REPRESENTATIONS OF PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND SOCIAL HIERARCHY IN PARK TAE-JUN’S LOOKISM
Keywords:
Lookism , Representation, Physical Appearance, Social Hierarchy, WebtoonAbstract
Physical appearance plays an important role in shaping social interaction and hierarchy in contemporary society, particularly through media representation. However, discussions on lookism often focus on beauty standards without sufficiently examining how media texts construct and normalize appearance-based social hierarchy. This research aims to analyze the representation of physical appearance and social hierarchy in the webtoon Lookism using a Cultural Studies perspective. This study employs a qualitative descriptive method by analyzing selected chapters of Lookism through scenes, dialogues, and visual elements related to body representation. The findings reveal that physical attractiveness functions as social capital, granting power, acceptance, and higher social status, while unattractive appearances lead to discrimination and exclusion. Through the contrast between Park Hyung-seok's two bodies, Lookism demonstrates how media not only reflects but also reinforces lookism and appearance-based social hierarchy in society.
Downloads
References
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage Publications.
Choi, M. (2021). Reconstructing Female Identity through Body Representation: A Cultural Study of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. Korean Journal of Cultural Criticism, 18(3).
Park, J. (2022). The Ideology of Beauty in Modern Korean Narratives: A Cultural Studies Approach. Asian Cultural Studies Review, 14(1).
Selina, I. D. (2021). BULLYING AND ITS VICTIM PORTRAYED ON TAEJOON PARK’S WEBTOON COMICS ENTITLED LOOKISM (PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH). -.
Octora, L. C. (2017). Idealism, implementation, and discrimination in Korean society toward appearance in webtoon Lookism (Waemojisangjueui): A sociological literary study.
Pilares, R. I. P. (2021). Be handsome or be bullied in Lookism webtoon by Taejoon Park [Undergraduate thesis.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE Publications.
Lee, H., Son, I., Yoon, J., & Kim, S.-S. (2017). Lookism hurts: appearance discrimination and self-rated health in South Korea. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(1), 204. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0678-8
Choi, N.-Y., Kim, Y.-V., & Ahn, H. (2024). Sustainable body positivity movement: Analysis of the discourse on body image in Korean society. Sustainability, 16(15), 6555. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156555
Park, T. (n.d.). Lookism. WEBTOON. Retrieved February 2025, from https://www.webtoons.com/
Lim, J. H. (2020). "No body is safe": Hallyu, beauty work, and the digital commodification of the self in South Korea. Media, Culture & Society, 42(6), 940–956. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720914362
Pechmann, C., & Wang, Y. (2019). The role of cultural self-construal in the effect of beauty standards on self-esteem and body image. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29(1), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1040
Choi, H. H., & Yang, S. M. (2017). The relationships among exposure to social media beauty images, internalisation of appearance ideals, and body image dissatisfaction in South Korean women. Asian Journal of Women's Studies, 23(3), 295–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1354050
Hall, S. (1996). The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees. In D. Morley & K.-H. Chen (Eds.), Stuart Hall: Critical dialogues in cultural studies (pp. 25–46). Routledge.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Sage Publications.
Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (8th ed.). Routledge.
Tyson, L. (2015). Critical theory today: A user-friendly guide (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Choi, N.-Y., Kim, Y.-V., & Ahn, H. (2024). Sustainable body positivity movement: Analysis of the discourse on body image in Korean society. Sustainability, 16(15), 6555. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156555
Kim, Y., & Kim, S. (2024). Physical appearance, social perception, and identity construction in media representation. Journal of Asian Cultural Studies, 18(1), 45–60.
Park, J. (2022). Beauty privilege and social hierarchy in contemporary Korean popular culture. Asian Cultural Studies Review, 14(1), 67–82.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ilham Taupikurahman, Thesa Izfadllillah (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
