“I feel free and comfortable”: The Escape the Corset Movement in South Korea and the question of women's agency

Abstract

Women's conformity to beauty standards are influenced not only by external pressures but also by internalized beliefs, creating some complex issues with regard to women's agency question. Considering the Escape the Corset Movement (ECM) in South Korea as a critical case, this study examines how female college students who loosely participated in the ECM articulate its impact on their daily lives, especially the extent to which they assess its role in their attainment of freedom, liberation, and independence from societal beauty standards. The findings suggest that young female students experienced heightened self-enlightenment and recognition of beauty ideals, as well as a sense of comfort and safety from societal expectations and the male gaze. However, the accounts of women's ambiguous and critical reflections on the perceived transformations also serve to indicate whether the movement has led to fundamental changes in the prevailing power dynamics of gender systems and social structures. We contend that a nuanced perspective on women's adherence to beauty standards should be integrated into scholarly discourse, as women's perceptions present a complex issue regarding their agency in conforming to or resisting societal beauty standards.