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1. Women of Color Blog » number one beauty issue for latinas? on 29 May 2007 at 8:28 pm

   […] on 29 May 2007 at 06:28 pm | Tagged as: random chit chat, sexuality I just finished reading Carmen’s post where she questions the idea that eyelids are the number one beauty issue for As…(Carmen asserts that weight and skin tone respectively seem more central to […]

2. ATR 85 - National Geographic Magazine - 10/17/2007 - Submit an Audio Comment: 206-203-3983 at Addicted to Race - beyond diversity buzzwords on 17 Oct 2007 at 9:48 pm

   […] ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Are eyelids the no. 1 beauty concern in the Asian community? […]

3. Addicted to Race 85: National Geographic Magazine at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 17 Oct 2007 at 9:49 pm

   […] Are eyelids the no. 1 beauty concern in the Asian community? […]

4. Glamour Magazine on Women, Race, and Beauty at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 04 Mar 2008 at 12:00 pm

   […] style.” Serena Kim explains the single-fold eyelid and cultural pride. (It reminded me of Carmen’s earlier post asking if this issue was the number one concern in the Asian community. From my outsider’s […]

Comments

1. Latoya Peterson wrote:

   Disclaimer! I am so not Asian (as if that wasn’t obvious)…

   In my humble opinion, the “Asian eyelid surgery” thing is presented as a major issue because it’s something that most non Asian people see as very, very strange. My eyelids have never been on any list of body anxieties. They, like the length of my fingers and the shape of my earlobes, are pretty average. So when I started watching J & K-dramas, watching music videos and reading Asian fashion magazines my friend Hae took pains to explain trends. Including eyelid surgery. I freaked out - especially after she explained that her parents encouraged her to get the surgery.

   So if Oprah was looking to explore a semi-shocking issue unique to a certain ethnic community, eyelid surgery wins hands down.

   With that being said, I notice Hae and her friends obsess over weight a lot more than any eyelid surgery…every 5 lbs is a discussion. Hae doesn’t have the “typical” Asian physique (to be explored more in a later post), but she and her friends seem to be in constant pursuit of being under 100 lbs. (Hae’s goal is slightly different, but in the interests of our friendship I cannot elaborate further.)

   Skin color I am not sure about…never came in contact with Eastern Asiatic people with color issues (unlike some of my desi friends, who did have that issue)…but that could just be my being oblivious…

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 8:17 pm ¶

2. Ike wrote:

   From my personal experiences, I agree with you that eyelids are not that big of a concern. I have single eyelids, but my dad and my sister have double eyelids. The only reason my family suggested surgery was because my eyelashes actually turn backwards and poke my eyeballs. No one has ever given me a purely aesthetic reason for getting the surgery.

   I also don’t think that beauty ideals and issues are the same among Asians in Asia and Asian-Americans. For example, weight and skin color seem to be much bigger issues among people in Asia and 1st-generation immigrants than 2+ gen AAs.

   My personal #1 beauty concern? I have no ass. =P

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 9:20 pm ¶

3. Rachel wrote:

   I can’t comment on the number one issue for Asian women (I have a feeling the issues are different for men and women.), but I saw that show and it sucked.

   I think she went the whole show without mentioning racism, and then they spent a great deal of time trying to absolve whites, and white rune institutions because they focused on more on how communities of color (and more specifically families) perpetuate colorism and Euro-centric beauty norms.

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 9:36 pm ¶

4. Rachel wrote:

   One more thing, not to diss Kiri Davis because I really respect her work, but the doll tests were fundamentally flawed and have pretty well been dismissed as bad social science.

   It doesn’t mean they are not socially significant because Kenneth and Mamie Clark had a huge impact of desegregation, which has solidified their place in history, but the doll test doesn’t measure what it purports to measure.

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 9:39 pm ¶

5. Myra wrote:

   I would have to agree that the skin tone issue is a big, big deal, yet one that is not talked about as a negative thing, per se. Also, not to digress, but this fits in with this whole thing that Carmen mentioned about weight. Did anyone notice the visible rib bones on the new Ms. Universe (aka Miss Japan)? Sheesh, somebody take her to an In and Out Burger!

