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An unprecedented trend is sweeping across this country to become an "eoljjang" or a "momjjang" the two shortened Korean slangs for "pretty face" and "knockout body." Since the words began to spread like wildfire in cyberspace earlier this year, many young Koreans are turning to shaping up their appearances in hopes of acquiring the tag that reads "good-looking."
At the center of this social phenomenon is an ordinary woman in her late 30s who posted her story of becoming a "momjjang" herself on the Internet. A mother of two kids the woman's unbelievable appearance triggered an explosive response.
"I think it's had a huge effect to people working out in Korea. Koreans are very self-concious about the way they look and with this lady losing 20 kilograms, we're having an increase in sales in January and in February, we're beating January's sales. I think it had a big effect."an official with the California Fitness Center said.
But there are others who express concerns that the trend has gone too far. They argue the idea of standardized beauty with many trying to gain acceptance through copycatting the perfect image is not right. They also stress that good looks aren't always the shortcut to popularity, social status and money.
"I think the media has played the biggest role in triggering this latest craze. You see so many stars with good appearances on TV and that's what drives people to visualize those images and hit the gym." an actor said.
The bottom line is you don't become someone else by exercising hard core but just like wearing clothes that can make you look better, exercising will help you to maximize your fitness while covering your weakness to some extent. Maximizing fitness could be the goal without falling prey to the latest craze. So say many observers who also point to the fact that after all "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
Is it just a shallow obsession over looks or an aspect of the well-being trend? Whatever the answer, experts warn against agonizing over that perfect figure, stressing that what should come first is learning to appreciate our natural shapes.
Arirang TV
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