star

i think that's bc a majority of bls are korean or set in korea and the authors themselves are korean and in south korea the beauty standards are insane and the way they promote eating disorders so casually is kinda crazy over there tbh.

a friend i know lived there for a while they said the food culture is crazy everything has the calories written on it and you're constantly seeing diet ads everywhere and that's also a huge topic when you meet people it's so normal to start talking about each other's bodies and pointing out body shape, weight, color, etc.... so that's probably why the authors generally make the characters so thin and promote that type of lifestyle, bc it's so common and encouraged over there

I get what you mean I think its bc of the general culture around body weight and eating and stuff in East asian countries- the ideal of being really skinny and not really 'needing' to eat reflects a lot in mangas and manhwas and stuff

this might be triggering?


because, and this is going to sound disgusting because it is, you can be too thin and hot but you can't be too fat and hot. to these people fatness and attractiveness are exclusive characteristics. which is why they need you to know that their characters aren't like those ugly fatsos who gorge themselves on thousands of of calories daily, they starve themselves and they are beautiful *because* of it. a very thin malnourished body is still beautiful, a very heavy malnourished one isn't. it's no coincidence that a lot of these korean manhwas with the same cliche art style came out after kpop blew up in the west and in korea as well. it's because kpop idols have been a huge part in promoting starving yourself for days on end to lose weight and look beautiful idea, though obviously the thinness = beauty idea has existed in EA before kpop. this is why i avoid reading stories set in modern world, or at least set in uni. they tend to have a lot of problematic elements to them.

diet culture is unfortunately very normalized in korea. im sure that 99% of people i know don't even know that 거식증 (anorexia, or eating disorder because it's barely specified here) is an actual disease. the word isn't used often nor diagnosed properly. as students and adults, overwork and skipping meals are normalized and not seen as a problem even if it is for weight loss purposes^^ for koreans, it really means 'this person is hard working while also thin,' which is the virtue. i don't think authors means to promote eating disorders, but are trying to frame a character in an earnest way（￣へ￣）

ughgjgjgjggjhhfhfhhf i hate these stupid beauty standards

realreal

you're so true and idk if the triggering comment was to me or you but wheeoososp
honestly i get why i see so many because i primarillyy read korean stories, and you are so right, if its a historical or mafia or any other type of story that isn't uni or schoollife typically has less problems in its undertones

thats honestly so wild
like people dont even know??? crazy.

oh i meant it as a warning since it might be triggering to you (or anyone else), since i did use some nasty language to show the way these people think about thicker people.