Posted on 06/03/2005 6:34:12 AM PDT by pissant
HONG KONG -- The new face of cosmetics ads in Asia is soft, delicate -- and male.
Lounging in a pink apartment in a television commercial for Able C&C Inc.'s South Korean makeup brand Missha, actor Won Bin leans in as if to kiss a woman sitting next to him -- but he does her bidding instead, taking her dusky-colored lipstick and carefully applying it to her lips.
In an ad for skin-care chain The Face Shop, ruby-lipped film star Kwon Sang Woo nuzzles a berry tree, then dons a crown of leaves. Mr. Kwon, famous for six-pack abs and a slight lisp, "has a kind of neutral gender," says Scott Han, the company's public-relations director. "Our customers think he is healthy and adorable."
Marketers aren't out to poke fun at the lipstick lads of Asia. Instead, they are pushing shampoos and makeup by tapping into a powerful shift in gender images taking place in a number of developed East Asian countries. The conservative, macho male stereotypes that have long dominated society in countries like Japan and South Korea are falling out of fashion. Women are gaining power and independence and expressing a preference for different kinds of men.
"A pretty face with big eyes and fair skin, and a moderately masculine body, are what Korean women want in men these days," says Rhie Hye Young, a spokeswoman for Missha.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Damn, Am I the only guy who still uses soap on a rope?
South Korea has a below-replacement birthrate these days, too.
That doesn't bother me. But how are these pansies gonna stand up the the NoKos if they invade?
BTW, Tax-chick. Thanks for doing your part in keeping up the population of our great country! ;o)
Oh, wow, what a lot of answers come to mind ...
doing your part in keeping up the population of our great country
It's the least I can do!
Asian women ping
ROFL!
My FRiend JohnnyZ admires Asian women, but since I've never seen him, I don't know whether he has the qualities the ladies are looking for.
If he's male, I'm sure he has the qualities THESE "ladies" are looking for! LOL
My friends say don't marry a Korean woman they eat too much garlic (not to mention cabbage).
They sure are hot though ....
Your kinda "man" PING
So, do you have an opinion on Mary Kay vs. Avon? Do you think everyone can tell that I bought a discontinued lipstick color because it was half price?
Thankfully I've been 'blessed' with looks that do not allow me to be mistaken for a pretty-boy. I'm more like scruffy in a not-quite-charming-enough way. Hey, it works for me.
No flaccid pansy men for me. I want 'em rough, ready, and HARD!!
Oh, I wasn't trying to insult your looks. I was implying that the "men" in these ads most likely prefer males! ;o)
And capable of subduing you. That's why you love me! ;o)
Shhhh, that is our little secret!
sorry. I'll ahve the moderator remove my post......like he wasn't contemplating it already! ;o)
Maybe that's why a lot of the Asian girls I know here in San Francisco prefer white men...and vice versa. ;)
Asia is becoming as feminized as Europe. Good for us yanks! ;o)
Believe it or not I do have strong views on lipstick. If I see some woman and I'm all, what the hell kind of lipstick is she wearing, that's nasty! I won't date her. If a woman paints outside the lines or tries to ridiculously accentuate the cartoonish lip shape I won't date her. If a woman ever wears bright red lipstick I will almost certainly not date her.
On the other hand, if I see a man wearing lipstick I make sure to ask him how 'bout those Giants?
To answer your questions: I find Mary Kay & Avon ladies scary in the same way some people find clowns scary. As long as a lipstick color could be a natural tone for someone of your ethnic makeup it's fair game, unless I look at it and think "what the hell is she wearing on her lips I'll bet she's pretty under all that crap oh well there's no way I'm kissing those things".
Sometimes Jackie Chan is a little bit too comfortable in his own skin. It started with movies like Dragonfist (when he was fighting in drag so his father wouldn't find out he was using his family's kung fu against his wishes and revealing their presence to that dude who's been looking to him them for years) and has gotten worse since. I blame him for this trend.
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