Thank you all for your comments in my previous blog. So I noticed that a lot of you commented that I was cute (and a few of you made it clear you understood that there was a difference between what people here in Korea consider cute and what we consider to be cute in the Western world.) Don't worry about the distinction too much! Let's delve deeper into the topic.
Before we go any further, let's make it clear, Aegyo is a very Korean concept. In fact it's so totally Korean that Koreans might forget that this concept ISN'T how the rest of the world operates. So, just as a reminder, let's clarify the term from a western perspective.
According to urban dictionary (a cool site which will explain how common language is really used in the Anglo-sphere):
1. Aegyo
A Korean word that derives from the Chinese characters "love (ae)" and "beautiful (gyo)." The closest English translation of aegyo would be "winsome," defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as "generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence." Not surprisingly, aegyo is considered a feminine trait, generally attributed to women who can charm men and elders through a careful balance of sweetness, cuteness, poutiness, modesty, thoughtfulness, and submissiveness. A woman with aegyo knows to blush at dirty jokes rather than guffaw along with her mouth agape. A woman with aegyo knows to let out a modest and appealing squeal and grab tight her date's hand when watching a horror movie.
e.g. Some people just hate her aegyo.
e.g. Jessica had a great aegyo!
Sometimes I am confused by aegyo as it encourages women to act in a way they may not be comfortable with simply in order to please men. It bypasses their intellect and assumes that a women is nothing beyond her looks. There are many flaws with this thinking, but that's for another topic. At the same time, aegyo is a confusing proposition to encounter as a man too. So let me ask a question: What is a man?
A simple yet universally understood definition could read like this:
A man is a force of nature which carries masculine energy. The stronger the masculine energy the stronger the force in nature he becomes and a stronger and more desirable he becomes to feminine energy.
Considering the above, therefore, it is strange for western men to be confronted with the concept of being a handsome man who holds essentially feminine traits to be labelled as cute or 'aegyo'.
Take a look at this example of aegyo from a Korean TV personality;
Before we go any further, let's make it clear, Aegyo is a very Korean concept. In fact it's so totally Korean that Koreans might forget that this concept ISN'T how the rest of the world operates. So, just as a reminder, let's clarify the term from a western perspective.
According to urban dictionary (a cool site which will explain how common language is really used in the Anglo-sphere):
1. Aegyo
A Korean word that derives from the Chinese characters "love (ae)" and "beautiful (gyo)." The closest English translation of aegyo would be "winsome," defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as "generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence." Not surprisingly, aegyo is considered a feminine trait, generally attributed to women who can charm men and elders through a careful balance of sweetness, cuteness, poutiness, modesty, thoughtfulness, and submissiveness. A woman with aegyo knows to blush at dirty jokes rather than guffaw along with her mouth agape. A woman with aegyo knows to let out a modest and appealing squeal and grab tight her date's hand when watching a horror movie.
e.g. Some people just hate her aegyo.
e.g. Jessica had a great aegyo!
Sometimes I am confused by aegyo as it encourages women to act in a way they may not be comfortable with simply in order to please men. It bypasses their intellect and assumes that a women is nothing beyond her looks. There are many flaws with this thinking, but that's for another topic. At the same time, aegyo is a confusing proposition to encounter as a man too. So let me ask a question: What is a man?
A simple yet universally understood definition could read like this:
A man is a force of nature which carries masculine energy. The stronger the masculine energy the stronger the force in nature he becomes and a stronger and more desirable he becomes to feminine energy.
Considering the above, therefore, it is strange for western men to be confronted with the concept of being a handsome man who holds essentially feminine traits to be labelled as cute or 'aegyo'.
Take a look at this example of aegyo from a Korean TV personality;
This is considered as cute and encouraged by general society in Korea. It may be cute, but is it healthy?
Contrast this with the image western men are given as to what it means to be a man:
Contrast this with the image western men are given as to what it means to be a man:
While the above video is also an extreme form of the masculine, it is almost the exact opposite to what men in Korea are encouraged to behave like.
So let me make this clear, they are both unhealthy images for men! One makes a man lose all sense of his masculinity (the Korean model) and the other encourages men to go to the other end of the extreme where the only important aspect of a man is to be 'strong', 'buff', 'ripped' and the problem lies in the fact that both ideologies are missing the important aspects of being a man! A man is valued for his strength INTERNALLY. The stronger the man is internally the more self worth he has and the more worth his is given by people around him, and this is regardless of how cute or strong they are physically!
English people have a very typical idea of what a man should look like: Fred Perry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Perry
This guy won everything and maintained his brain. He won 10 Majors in Tennis, plus he had the talent to go out and make his own brand which is still successful here today!
Did you agree? Did you disagree? What do you think? I'm looking forward to your comments!
Next blog I will answer anything you guys posted in the comments once again and choose a general theme to answer.
Best,
Josh
So let me make this clear, they are both unhealthy images for men! One makes a man lose all sense of his masculinity (the Korean model) and the other encourages men to go to the other end of the extreme where the only important aspect of a man is to be 'strong', 'buff', 'ripped' and the problem lies in the fact that both ideologies are missing the important aspects of being a man! A man is valued for his strength INTERNALLY. The stronger the man is internally the more self worth he has and the more worth his is given by people around him, and this is regardless of how cute or strong they are physically!
English people have a very typical idea of what a man should look like: Fred Perry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Perry
This guy won everything and maintained his brain. He won 10 Majors in Tennis, plus he had the talent to go out and make his own brand which is still successful here today!
Did you agree? Did you disagree? What do you think? I'm looking forward to your comments!
Next blog I will answer anything you guys posted in the comments once again and choose a general theme to answer.
Best,
Josh