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 9:46 pm ¶

6. Michelle wrote:

   I had a slight problem with the Davis’ doll test and how she assumed that the children who chose the ‘white’ dolls thought that white people were better. growing up I had no clue that my dolls had races, the barbies I played with were mostly white but they were the dolls that I saw mostly advertised on tv and sold in stores so I wanted them. as a young child I had no desire to be white or look like my dolls, I use to mutilate them out of boredom actually.
   the segment with the black woman and her son was disturbing to watch.

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 10:40 pm ¶

7. sarahkim wrote:

   I think it an Asian American woman’s feelings on these beauty issues are most likely informed by whether or not she grew up around a lot of other Asian Americans or not….. For me, being isolated from Asian Americans, the eyelid thing was definitely #1, and a lot of it centered around the fact that my eyes did not measure up to the white beauty ideal. I won’t speak for all adoptees, but I know that many of us who grew up in majority white communities had similar feelings, especially in the ’70s and ’80s. (2nd-generation AAPIs may have had similar experiences growing up in Kansas, South Dakota, etc.) Weight and skin tone were issues that I didn’t know about until I moved to Korea as an adult.

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 11:40 pm ¶

8. sarahkim wrote:

   I just also want to add that it seems to me that in America, non-Asians view Asian eyes as the stand-out feature that distinguishes people of the “Asian race” (whatever that may be). What comes to mind is the classic playground taunt of someone pulling the corners of their eyes back to make two slits and chanting, “Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees…..”

   Posted 29 May 2007 at 11:47 pm ¶

9. nadia wrote:

   i can’t speak to asian beauty concerns, but i will say that in my opinion, arab women’s top beauty concerns are weight and skin tone, and hair removal too, to a lesser degree as it’s easier to control. i thought this was a good point:

   “White supremacist ideals may be informing the desire indirectly, but it’s not such a direct link of wanting to be white.”

   also it seems that the issue of people getting cosmetic surgery to “enhance” their ethnic characteristics–i caught headlines on this topic but didn’t read any articles. i’m interested to know what people here think of this.

   Posted 30 May 2007 at 12:53 am ¶

10. mireille wrote:

    I believe the media is fixated on the eyes because it is seen as THE defining Asian feature and tends to ignore skin and weight issues because all woman have these in some capacity. A beauty topic that hasn’t been touched on is hair. I grew up watching my mother tease up her smooth black hair and dye strips of it a flat orange color that was suppose to look like natural highlights (always ends up looking a little light someone took a sharpie to her hair). I never understood this aesthetic choice, if it was informed by a eurocentric ideal of what pretty hair looks like or not.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 2:47 am ¶

11. Sudy wrote:

    As a Filipina, I completely agree. I would not say that eyelids are the number one issue. From my expereince, it is ABSOLUTELY weight followed by skin tone.

    My family and friends who are Filipino, male and female, endlessly watch, talk, joke, lament around the issue of weight. It’s overwhelming.

    Skin tone, for Filipinos, is another issue. As a naturally darker-skinned Asian, I’ve heard some of the most atrociously racist comments from other lighter skinned Asians.

    These two are definitely the top two in my book.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 7:47 am ¶

12. Rob wrote:

    I can’t speak for Asian women since I’m an Asian guy but how come you don’t see this issue affecting Asian men? I haven’t heard of any Asian guy with single eyelids getting this type of surgery.

    What’s really annoying is that I can at least relate to how Asians tend to view skin tone and wide eyes as being beautiful. Though it’s close to the white beauty standard, it’s also an Asian belief that these qualities are beautiful.

    Personally, I have natural double eye lids and pale white skin and I constantly get complamented when I would walk around Asia. It’s really ironic because I believe my pale white skin is ugly and wise to be a tad darker which draws constant criticism from other Asians as me making myself ugly on purpose.

