Baek Young-ok (born 1974) is a South Korean writer. Her book Style was adapted into a TV drama of the same name.
Baek Young-ok was born in Seoul in 1974. She won the Munhakdongne New Writer Award in 2006 with her short story "Goyang-I shanti" (ê³ ìÂÂì´ ì¨Ã° Shanti the Cat). She won the 4th Segye Literature Award in 2008 with her first novel, Sta-il (ì¤ÃÂÂì¼ Style). Sta-il (ì¤ÃÂÂì¼ Style) was made into a TV drama, and was translated into 4 languages and published in China, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Baek Young-ok has written various columns such as âÂÂThat Work, That Cityâ on Korea's daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo, âÂÂBeak Young-ok Meets With Unusual Menâ on Kyunghyang Daily News, âÂÂNight Moviesâ on Joongang Sunday S Magazine, and âÂÂBaek Young-ok's Passportâ on Maeil Kyungjae. She has also made guest appearances on âÂÂThe Secret Book Clubâ on the cable channel TVN, and âÂÂThis Blue Night, Presented by Jong-hyunâ on MBC's FM4U radio.
Baek Young-ok's fiction often deals with the desires of women. However, the focus of her writing is not on which desires women have. Rather, Baek Young-ok's stories put more emphasis on how the desire for becoming more beautiful, or the desire to gain more attention from people are used by society to take advantage of women's bodies. Women's desires and the colonisation of women's bodies is clearly shown in works that specifically deal with the world of celebrities. Her major work Sta-il (ì¤ÃÂÂì¼ Style) presents actual existing actors, and she draws readers in by exposing or suggesting the illusion of actors. In the novel, the actors are emotional people who are very competitive about their looks and are highly neurotic. The other characters of the novel, the editor in chief of the magazine and the senior reporters, are fierce individuals who work with their mind and body, and pour out âÂÂorgasms of exclusivesâÂÂ. However, the unique âÂÂstar qualityâ only manifests from âÂÂstyleâÂÂ, their physical capital. This comes from their perfect beauty that has been improved by plastic surgery, their gender transcendence through which they can pull off âÂÂHedi Slimaneâ clothing, and their âÂÂbarrenâ bodies that achieve the âÂÂdestruction of boundariesâÂÂ. The talent or the private concerns of the actors are secondary. In order to win the competition against other media, the stars must richly decorate themselves as well as their inner side, with the most fabulous and unique concept. The paradox that somehow the narcissism of actors addicted to âÂÂimageâÂÂ, and the interview decorated by collusive âÂÂillusionâÂÂ, must lead to a place of actual emotion, is the reality of celebrities shown by Sta-il (ì¤ÃÂÂì¼ Style).