If you want to be a star, a small face is a must


I never realized how small Ivy’s face was until I saw this random picture of her with regular peeps (i.e. fans). All I can say is, “dang…her face is tiny!” When I saw Han Yeh-seul on that streets of Yoido a few years ago, I remember thinking the same thing. This also reminds me of when, a couple of years back, a bunch of friends were at karaoke bar and one of the guys said to my small-faced celebrity friend, “your face is the size of my fist” (this means she’s pretty), to my other gorgeous friend (who got out of the entertainment biz), he said “your face is the size of 2 fists… but you” (meaning me), “your face is the size of a pot….er…..2 fists.” Ouch! Yes, that is the society that we call Korea. If your face is bigger than 2 fists, it means you ain’t no beauty and you will take pains to hide the fact. Sometimes I wonder why I am still here. Needless to say, I don’t hang out with those “friends” anymore but instead, I’m writing about them.*

Related:
Beauty is in the eye of the CD

43 Responses to “If you want to be a star, a small face is a must”


  1. 1 nileey April 24, 2007 at 10:59 am

    My face is the size of a moon. So what that makes me then?

    it’s interesting to read how much emphasis is placed on the physical aspects, especially in Korea.

  2. 2 Eve April 24, 2007 at 11:16 am

    man my head is big and my face is even bigger >_

  3. 3 eunice April 24, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    ouch, good thing you lost them as your friends.

    ah, the society we call korea. how brutal and prideful. it is of one of the most ego inflated and nationalist country ever known. right after america.

    sorry if this offended anyone. i myself am korean, and i feel this way from surrounding myself with koreans all the time. great isn’t it?

  4. 4 Sandra April 24, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    I have to admit… I did laugh at your painful story but I’m sure you’re just as GORGEOUS as them! Ivy’s head is so small, I’d never noticed before. I think in general most cultures are becoming more and more obsessed with appearances, but I won’t leave the house without makeup!

  5. 5 Steve April 24, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    eunice…I’d have to agree with you on everything except America being more nationalistic than Korea. I’ve been to both countries and I can definitely say I feel a nationalism in Korea that just isn’t really there back home (US).

  6. 6 mauwy April 24, 2007 at 7:01 pm

    i have a small face and i thought twas bad.. anyway those kinda friends are kinda bad talk about considering someones feelings…

    btw what’s ivys height??? ^^

  7. 7 Shelly April 24, 2007 at 8:36 pm

    Aww, don’t worry! My face is big too, like the size of four of my fists…so don’t think on it that much.

    It amazes me the differences between societies and what they attribute to beauty though. My mom says I’m not pretty because I’m “too tall” all the time, so yeah. T_T

  8. 8 Lyna April 24, 2007 at 8:50 pm

    Just hang out with friends who has big faces, lol :)

    My face is medium sized but I have a huuuuuuuge head -o-;

  9. 9 urika April 25, 2007 at 1:35 am

    If you are in showbusiness (superstar calibre) you got to have that perfect face which is (small/small-medium) and perfect body (skinny) ladies W45kg (50kg if you’re 170cm) and for guys minimum height 180cm W75kg bcoz when you are on TV.. everything look enormous..i got a frenz who went for audition and was told he is too short 170cm as an actor, they said Lee Byung Yun is lucky in the past..this is showbusiness!!

  10. 10 dave April 25, 2007 at 2:42 am

    the guy on the left has a huge head lol

  11. 11 Pouet² April 25, 2007 at 4:36 am

    My face is the size of my fist. But I have a big fist :D

  12. 12 ayara April 25, 2007 at 4:59 am

    Gosh!
    Most Korean people should change the definitions of “beauty” inside their heads really….

  13. 13 Bb April 25, 2007 at 5:47 am

    how do u measure ur face with your fist?

  14. 14 Korean-bitez April 25, 2007 at 9:28 am

    lol..yea…ivy has a really small face..i was shocked to see her standing with those two tall guys with faces much bigger than hers…but partly she’s kinda small size…

  15. 15 han April 25, 2007 at 9:47 am

    i have a big face but i don’t think i’m ugly =P
    kim sun ah’s face isn’t small too…neither is hyori’s if you compare it with ivy’s and imo hyori’s 1000 times prettier than her…
    and you never know which celebs actually got their jaws done…
    nonetheless i think you have to be pretty to be in the business…

  16. 16 hirahira April 25, 2007 at 12:02 pm

    ahhh… definiton of beauty… they even want specific head/face size?!!! wth!!! korean showbiz is pretty scary if you ask me.. what’s with all the requirements of “beauty”, hectic schedules and crazy/obsessed fans.. *ireallythinkKoreanfansarethescariestbunchoffans* To think they have these specific conditions of beauty before they can enter showbiz, why do many of them still do surgeries.. Natural beauty still rules over ‘artificial’ beauty~!

  17. 17 Gaek May 3, 2007 at 8:23 pm

    It looks to me that Ivy has a small face, because–ummm–she is small?

  18. 18 Gaek May 17, 2007 at 6:20 am

    My mom says that the small face thing for stars was a well-known pre-requisite from the inception of TV in Korea.

    Check out this comparison:

    http://search.empas.com/search/img.html?q=%C0%FC%C0%CE%C8%AD&wi=57&wm=48&fv=V&n=19&cw=330

  19. 19 Gaek May 17, 2007 at 6:22 am

    Oops. Ignore the above link.

