Comparing American and South Korean Cultural
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FLOWER BOYS AND MUSCLED MEN: COMPARING AMERICAN AND SOUTH KOREAN CULTURAL MODELS OF THE IDEAL MALE BODY USING CULTURAL DOMAIN ANALYSIS by LAWRENCE THOMAS MONOCELLO WILLIAM W. DRESSLER, COMMITTEE CHAIR JASON A. DECARO SONYA E. PRITZKER BEVERLY ROSKOS A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2017 1 Copyright Lawrence Thomas Monocello 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2 ABSTRACT This study uses cultural domain analysis to understand the similarities and differences in ideal male body image between Americans and South Koreans. The prevalence of body image and eating disorders is rising all over the world, in women and in men. Due in large part to universalist assumptions about masculinity, the ways in which men’s body image is understood across cultures are understudied. Further, cross-cultural research on body image often fails to account for the effect of cultural differences through anything more than a nominal variable. Therefore, this study demonstrates an emically valid and scientifically reliable mixed methods approach to the study of body image that can be used in multidisciplinary research to more effectively operationalize “culture.” Results show that Americans understand body ideals largely through the dimension of individual control, while South Koreans understand body ideals through the dimensions of importance and desirability. Americans also more strongly endorse the instrumental aspects of male bodies, while South Koreans focus on their ornamental qualities, reflecting differing cultural scripts for achieving and projecting masculine status. Specifically, while Americans endorse highly muscular male bodies as ideal, South Koreans endorse more slender, “prettier” male images, of which one prominent example is the kkonminam, or “beautiful flower boy.” ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS Avg Rank Average Place in the Freelist BMI Body Mass Index CCA Cultural Consensus Analysis CDA Cultural Domain Analysis DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders EAT-26 Eating Attitudes Test ED Eating Disorder(s) EDE-Q Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire EDI Eating Disorder Inventory EDNOS Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified IMF International Monetary Fund K-Pop Korean Pop Music KSA Korean Student Association MDS Multidimensional Scaling n sample size p Probability of Results or Outcome PROFIT Property Fitting Analysis r Pearson product moment correlation iii r2 Coefficient of determination R Multiple Correlation Coefficient RA Residual Agreement SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences T.O.P. The Original Pimp, a K-Pop Performer UA University of Alabama WEIRD White, Educated, and from Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic Countries % Percent %Resp Percent of Respondents who Volunteered a Word or Phrase < Less than = Equal to > Greater than ± Plus or Minus ≤ Less than or equal to ≥ Greater than or equal to iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS None of this would have been possible without, first, my parents, Larry and Jennifer, who afforded me the freedom to explore the subjects that interested me, and allowed me to pursue a career that just feels right. I would also like to thank my Anthropology professors from Case Western Reserve University, who I truly believe shaped me into the anthropologist I am today. Dr. Bruce Latimer’s impassioned defenses of the obligate bipedality of Australopithecus afarensis based on Lucy’s foot morphology, and Dr. Scott Simpson’s pedagogical use of “prank” pig femora and “adorable” infant crania, taught me to approach research and teaching with equal parts rigor and levity. Dr. Vanessa Hildebrand’s consistent guidance and encouragement, starting from my Freshman year, gave me the confidence to pursue graduate school, and helped me to develop the critical thinking and writing skills necessary for my success. Dr. Lihong Shi sowed the seeds of my interest in East Asia and South Korea, and throughout this thesis I draw on her lectures and assignments in interpreting my findings. Finally, Dr. Eileen Anderson-Fye’s infectious enthusiasm for this material, my career, and for anthropology in general, has deeply shaped not only my theoretical paradigm for research, but also the way I teach and the kind of academic role model I hope one day to become. I would also be nowhere without my undergraduate advisor, Dr. Cynthia Beall. Her mentorship dramatically improved my writing, instilled in me high standards for rigor and quality, and a distaste for ambiguity in the reporting of research. Through her, I v received invaluable research experience at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Dr. Serpil Erzurum cultivated such a positive laboratory environment that I was excited to spend the good part of a summer injecting high altitude urine into boiling hydrochloric acid to measure its concentrations of nitric oxide metabolites. Thank you as well to Allison Janocha, Sudakshina Ghosh, Weiling Xu, and Queenie Cheong for the experience. I need to thank Dr. Bill Dressler, my committee chair and advisor, for giving me the freedom to pursue my own research interests while giving me the guidance I need to do it right and make it worthwhile. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Drs. Jason DeCaro, Sonya Pritzker, and Beverly Roskos, for reading this tome of a Master’s thesis and offering me invaluable suggestions for improvement. Finally, I would like to thank my Master’s cohort for their friendship, my academic big sister for her advice, my participants for the gifts of their time, and the Department of Anthropology and the Graduate School for their generous support of my education and this research, both financial and otherwise. vi CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS .................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1. Outline of the Thesis .................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 6 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 6 2.2. “Western” Male Body Image .......................................................................... 9 2.3. Body Image Across Cultures, and the Problem of “Westernization” ............ 20 2.4. South Korean Body Image........................................................................... 29 2.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH POPULATIONS AND SETTING .......................................... 36 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 36 vii 3.2. Americans .................................................................................................... 37 3.3. South Koreans ............................................................................................. 40 3.4. University of Alabama .................................................................................. 45 3.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 4 THEORETICAL APPROACH ................................................................... 47 4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 47 4.2. Ethnopsychology… ...................................................................................... 48 4.3. …and its discontents ................................................................................... 51 4.4. Cognitive Anthropology ............................................................................... 53 4.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 5 METHODS ............................................................................................... 60 5.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 60 5.2. Sample ........................................................................................................ 60 5.3. Phase I: Freelisting ...................................................................................... 64 5.4. Phase II: Pilesorting ..................................................................................... 66 5.5. Phase III: Cultural Consensus Analysis ....................................................... 68 5.5.1. Development of Survey ..................................................................... 68 5.5.2. Administration of Survey .................................................................... 69 5.5.3. Descriptive Statistics, Consensus,