Expressing lookism on YouTube fashion channels: Perceptions of young Korean women

Abstract

This study examines the factors that promote lookism on YouTube fashion channels as well as the influence of video watching by analysing media viewers experiencing lookism in Korean society. Young Korean women in their 20s who subscribe to YouTube fashion channels were interviewed. On these fashion channels, viewers’ herd mentality is stimulated by videos about certain looks or slender physiques and plastic surgery, while the comments highlight the importance of one’s appearance, causing viewers to be concerned with others’ assessments of their looks. Compared with celebrities, beauty/fashion YouTubers share ordinary themes and familiarize themselves with viewers, eventually becoming objects of social comparison and standards of ideal beauty in Korea. Viewers’ consistent exposure to these videos causes them to compare their socio-economic conditions regarding appearance management with those of the YouTubers. Meanwhile, the positive appearance-related values and healthy appearance management of some YouTubers enable their viewers to recognize diversity in appearance and independently participate in appearance management, thus increasing confidence in viewers’ appearance and reinforcing their use of beauty/fashion YouTube content to discover their own tastes. Research has shown that YouTube videos and YouTubers can affect one’s perception and attitude towards personal appearance and confirmed that the influence of YouTube fashion channels on society is growing as an emerging discourse on appearance management based on diversity. This study finds that fashion-related content on YouTube substantially affects viewers’ different perceptions of looks, appearance management behaviours and appearance-related values. This study has implications for social media studies by suggesting the need to constantly examine YouTube, a medium that reflects the phenomenon of lookism in Korean society.