    It’s actually pretty funny because I find myself more attracted to Asian women withe single eye lids because they look more uniquely Asian. Man, I have issues.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 8:09 am ¶

13. brownfemipower wrote:

    mireille–i live where there’s a really heavy population of asian folks in the country just to go to school–and i’ve noticed that with the hair as well. at my daughter’s school there were always a *lot* of little japanese girls with their naturally straight hair all ratted/curled and put into pig tails. I always felt bad for them cuz my mom did the same thing to me and i know how much it hurts to get your hair done like that when it just isn’t *meant* to be like that.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 8:16 am ¶

14. Eun-jung wrote:

    I totally and absolutely agree with sarahkim. For me, as a girl, the #1 beauty issue were my eyelids (and the lack thereof of my second fold). One of the most horrifying times during my teens came on my 16th birthday when I was waiting outside a Korean restaurant for a close friend of mine. He was older, I considered him as “oppa” and respected him a lot. But as he walked up onto the sidewalk, he chuckled and gasped, “Eun-jung ee, open your eyes!!! Oh…my bad, they are already open. Have you ever thought of getting ’sangka pul’?” (*sangkapul is the Korean term for the eyelid surgery)

    As an adoptee, I think the struggle to fit in as a Korean in “Asian beauty” standards was a lot higher, and the pressure was stronger - just because of my up-bringing.

    I have never seen weight as being a huge issue - I think that is brought on more by the Asian American men… a lot of the guys that have ever been interested in me particularly make statements such as, “I like your build. You’re nice and slender. I don’t like those fat girls.”

    And that in turn forces the girls to care so much more about their sizes but I definitely don’t see the weight as being no more of an issue with Asian Americans than it is with the mainstream America.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 8:26 am ¶

15. Wendi Muse wrote:

    I remember when I first learned about the eyelid surgery a few years ago via an MTV documentary that SuChin Pak did about the “phenomenon” among APA youth. I sat there kinda shocked, but could understand where some of the interviewees were coming from. Even though I am not Asian-American, I have small-ish, almond-shaped eyes that completely disappear in pictures and on which makeup application is…a challenge, to say the least, so I could identify. Not because I wanted to be white or because I hated myself for having what some people at my old elementary school called “chinky” eyes (p.s. I hate that term b/c it’s racist, but on top of that they also would ask if my dad were Asian…). I thought my eyes were cool, I just wished they were larger.

    Long story short, I don’t think it’s a concern only for APA women and/or the ONLY concern.

    Members of the media go silent when white women, for example, get lip injections or perms. No one is jumping up and down saying those women want to be black. Their racial authenticity is never questioned, so it’s quite a double standard to put people of color under the microscope and ignore the racial majority for their choices.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 8:31 am ¶

16. Wendi Muse wrote:

    speak of the Devil:
    “Telling India’s Modern Women They Have Power, Even Over Their Skin Tone”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/business/media/30adco.html?_r=1&ref=worldbusiness&oref=slogin

    (thanks, Doug, for this article!)

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 8:34 am ¶

17. Donna Darko wrote:

    And finally, I was a little taken aback by Pak’s assertion that eyelids are the no. 1 beauty issue in the Asian and Asian-American community.

    Suchin is Korean as are Sarah and Eun-jeun so it could be the biggest beauty issue in the Korean community.

    Weight and skin tone sound about right for me.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 9:18 am ¶

18. Rob wrote:

    Interestingly enough, Koreans are the least likely to have double eye lids.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 11:30 am ¶

19. deb wrote:

    Rachel, you hit on the reason why I didn’t like the segment about the boy who was ashamed of his dark skin. The psychologist seemed bent on wanting to blame the mother for her own insecurities about skin color. I couldn’t help thinking that the mother felt the psychologist was missing the point. (Okay, maybe I’m projecting.)

    The point being, that the show didn’t want to delve too deeply into the subject of race. I mean, it seemed antithetical for a show to focus on individuals who don’t feel they fit society’s criteria for what is attractive, and yet, not focus on why society imposes these ideals in the first place.

    And although Oprah acknowleged her own issues about her looks, I’m thinking,
    “But hasn’t she had a nose job?” And, “She does appear to have gotten lighter over the years.”

    But, I guess I couldn’t expect her to address my observations.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 12:13 pm ¶

20. Adrianna wrote:

    I’m guessing the reason why white beauty ideals was not mention was because that it’s already acknowledged. I think colorism is dirty laundry not spoken about. This is a first step toward more public discussions

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 4:08 pm ¶

21. Guerita wrote:

    Going to a school with the majority of my classmate being asian, so far I only heard people meintion 3 or 4 at the most about eyes shape. (both boys and girls ) and 10 times about weight and skin tone.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 7:44 pm ¶

22. Mina wrote:

    “Skin tone, for Filipinos, is another issue. As a naturally darker-skinned Asian, I’ve heard some of the most atrociously racist comments from other lighter skinned Asians.”

