Photographer Ji Yeo shot these pictures in a Beauty Recovery Room, right after the women came back from the recovery room of plastic surgery. Ji Yeo wants to raise awareness for the peer pressure that Korean women perceive to adjust to the Western ideal of beauty. According to the photographer, these women are living in a culture where men are judged on their income and women on their image.

“I have been struck by the clear distinction between the women I photographed in Korea and Westerners who seek surgery. Whereas in America, women often focus on altering their bodies (breast enlargements being the most popular), in Korea most women focus on facial adjustments such as: making their eyes bigger and wider, minimizing their cheekbones and jaw lines, and making their noses higher and narrower. Whereas sexiness is highly emphasized in America, in Korea, notions of childlike femininity and innocence reign supreme. It is this difference that compels me; regardless of geography or body type women are willing to spend thousands of dollars and endure extreme cuts, bruises, and scarring in order to achieve beauty.”