Made for the shade

The following is a tip on traditional Korean language and customs in response to a query from a Mr. Graves, who wrote to us from Seoul:

Q. Mr. Graves:
I’ve been curious about the strange-looking dark cover Korean women wear in the street. I’ve become used to it, but in the beginning when I began jogging along the Han River, I was more than surprised to run into a few Korean women who wore these plastic visors large enough to cover their entire faces. I would understand if such monstrous dark plastic visors are worn by young boys or Star Wars fans, but I’ve only seen them on women. Why?

A. IHT-JAD:
Most Korean women do not enjoy the tanned look even during the summertime. In fact, they will do anything to prevent their skin from getting even a shade darker, as fair-colored skin is traditionally considered more beautiful.

Since its introduction two years ago, the “sun cap” has been popular among women, as it was specially designed to protect the delicate facial skin. As long as they can get the sun protection, they don’t care whether they look a bit peculiar.