The standard of beauty has been more diversified and unique along with the development of culture in the 21st century. Women show growing interest in their external image, namely how they can look more gorgeous and attractive. The standard of beauty i...
The standard of beauty has been more diversified and unique along with the development of culture in the 21st century. Women show growing interest in their external image, namely how they can look more gorgeous and attractive. The standard of beauty is not definitely fixed but variable depending on cultural, environmental and social circums- tances. A hairstyle is no exception. There are few unprecedented, totally new hairstyles, and old hairstyles have been reinterpreted and recreated by contemporary standard. Women is increasingly interested in their own unique, appropriate hairstyle due to the growth of the beauty industry such as makeup, cosmetics and nail art.
The purpose of this study was to examine the concern of women in their 20s to 40s for their appearance and their satisfaction level with it to find out the weight of hairstyle in the external image of women in their 20s to 40s. And it's also meant to analyze the influential factors for their hairstyle awareness in association with the change of their external image.
First, as a result of analyzing the concern of the women investigated for their appearance and their satisfaction level, they got a mean of 3.56 out of possible five points in concern for appearance, which showed that they had a lot of interest. The younger and single women showed more interest. Those who earned a monthly mean income of five million won or more and who were engaged in the sales and service industry were more contented with their looks. Their satisfaction level with appearance was linked to income, as financial conditions exerted a great influence on their external image management.
Second, hair(37.5%) had the largest impact on the change of external image, followed by clothes, the skin, makeup and nail. The weight of hair was bigger among the women who were older, who were married and who were sedentary workers than their counterparts. The weight of makeup was largest among the younger women.
Third, as a result of investigating their disposition about hairstyle, shoulder-length wavy hair was most common, and bobbed hair was more prevalent among the women who were older, who were married, who were sedentary workers, who were professionals, who were large income earners and who were college graduates. Concerning the best hairstyle for their faces, however, the older women considered short hair cut to suit their face best, and the younger women viewed long wavy hair as most suitable. The younger women were more fashionable and changed their hairstyle depending on their mood. Those who were older, who were large income earners and who were professionals got their hair done on a regular basis to keep the tidy and universal hairstyle, and permanent was most preferred as a way to change the hairstyle.
Fourth, as a result of analyzing their attitude toward hairstyle, they got a haircut to make themselves look clean-cut. The women who were older, who were married and who were professionals got a haircut than the others more often, once every one or two month(s), and the short haircut style was most prevalent among them. As to perm, they got a perm to make their hair look more abundant, and the most dominant permanent frequency was once every six months. And they had the most liking for natural wavy hair. Regarding the reason for getting the hair dyed, the biggest group wanted to make themselves look refined. The younger women got the hair dyed once every six months, and the older ones did that once a month. Brown was their favorite dyeing color.
Fifth, as a result of checking their awareness of hairstyle, they thought that a hairstyle would be the mirror of contemporary culture and thought, affect one's first impression and ability and show his or her individuality and aesthetic sense. Besides, getting one's hair done was considered to be conducive to stress relieving or giving a good impression on people of the other sex.
Sixth, as a result of examining their concern for hairstyle, those who were in their 20s, who were single, who were students and who were engaged in the sales and service industry were more interested. As for the reason, the biggest group sought after self-satisfaction, and those who weren't interested cited time constraints as the reason.
The findings of the study illustrated that the weight of hairstyle was very great in the women's external image. Although hairstyle just accounts for a small portion of the body, that was identified as one of integral factors for their looks. And the style of the hair that is most adjacent to the face plays a great role in improving the external image. Indeed, the effect of hairstyle is so great, and that is a significant symbol of beauty and a means of improving feminine beauty and attraction, which are especially vital for women.