    It’s an issue for Iranians too. When Mom says I have a good skin color it gives me the creeps and I tell her to knock it off because she’s disrespecting other people for their skin colors when she says that.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 7:52 pm ¶

23. jessica wrote:

    I think blacks are the only group that uses different types of chocolate to explain, talk about, and describe our skin tone. We are preoccupied with it. Historically, the discussion of skin town has followed us everywhere.

    As a person of Jamaican, Afro-Cuban, Japanese, and Irish descent skin tone is discussed a lot in my family. We range from pale skinned to jet black. To this day my mother still asks me to put on a hat when going out into the sun. When it’s 98 degrees in Brooklyn can you really wear a hat???

    Oprah has definitely changed over the years. She really has glossed over a lot of areas where I feel she should have been more vocal. She treated the mother and son like they were anomilies (sp?). I know people today that pray that their children are not dark. Where does this come from? Definitely self-hatred has a lot to do with it from within the black community. I also think the society at large doesn’t help. Do you see, wide noses, full lips, dark skin, and natural hair in the magazines and on television? Would Beyonce be Beyonce if she wasn’t light with long, flowing blond locks? Every time I see her I think of Toni Morrison’s book, the Bluest Eye.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 9:40 pm ¶

24. Ike wrote:

    [quote]I have never seen weight as being a huge issue - I think that is brought on more by the Asian American men… a lot of the guys that have ever been interested in me particularly make statements such as, “I like your build. You’re nice and slender. I don’t like those fat girls.”[/quote]

    I think the issue of weight that most of us are referring to works the opposite way. Since a lot of Asian-American men like “skinny girls”, those of us with more to love sometimes feel… unloved.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 10:00 pm ¶

25. Judah wrote:

    I agree, skin tone is generally a bigger concern than eyelids. I hadn’t heard of eyelids until relatively recently, but I had heard of skin tone. Being a guy, I do not understand what all of the fuss is about for something so trivial.

    http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200703/200703090034.html

    The link above describes a study conducted by a Korean doctor that compared the lip shapes of normal Korean women, Korean models and Caucasian models. The use of models implies an aesthetic judgment.

    Sadly, even if you could get rid of the anxiety over eyelids, skin tone and weight, there will always be some other seemingly minor thing like lips ready to take their place.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 10:40 pm ¶

26. manong wrote:

    I’m an Asian guy, but from what I hear from Asian women, weight and skin tone are much more “important.” In fact, I only heard about the whole eye lid thing until I was in college, and someone mentioned it.

    I second the comment about Filipinos and skin tone - it’s a big issue, especially amongst the older generation. Quite frankly, the whole “being lighter automatically makes me better than you” attitude drives me up a f**king wall.

    Posted 30 May 2007 at 11:10 pm ¶

27. benny wrote:

    I was confused by the terminology, so I looked it up:

    The epicanthic fold is a fold of skin that covers the inner corner of the eye. An eyelid crease is what people here are calling the “double eyelid”. They are distinct and unrelated features. The classic “Asian look” that we speak of is to have an epicanthic fold but not an eyelid crease.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthic_fold

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 12:44 am ¶

28. arielladrake wrote:

    Y’know, I’m Chinese/white, and whilst I often had people telling me I had ‘Asian eyes’, I never really understood what that meant, and it wasn’t until the second or third time I’d read about the eyelid surgery thing that I kinda looked in the mirror and went ‘oh, so THAT’S what the Asian eyes thing meant.’

    Weight’s generally an issue for me, but I suspect that’s also to do with the big bulky Scottishness.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 5:18 am ¶

29. susanc wrote:

    For me, the biggest issues I have are weight and skin tone. And as someone who’s Japanese/Caucasian, my mom and her side of the family usually blame/praise my “American genes” for my appearance.

    While most Americans would consider me slender, my Asian relatives think I’m chubby. They usually blame it on my being “half-American” (since they have this perception that most Americans are overweight).

