Source of cultural inscription: the role of Japan and Korea

Analyzing the results of the interviews conducted with Taiwanese girls, as well as the national backgrounds of the Instagram images they were asked to send, it was found that Taiwanese young women also follow a nationally diverse group of accounts on Instagram. However, analyzing the patterns in the national backgrounds of the images they use as a source for constructing their beauty ideals was not as clear as in the case of the Hungarian sample. For the Taiwanese sample two main findings could be established. The first one relates to regional influences of beauty ideals, namely the role of South Korea and Japan regarding cultural inscription that proved to be a consistent pattern across the Taiwanese sample. The second salient finding was the significant presence of mixed-race women in the collection of images the interviewees provided.

5.1. Source of cultural inscription: the role of Japan and Korea

In order to analyze the role of South Korea and Japan for Taiwanese young women as a source for constructing their beauty ideals, in particular for cultural inscription, first the concept of regional influences or in other words cultural proximity within cultural globalization needs to be reviewed. Cultural proximity and the local aspects of glocalization are especially important in East Asia, as it is culturally more distant from the Western, American culture that is often deemed the strongest influencer and source of cultural globalization. In his research Ryoo elaborates on how Asian countries are more and more open for a “Made in Asia” concept in the media and entertainment industry (Ryoo, 2009), more easily accepting or preferring content arriving from fellow Asian nations, in the case of Taiwan from South Korea or Japan. This is underlined by for example the popularity of Korean dramas or music in Taiwan. Huang reaffirms the presumption, explaining how Korean pop culture might be more acceptable to some East Asian nations such as Taiwan or China than the materials released in Euro-American countries, as content coming from Korea, a culturally more proximate country, even if it’s infused with Western elements, is more transferable for local audiences (Huang, 2011).

Supporting these presumptions, reviewing the interview results with Taiwanese young women it was found that there are two major regional players that shape Taiwanese girls’

beauty ideals regarding cultural inscription. These major players are South Korea and Japan.

Although the Taiwanese interviewees proved to be following a nationally highly diverse 62

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group, and women in the images from the above mentioned two countries attributed for just about 15% of all screenshots, the meanings and reasons they attach to these images was consistent across the sample.

In general when the Taiwanese interviewees talked about features of cultural inscription, in regards to their own beauty ideals, they seemed to emphasize the two following characteristics unanimously. Firstly, most of them mentioned having a strong preference for not too strong and rather natural looking make-up along with good looking skin. “I think having good quality skin and hair is important for being beautiful – and wearing some make-up, but mostly not too strong,” one interviewee described her personal ideal. (TW02) Secondly, some –although not the majority- also mentioned having simple, minimalistic outfits when it comes to one’s fashion style. The same, above quoted interviewee said of her

‘requirements’ for fashion as part of her beauty ideal that: “And I think clothes are very important. I like simple clothes. Black and white and grey or beige. Simple, clean and elegant dressing style.”

Figure 13. former Korean girl band ’Sistar’ and Korean make-up artist Pony serve as inspiration for cultural inscription to young Taiwanese women.

And when it came to describing women they chose in search of beautiful women on Instagram, when talking about images of Korean and Japanese women, the interviewees

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seemed to consistently focus on attributes of cultural inscription, such as hair style, make-up and clothing.

“I love the big wavy hair and I think they look adorable with their facial expressions and dress styles,” one interviewee said describing an image of the former Korean music band, Sistar’s members.

“I chose this picture exactly because of her pose, her hair color and her make-up,” another Taiwanese girl explained while introducing an image from PONY, a Korean make-up artist who has almost 5 million followers on Instagram. Her account is exclusively built around beauty and make-up, and that fact combined with the number of her followers underlines her influences as a source of inspiration, especially for cultural inscription for many girls around the world, including Taiwan. When showing her picture and account to other Taiwanese interviewees as a follow-up, all girls asked said they did know her and most of them also liked and followed her, for her make-up style and looks.

Figure 14. Korean actress Kong Hyo Jin (left) and Japanese model Emi Suzuki (right) are further examples for source for cultural inscription

“Her hair color is very beautiful and her smile is very charming. And the clothes she wears just give you a pure and fresh feeling,”

said another Taiwanese interviewee of Korean actress Kong Hyo Jin’s picture, who also has a significant fan base of 1.6 million followers on Instagram. Talking about a picture she

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chose of Japanese model and designer Emi Suzuki, who also boasts 1 million followers on Instagram, another interviewee said she found her really ‘charming’.

The images that the Taiwanese interviewees sent over of Korean and Japanese women and their descriptions of their beauty and what aspects of it they liked, all reflect a very traditionally feminine mode a beauty. This can interestingly be contrasted with their images from other countries such as the United States, which were described by the interviewees with traditionally masculine traits – even though those were mostly regarding embodied disposition, not cultural inscription.

Figure 15. American entrepreneur Olivia Palerno (left) and American model and singer Celine Farach reflecting masculine feminity traits for Taiwanese interviewees

“She is a woman that is confident with herself,” said one interviewee of Olivia Palerno, American entrepreneur, while another Taiwanese girl also emphasized confidence and her charisma that is reflected in the woman’s pose, while describing a picture of American model and singer Celine Farach. This yet again underlines how Taiwanese young women turn to Korean and Japanese influencers on Instagram when they’re looking for inspiration for feminine beauty, especially when it comes to topics related to cultural inscription, such as hair and make-up. One interviewee explained how she tried to find ‘Asian’ (although she did not specify, whether she meant race or nationality) models who have faces familiar to hers when looking for make-up related content and tutorials, as it is more relatable and useful for

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practical reasons. That gives another explanation for why Taiwanese young women prefer Japan and Korea as their source of inspiration for cultural inscription – it is more relatable for them, just as previous literature, for example the research of Huang (2011) explained.

The fact that Taiwanese interviewees follow a nationally diverse group – based on their replies during the interviews as well as the national backgrounds of the screenshots- proves that cultural globalization is a force very much apparent in Taiwan as well. “Most of the people I follow are from different countries – both from the East and the West,” (TW05) said one interviewee for the question inquiring about the nationality of the accounts she follows.

“I follow singers from Taiwan and China, and also some American ones. The models [I follow] are from many different countries though ,” (TW01) said another one.

Some people listed 8-10 specific countries or listed whole regions, such as “Europe”, meaning multiple different countries from that continent – and they sent screenshots of women from at least 15 different countries.

However, even though the national background of the accounts the follow is diverse, reflecting cultural globalization, cultural proximity or in other words regional influences also proved to be significant, especially regarding cultural inscription. Japan and South Korea in particular are now globally known as important players in the beauty industry and this present research further proved that they play a significant role for Taiwanese young women as a source for cultural inscription or beauty, namely hair styles, make-up and often for fashion as well. Taiwanese women from generation Y, or in other words millenials, follow Korean and Japanese influencers such as Korean make-up guru PONY, on social media platforms, most importantly Instagram as a source for the construction of their beauty ideals, in particular regarding cultural inscription.