To prequel this post, I ask that you watch/read/skim through this CNN article Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek 'western' look in order to understand my point of view. Since I'm half Chinese and know several Chinese and Korean women as well as American women who have received plastic surgery, I feel somewhat qualified to give an opinion on this topic.
The reason that this article first interested me was because of my Corset of Democracy history class I took this past semester. It was a class where we talked about fashion trends in America and and the effect society had on fashion. Towards the end of the semester, this included talking about body modification, of which plastic surgery is one type of modification. About a month and a half ago, there was a story in the news of young girl here in the USA that received plastic surgery to "correct" her ears because she was embarrassed by how they stuck out. Although I don't remember the exact details, needless to say the girl was young enough for me to be sufficiently horrified by the fact that she was receiving cosmetic surgery. It's because of that article that I was interested in this particular article.
However, it wasn't age that was the main topic introduced with this article. Sure, they did emphasize how drastic it was for such a young girl to get surgery, but the more important emphasis of this article was that Asian women were using cosmetic surgery as a means of denying their culture and heritage by changing their faces to achieve a more "western" appearance. Well, being Asian myself, I could sort of understand on the surface level, but the more I thought about it, I did not agree with this conclusion.
We had a very similar conversation along these lines in my fashion class. My professor for that class posed to us the question: Is it okay for women to receive cosmetic surgery? Although generally the class felt that they would personally never receive cosmetic surgery, we mostly agreed that it's a woman's prerogative to do what she wants with her body. But when the teacher asked whether it was okay for an ethnic woman, such as an Asian, to receive cosmetic surgery, suddenly more felt that no, it wasn't okay. Their argument was that by having this surgery, they were denying who they are as a different culture and conforming to western ideals of beauty. Well, I have various issues with this analysis both made by my peers and by parts of the CNN article.
1. Double eye-lids though mostly uncommon among Asian society is not completely absent and if I were ever to receive surgery, I could see the benefits of getting the double eye-lid surgery. People have occasionally commented on my "sleepy" appearance, i.e. my eyes don't open very wide therefore I look tired a lot. Personally, the only reason I would want to get that surgery is to look more alert not because I'm desperately trying to get the doe-eyed look of Dakota Fanning. The fact is, maybe some Asians want the look for the same reason and they point out western models because they're the most obvious example of that.
2. Isn't all plastic surgery in a sense denying one's cultural heritage? It's not like every western woman has all great attributes because if they did, they wouldn't need to get nose jobs or eye lifts or any other surgery either. Various people have various features depending on which western culture they descended from, but by getting cosmetic surgery, aren't they also altering their looks to get the features of another culture? So, why is it just wrong for Asians to want to resemble other cultures that they see?
3. In the end, if a woman is only receiving surgery for one thing, it's not like she suddenly totally appears like a westerner and looks nothing like an Asian. Unless drastic steps are taken, an Asian still looks Asian despite one or two changed features.
4. Lastly, it's not like westerners aren't attempting to get some of the same features as Asians. One of the most common things I get complimented on is my super straight, non-frizzy Chinese hair. For this reason, what is one of the biggest selling beauty products for women? The hair straightener. I constantly hear girls complain about wanting straight hair and being unable to live without their straighteners. Isn't that, in a more temporary sense, a form of body modification?
In general, it appears to me that women see certain features that attract them and they want those features as well. Due to the high prevalence of western models and actors, it's no wonder women around the world, including Asia are identifying with certain characteristics of western beauty, but it doesn't mean they want to look like a westerner. If they did, we'd have hair dyeing and skin bleaching and ridiculous amounts of extreme surgery, but we don't. And westerners see certain things they like in Asian culture as well and borrow them for their own beauty practices.
Personally, I don't support plastic surgery at all. I think it's denying a person's identity, which includes their culture, but more specifically their individuality. Not to mention it's still surgery and an extremely dangerous situation to be deliberately putting yourself into. However, since people seem determined to keep doing it, then I at least demand equal opportunities for all races to rip off each others features because there is no western ideal of beauty, there's only a world ideal of beauty, one where each person likes what they like despite influences by the fashion industry.
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