On S-lines, V-lines, and the rest of the alphabet soup

Thanks to The Grand Narrative and Pop Seoul, us mere mortals have a chance to sound cool amongst our Korean or supposedly-smart expat friends. Where the former is quite able to expound on the causes and natures of Korean sexuality, body images, and many other wonderful topics, the latter tends to give their average viewer of their site what they want more of - pictures and gossip of their favorite celebrities. I try to bridge the gap with enough information on the subject for your presumably-at-least-average attention span, then give you a few links towards whomever is an expert on the subject (which definitely isn't me, at least on this one).

I should note that while some of these are well-known and widely used amongst, some only seem to appear while describing certain celebrities. Also bear in mind that Korean slang, just like slang / idioms in other languages, changes about as fast as we do when we're late for work. If you're reading this months or years after the publication date, you might want to see if there's been an update anywhere out there.

Starting with the most commonly used 'line', we have the S-line:
Source: PopSeoul



Original source, but I first saw it at the Grand Narrative. Westerners might know the S-line as an hourglass figure (small waist and curvy hips).

Another common one is the V-line:



Source: PopSeoul. Westerners might simply call it a pointy chin. This isn't just something you're born with or get plastic surgery for; face rollers are a cheap plastic device used by some:

Source: EBeautyBlog

Another V-line, also called a W-line, refers to that area most Westerners call cleavage (or cleh-vahge if you want to sound French about it):



Source: PopSeoul

Another popular one (but less commonly seen) is the D-line:
Source: naver.com image search (a popular Korean search engine). Westerners might call it the 'about-to-pop' look.

PopSeoul waxes poetic about the M-line:



Source: The Grand Narrative. Also known as a 'six-pack' - I've been told the 'M' stands for 'male', as in the only masculine line worthy of earning a letter. I'm devastated.

A rather silly one is the U-line:

Source: PopSeoul

Westerners probably recognize the 'low-back' dress, but this line seems to have more to do with the clothing than the body itself.

Another one (which seems to have died a quick death) was the X-line:

Think back to the 'S-line' (hourglass figure) but supposedly with a tiny waist. According to one tidbit of wisdom from PopSeoul, "What’s the difference between “X” and “S” line- the size of the waist. With an S line, as long as you have boobs and butt, it doesn’t matter if you have an elephant sized waist."

And after all the body parts are named, the alphabet craze leaves us a bonus. Anyone want a 'Y-shirt'? It's what we might call a dress shirt in the US.

What's the point of all this? To give women something to aim for / compare themselves to? Sure, why not. I can't say in good conscience that American women are any less obsessed about their looks than Korean women are; the terms are simply different. For all the bluster about all the alphabet soup, Korean women manage to look beautiful all the same. How much preparation time they need on an average day, I couldn't tell you. Thankfully, more than a few I've met have managed to move past makeup and fancy / expensive clothing and moving towards true beauty: that which comes from within.

For a lot more about gender issues, body perceptions, and so on, check out The Grand Narrative. For gossip and pictures about Korean celebrities, check out PopSeoul.

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