    On the other hand, they also compliment me and say I’m lucky that I’m half, since I have “large eyes” and such a “light skintone.”

    The skintone is especially a big issue, since my mom’s side of the family comes from Okinawa (southern Japan), and Okinawans tend to be darker than mainland Japanese. In fact one of the weirder things one of my mom’s cousins does to stay pale is that she wears a special sleeve on her arm when she’s driving so that it won’t get too dark.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 9:29 am ¶

30. gandalf mantooth wrote:

    Though weight and body size are likely bigger issues in Japan (I think plastic surgery in general is seen as neutral) they are coming to grips with the changes in body size in the last few decades. Median height is going up, so should median weight. There’s a current fashion trend called bon kyu bon (big small big), which refers to fashions that accentuate a curvier figure. Funny abt that though is if you don’t have bon kyu bon you can buy things that will make it appear as if you do.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 12:03 pm ¶

31. AssamTea wrote:

    brownfemipower wrote:
    “at my daughter’s school there were always a *lot* of little japanese girls with their naturally straight hair all ratted/curled and put into pig tails.”

    Although I cannot speak for other East Asian groups, most Japanese do not have naturally straight hair. Their hair is generally thick, coarse, and wavy or curly. It is often referred to as “kuse-kami” (ku-se meaning “bad habit”) because it is difficult to cut and style. That’s why they created their famous hair straightening system.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 2:59 pm ¶

32. Donna Darko wrote:

    I spoke to the woman who did the research about Asian American girls and women and eating disorders for Audrey magazine and she said the pressure to be thin came from the family and relatives. Don’t blame the boys and girls though that’s a big factor too.

    Attitudes about size come from Asia and have not adapted to eating habits and food in other countries. So we’re expected to as thin as our counterparts in Asia.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 3:59 pm ¶

33. Donna Darko wrote:

    Did y’all know nonwhite women have higher rates of eating disorders than white women? It’s not the image of eating disorders but there you go.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 4:00 pm ¶

34. Donna Darko wrote:

    OT: It’s time to disavow Asian parents and do what’s right. They’re causing eating disorders in girls, pressuring us to be perfect model minorities so they can compete with other Asians, they’re denying the existence of mental illnesses so we don’t get help and get blamed for our own illnesses, they’re driving men and women apart by insisting wives physically take care of them in old age.

    If these things are wrong, say so and they will change for everyone’s benefit.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 5:01 pm ¶

35. Donna Darko wrote:

    They’re also extra protective and strict with Asian girls and this drives many women away from Asian men.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 5:03 pm ¶

36. Mina wrote:

    “As a person of Jamaican, Afro-Cuban, Japanese, and Irish descent skin tone is discussed a lot in my family. We range from pale skinned to jet black. To this day my mother still asks me to put on a hat when going out into the sun. When it’s 98 degrees in Brooklyn can you really wear a hat???”

    Yeah, that’s the worst of both worlds - picking on skin color *and* casting a teeny tiny shadow. WTF?

    The other day I used an umbrella as a parasol because it’s better than a hat at keeping my arms in the shade and not overheating my head. OTOH in my case it was about society rejecting soaking wet skin instead of about society rejecting dark skin (I was trying not to sweat a lot). My dad’s still all “wear a hat!” o_O

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 7:50 pm ¶

37. Donna Darko wrote:

    hey, Mina!

    I looked up the word disavow. That’s the wrong word. I mean we should love our parents, tell them we love them but will do what we feel is right. When relatives tell an overweight cousins she is fat, tell them to cut it out. I have this wonderful cousin who was always overweight and her aunts were the worst. It was like a big family joke because it stood out. Very cruel but she’s wonderful and turned out fine in life.

    Posted 31 May 2007 at 11:11 pm ¶

38. Blanky wrote:

    Weight seems to be a universal problem, regardless of race, for both men and women (though women get the short end of the stick, and any male problems about it are either made into jokes, belittled, or ignored).

