar gliders) and called scary by the international netizen community. A good example of this is the Jo twins from the group Boyfriend, because they have both small faces and giant eyes, with a v-shaped jaw line to boot. It’s not that kittens aren’t cute it’s just that a human is not a kitten, so the overall look can be a turn off for some fans. Since, genetically, it is contradictory to want to have a small face but to want facial features to be large, when these two traits are actually combined it causes the face to have a disproportionate look, reminiscent of a baby animal.
The biological norm is to have small features that are proportionate to your small face, which is why eyelid tape and contacts and plastic surgery have to be used to create the idol “big eye” look. To increase the large eye look, a lot of idols are wearing circle lenses these days, which makes their eyes look bigger by increasing the diameter of their irises, but it is fairly obvious that it is unnatural when seen up close. These are just two examples in a list that goes on and on and on, and, let us be honest, includes many idols whose large eyes are anything but natural.
Some idols known for their large eyes are Qri, of T-ARA, and Yoon-hye, of Rainbow. The members of B2ST got their heads measured on MBC’s All the K-pop, and it actually caused a bit of stress for the members who weren’t confident about their head size, and of course, Yoseob ended up winning the competition with a head measuring 54.4 centimeters.Īlong with having a small face, having big eyes is also a desirable trait in K-pop. Not only is having a small face desirable in K-pop, but having a small head in general is as well. Jaekyung of Rainbow posted pictures of herself on Twitter in which a cookie was placed in front of her head and it covered her entire face, and similarly, Youngjae of B.A.P posted pictures of himself with a hamburger covering his entire face (not surprising since it was an American hamburger). There are a number of idols who fit the tiny face description and their faces are often measured in units of food. Do you consider the small size of your head and face to determine your beauty? Are your eyes big and round like a kitten’s? Well, both of these are desirable traits in K-pop. When multiple ideal body proportions are grasped by luck of the genetic draw, or some other method, it tends to end up looking more unnatural than beautiful. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful, but the specific proportions that are ideal in K-pop end up contradicting each other, making perfection difficult to reach.
Some of these traits, such as a v-shaped jaw, are gained though biology (or surgery), and some, like the ant waist, can be gained through dieting and exercise. Korean beauty standards, and specifically K-pop beauty standards, are based around a list of specific traits and proportions that when put together make the perfect body. V-line, s-line, x-line, ant waist, small face, honey thighs, golden proportions.