Korean Fashion Media, Beauty Ideals, and Colorism: Examining the Prominence of Whiteness Between 2013 and 2017 in Ceci Magazine

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this research was to critically examine fashion magazines targeted to Korean women to examine how much White or European-decent beauty ideals permeate Korean cultural outlets. In order to analyze beauty ideal representations in these fashion magazines, we utilized the content analysis method, and examined the most popular and widely circulated fashion magazine published in Korea, Ceci, from 2013-2017. Each individual pictured in the magazine was coded in five categories including: race, skin tone, hair style, hair color, and facial characteristics. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square, and independent samples t-tests were utilized to analyze the data. Overall, the magazines had significantly more White- or European-decent beauty ideals throughout the imagery across the entire time period.</p>