I didn’t want to do this ‘LIKE IT’. In fact, I really didn’t want to do this LIKE IT because it’s such a controversial topic that affects so many people. But because of that, I knew that we had to cover it.

I feel in some ways that my job as a woman, as a teacher, as somebody who works with younger people, and as somebody with a bit of a platform (approaching 29,000 subscribers on YouTube at the time of writing this), I should attempt to do my part and do what I can to promote healthy body images, especially for women.

We all live in a global society that puts tremendous pressure on most women to conform to a certain norm or suffer the consequences of not belonging. Everyday most of us (who live with internet connections or TVs anyways) can easily become bombarded with images of what society deems as the ideal women through music videos, advertisements, TV commercials, magazine ads, etc., and we try to conform to it. Why does it have to be this way?

Here in Korea, the culture has as much as any in the world mastered the art of advertising. Sexy images of men and women plastered at bus stops, on buses, all over magazines, and everywhere on the web can catch your eye, even unconsciously, and there is almost virtually no way to avoid it other than staying home and living like a hermit.

Goodness knows in many ways that I’m preaching to my own self, because I too struggle with image issues. Even with Hallyu Back now, sometimes people say things like ‘oh, Stephanie you’re so pretty’ and this is something I have a hard time believing. More than that, I go through this mental battle and think every time wondering is this what I want to represent? Am I representing what I want to represent? Am I more than just a pretty face? Am I more than just a sexual object? I appreciate hearing that I’m pretty of course, but I’ve also had bad experiences in the past with people who have abused this word or phrase in order to execute ulterior motives.

If there’s anything that I can stress it’s that everyone is different, or created differently. The first step seems to be to love yourself, because if you can’t love you for who you are then it doesn’t matter. But if you do love you for you, it’s a lot more difficult to let others get to you and break your spirit. So enough with the fat and skinny shaming already. We might not all come from the same circumstances, but one thing we can do is decide within ourselves to try and make the right choices in life. We can’t control what others do, but we can educate ourselves and be vigilant about that crazy world out there.

You guyz, if you’re still reading this, I want you to know that you supporting Hallyu Back means the world to me, and I want to do everything in my power to support you back! If you have any questions for me I’d love to answer create more dialogue about this or whatever topic you’re interested in. Drop me a note below or in the comment section on this YouTube video. And thanks so much for reading and watching! ☺