'Goodbye to dieting': Moon Geun-young and Kim Shin-young challenge Korea’s beauty standards
Moon Geun-young / Captured from "You Quiz on the Block"
"I've been on a diet for 18 years. Now I am done."
Having debuted at age 13, Moon Geun-young has spent a substantial part of her life on a diet. She's hardly the only one in an entertainment industry where, especially for female celebrities, being on a diet is considered a requirement. The standards of physical perfection in Korean society are incredibly high, and celebrities are constantly scrutinized by the unforgiving gazes of the media and public.
But now, some are successfully challenging the orthodoxy of beauty and making a clear statement to the world: They will no longer sacrifice themselves to fit standards imposed by others.
Moon Geun-young is one of those people. Making an appearance on tvN’s "You Quiz on the Block," she appeared visibly healthier than in recent years.
In 2017 she was diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome, a painful disease where much pressure builds up and disrupts the flow of blood to muscles and nerves. The period she spent coping with the rare disease, according to Moon, completely changed her perspective on how she should live — including letting go of her obsession with weight control.
"For the first time in my life, I ate popcorn while watching a movie. And I also ate jjajangmyeon," Moon said, referring to the popular dish of noodles with black bean sauce. Doctors told her she needed to eat whatever she wanted in order to recover quickly, ultimately ending her 18 years of dieting.
"Now I'm 40," Moon said, looking more comfortable and at ease. "As my body has grown bigger, my mind has found room to breathe. I want to spend my 40s having more fun."
Joining Moon is Kim Shin-young, once heralded as a symbol of weight-loss success by dropping to 44 kilograms and maintaining that weight for 13 years.
Kim has returned to the weight she maintained in her prime and says that true happiness is living with peace of mind. Behind her change of heart lies the death of her mentor, the late comedian Jeon Yoo-sung.
"Don't chain yourself. Eat all you want," her mentor told her in his final days — words that led her to realize the importance of acknowledging and embracing oneself.
For the longest time in Korea, weight control has been associated with self-discipline. For female celebrities, it is even more stringent, with any weight gain seen as a lack of ethics or professionalism. Those who fail are regarded not merely as lacking willpower, but the basic qualifications to remain in the public eye.
These are rules imposed by society, but not everyone will obediently follow them. The choice to step outside those boundaries is itself a real step toward living a healthy life.
Looking ahead, the challenges remain formidable. HyunA was forced to issue several statements after relentless criticism over her alleged failure to maintain her weight. Some female celebrities have faced pregnancy rumors over the slightest change in their shape.
This gives a glimpse into how members of the public have intervened in the perceptions of someone else’s body. This cannot be treated lightly, because it is not merely an entertainment-industry issue, but a problem of the gaze deeply rooted across society.
The voices of Moon Geun-young and Kim Shin-young are welcome ones. Change does not always arrive with a great boom; sometimes it begins with small voices gathering, one by one, until they become a chorus.
How one manages one’s body is entirely up to the individual, and there doesn't have to be a single standard by which it is judged. That women celebrities say this out loud matters because they, standing at the very front of public attention, are speaking from their own experience to break the norm. Their stories are tales of accepting themselves as they are — and a source of courage for those who carry the same burden in society.
This article from the Hankookilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.