SEOUL – Looks no longer center only on the face in beauty-obsessed South Korea, where more women are hitting the gym to improve muscle tone and physical health.
As the ideal of beauty evolves in a country that is a trendsetter in cosmetics and the pursuit of plastic surgery, women’s fitness has become a growth business, say purveyors of health products, from diet supplements to dumb-bells.
“Women used to starve in order to lose weight. Now they exercise,” said celebrity trainer Ray Yang, who leads a workout session during the Body Show, a weekly television event targeted at women that is now in its second season.
South Korea is a beauty powerhouse, with a $12billion cosmetics industry and home-grown brands from the likes of Amorepacific Corp and LG Household & Healthcare riding a wave, or “hallyu”, of cultural exports, from television dramas to pop music.
As in other Asian countries, the popular depiction of Korean women has tended toward the slim, fair-skinned and demure, reinforcing gender stereotypes in a male-dominated society.
Until recently, physical fitness was not much of a priority for Korean women.
Thinness was so prized that young women often steered clear of sports such as hiking and cycling, for fear they would leave them with thicker legs.
The desire for a more robust physique comes as female workforce participation reached a record high this year, while Koreans of both sexes are delaying marriage and childbirth.
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