For Women In Korean Pop, 'Making It' Can Mean A Makeover
"Seoul is the home of Korean pop music, or K-pop, which is quickly becoming one of
Korea's biggest exports. It's a multibillion dollar industry that, for the last decade, has been dominated by girl groups."
"Management agencies churn out groups that look alike and embody a girlish, doe-eyed innocence. But critics say there's a dark side to the bubblegum images being spread around the world."
"The industry is especially hard on Korean women. Park Boram, considered a classic K-pop success story, is in many ways a poster child for the K-pop ideal. She was a teenage girl who went through various contortions to become what she is today. Her four-year training process involved learning to dance, sing, and act. It also involved modifying her appearance. She changed her hair, her face and, most notably, her body, dropping 66 pounds."