Plastic Surgery Epidemic

There seems to be a sudden surge in plastic surgery within Asia. It seems that almost every Korean actress would turn up with a more button-like nose, a skinnier body with a fuller bosom, and the infamous doubled eyelid. Of course, other countries including Japan and China are also affected by the increasing numbers of plastic surgery.

One of the major plastic surgery solutions for Asians today is a simple double eyelid surgery. In this surgery, Asians would create an incision in their upper eyelid and once the skin heals, there would be a fold.

However, many people are complaining that this surgery creates a loss of identity. The double eyelid, expressed by less than 50% of the Asian population, seems to be a feature that makes people more Caucasian. In other words, there are those who complain that this surgery is only performed because more and more Asians are trying to achieve the Occidental look.

When I first heard about this subject, I agreed that Asians must be trying to achieve a Caucasian look and I felt a pang of sadness to know that my own people were losing their identities because of the acceptance of the Western look. However, as I read a few more articles on this subject, I realized that this might not be the case. In Asian culture, even before the Caucasian look came into play, couldn’t double eyelids and big eyes already be a sign of beauty?

A sizable minority of the Asian population are born with double eyelids. My entire family has double eyelids and I was born with bigger eyes and very heavy folds that friends have told me I have more Caucasian-looking eyes. But my eyes are still distinctly Chinese–they are the almond-shaped eyes that many Asians seem to be admired for. So, couldn’t these double eyelids just already be ingrained within Asian culture that they are a standard of beauty? However, I do believe Caucasians had some effect on the sudden surge of plastic surgery operations. The advent of make-up, no doubt, created a mad rush to get these double eyelids because it would be easier to apply eye shadow.

So, still at this moment, I am unsure of whether getting plastic eye surgery just for creating double eyelids is bad. I personally wouldn’t, since I do not advocate getting any form of just cosmetic surgery. The risks of anything going wrong seems to outweigh a little beauty that might not even be noticed. But after reading these articles, I don’t believe that those ladies who underwent the surgery was bad. Couldn’t this surgery be, like one article said, “just like getting your ears pierced?”