    Try this:

    http://gong.snu.ac.kr/~charisma/Gallery/Images03/J0078.jpg

  20. 20 Gaek May 17, 2007 at 6:50 am

    By the way, perhaps you already assumed this, but I do not think the “small face pre-requisite” applies as much to male actors. I mean, take a look at Jeon’s husband, LOL :)

  21. 21 sexychikita May 31, 2007 at 2:28 am

    being beautiful is not just having a pretty face..it’s take more than a pretty face to be beautiful..ooops..i got a small face too..maybe,i should go to korea..and be a star!!!hahahaha!!LOL!

  22. 22 Brian August 10, 2007 at 9:02 am

    And in order to be a gagman you need to have an over-sized pumpkin head, preferably with a perm.

  23. 23 anis August 10, 2007 at 2:03 pm

    well korean does have a weird defination on being beauty…making nonsense at all…angelina jolie , jessica alba dont have dat too small faces but they are hot the way they are…i mean dat u should really change the perception…be proud of wat u have…

  24. 24 jh23 August 11, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    aw. i know exactly what u mean about having korean “friends” who critique you so bluntly and insensitively. i actually had a korean friend who used to always note the bads about my looks, even saying “you can’t go to korea like that..it’s just different there”. it really hurt and thus i’m no longer friends w/her but i realize that it’s part of the culture. of course, not everyone’s like that but because looks are so emphasized, every single detail is crucial…i think that’s why so many get plastic surgery and many end up committing suicide. i see it as a huge problem. it’s pretty sad.

  25. 25 anis August 13, 2007 at 8:45 pm

    Well i know what are u saying too!!!I have friend there from korea..Thy are really nice but somehow very honest about their opinion bout ur appearance…Well let just say that if they find u r pretty then they will not hesitate to tell u about it…well and other way around too.Being korean,pretty is somehow like having small faces,pointed nose,crystal bright skin,nice teeth, tall and having a double eyelid also??well here in my country people are pretty in their own way.Well it ok if u dont have a small face..u still pretty in ur own way..it either u look cute,pretty,sweat or beautiful…there are so many standard of pretty.U dont have to stick with the same old standard..

    Well i remember this gentleman from korea say to me… well u must be pretty here( in my country), right???(well i really love to take that as a compliment but well in contrary i think he said that well u must be pretty here girl,but well maybe not in korea…haha..u find a very good way to tell me bout that oppa…

  26. 26 iloveivy October 15, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    i have a small face, but i dont look like ivy T_T oh wells.

  27. 27 cat November 8, 2007 at 6:30 am

    This reminds me so much of religion conversion. I guess, supposedly, Western culture brought anorexia and such to Asian countries. And just as a person who was religiously converted, they’d take extra steps to prove their faith in the religion. I guess, in a way and in my view, the Koreans who have adopted this crazy, unnatural ideal of body image… naturally they take it to the next extreme to prove themselves.

    I could be wrong. I’m also a hypocrite because I think I need to lose weight. I need to somehow erase from my mind the idea that a guy will only like me, or consider me, if I am pretty and skinny. :| But to a point, it is true with first impressions.

  28. 28 pinaygirl November 11, 2007 at 10:32 pm

    aw. i think that’s pretty screwed up. why do you need a small head, anyway? yoon eun hye’s face is not that small but i still think she looks okay. plus she’s a great actress.

  29. 29 yo ho ! yo ho! December 5, 2007 at 1:42 pm

    i think from the look of things jun ji hyun lee da hae hav pretty lpng face, its not big but long, more than a fist id say n they both r gorgeous girlz, natural too i believe n a body id die 4.

  30. 30 blinkable December 5, 2007 at 1:52 pm

    oh now we are onto the face size?? *LOL* this is absurb! Ivy’s face does look very small *hehe*

  31. 31 Da December 18, 2007 at 1:06 am

    Oh well, lucky for me, my Korean friend has a small tiny face and is pretty as well, so I don’t have her critisizing me.

  32. 32 minjee4micky February 8, 2008 at 8:58 am

    psh this is stupid . a small face makes u pretty ? what about all those models out there ? like Tyra Banks ? shes hot as, but her face is big [ in a good way ] . you gotta work with what you’ve given =]~
    those so called “friends”, dont listen to them. their faces are prollie HUGE as the Sun XDD

  33. 33 Torie February 8, 2008 at 9:43 am

    i have a really small face but i don’t consider myself attractive. i think there’s little correlation, if ANY, between beauty and head size.

  34. 34 fallenfreyayunho February 9, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    ahhhh….that’s why Yunho oppa is proud of his small face….he’s happy why he talk about his face…..
    Now I understand….X___X;

  35. 35 irees February 13, 2008 at 9:36 am

    enh?? this assumption’s kinda stupid, but i do know that my face is HUGE. i need two open hands to cover MY face.

  36. 36 lyza February 13, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    uhm what a weird that someone have that kind of thought. you won’t be rejected just because of your face’s size…

  37. 37 seoulunaxiahlover March 4, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    it’s weird i did the cd thing but i am not a beauty and apparently my face isnt big??? which is weird because i thought my face was big at least my head is.

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