Popular Fifth Gen K-Pop Boy Group Idol Sparks Discussion Over “Weird” Korean Beauty Standard

“This is a beauty standard I will personally never understand.”

Korean beauty standards are known for being unrealistically strict and unobtainable in many ways. Apart from more “obvious” standards such as slim figures and harmonious facial features, traits such as pale skin, aegyo-sal (under-eye bags), and even certain body proportions are deemed more “desirable” than others, and it has created a very toxic culture in the K-Pop industry and Korean society in general. It’s no wonder that South Korea has become the country with the most plastic surgery per capita, as netizens try their best to conform to these strict beauty expectations.

Arguably one of the oddest beauty “standards” that has become more discussed in recent times is head size. K-Pop idols with small heads compared to the rest of their body have been getting praise compared to those who don’t, and it has gotten to the point where many international fans are bewildered over the obsession with smaller heads.

This subject came up on a recent forum post paired with images of TWS‘s Dohoon. He and Shinyu, in particular, have been idols that have been getting a lot of attention for their proportions since they debuted, and it does seem like they do have very small heads compared to their long, tall figures.

A picture of Dohoon standing next to fellow member Jihoon was included in the post, and it shows that the former does have quite different proportions than the latter.

One might assume that maybe Jihoon just has a slightly bigger head rather than Dohoon’s being particularly small. However, another image was included that shows that, compared to ZEROBASEONE‘s Sung Hanbin, Jihoon’s head is actually smaller than his.

These comparisons sparked a conversation in the comments of the forum post, with several people expressing confusion and distaste over the odd beauty standard being discussed.

What do you think about this so-called ideal trait?