    Posted 01 Jun 2007 at 1:30 pm ¶

39. oprah lover wrote:

    i just watched the re-run of the show, and suchin said the issue of eyes is “probably” the most discussed topic. she didn’t say it’s a fact that its the most discussed issue. yet, she did say it’s the number 1 surgery in Asia, so if we are gonna get nitpicky about a statement, it should be that.

    and i “think” (note: my opinion) the issue of eyelid surgery is an issue of the middle-class/upper middle class/affluent asians. suchin said something, either on the MTV special or on oprah, about the eyelid surgery being a status symbol, and this can be compared to how some in the jewish community think getting a nosejob is a sign of class. in other words, a family most likely will discuss ANY type of surgery only if they can afford it.

    and from experience, the eyelid surgery discussion is more prevalent in the Japanese and Korean communities.

    and in regards the the person who said the issue of eyelid surgery doesn’t exist in the asian male , it probably does, it’s just that it isnt discussed. most men, in general conversation, do not talk about going on a diet or feeling too fat, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about their weight. there are probably many asian men who are concerned about their eyelids, but they probably dont discuss it with their friends.

    and i agree the issues of weight is probably more important than eyelids, but like someone said earlier, its a universal/common insecurity for many races/ethnicities; it is not only an asian-american concern. the point of the show was about insecurities about racial physical features, and the Oprah show spends a great deal about people insecure about their weight.

    and in regards to Oprah getting lighter — her skin tone changed because she has gotten better studio lighting. the only surgery i think she’s gotten was something to remove her eyebags, because she’s gotten a lot less puffy in the past 10 years. A nosejob is a possibility too, but it could be make-up tricks.

    basically i just wanted to say…I LOVE OPRAH!! SHE CAN DO NO WRONG!! HAHA jk!! no really though, i thought there was a lot wrong with the show — i do agree the mother who prayed for her son to be lighter than her was passively aggressively attacked by the shrink — but i think the message of the show is that every race/ethnicity has their issue of not fitting in the “norm”. and even though the show didn’t come up with a definite solution, it did bring light to issues that many people haven’t heard of.

    Posted 03 Jun 2007 at 3:27 am ¶

40. Lo Fleming wrote:

    In regards to the doll test. I always thought that test was bogus. I always think the reason that the black children chose the white doll is because as an ethnic person in America you want to make the “right” choice, the choice you think the person who is in charge wants you to make.

    I think in regards to the doll test in regards to black women it has more to do with overly trying to please people than it does with wanting to be white.

    I think sometimes the mainstream tries to push its issues on to women of color (people of african, asian, indian descent), half of the things that “mainstream” america tries to put on us in regards to us want to be white is such bs in my mind.

    I personally think all of the women of color trying to be white is more white women who aren’t upper class or who aren’t part of the blue blood crew being upset that they aren’t part of that party and instead of playing it out with themselves they play it out with us like we’re little dolls 0r something.

    My “ethnic” white friends seem to have way more issues with not looking “white” than my ethnic friends do with those kinds of issues.

    Lo

    Posted 05 Jun 2007 at 3:56 pm ¶

41. Salina wrote:

    I totally agree on the stigma among those with eyelid-fold deficiency. My family went as far as judging people’s personalities based on their eyelid status: I was strongly encouraged to find men with double-fold eyelids, as they’re apparently brighter, nicer, and smarter individuals. Ridiculous, right?

    Weight may be the major issue the Asian community focus on, but I feel that even the idea of ranking beauty/health issues may be downplaying the importance of those that are not on top of the list. Esteem can be affected by consensus, but in the end, it is still an individual’s struggle with his/her image.

    Also, it is dangerous to use the consensus’ reasoning for a certain ideal body image as an umbrella concept assumed to be embraced by everyone. If double eyelids can be associated with something as farfetched as personality, then any rationale is possible, not just Western beauty ideals.

    Posted 17 Oct 2007 at 10:50 pm ¶

42. Helen wrote:

    I grew up around many (and as one myself) Chinese Americans and I have to say: it depends. I think in some parts of Asia, weight and skin tone are most important. In other places, eyelids ARE the most prominent problem. I grew up in the Bay Area with many Chinese-Americans around me, and I’d say the biggest problem is the overall facial structure/appearance. As in: angularity, prominent cheekbones, tall, slim noses, and of course round eyes but that’s a category of its own. The face is first for East Asians. then weight/body shape - tall, skinny, but with boobs and some ass. Third is probably eyelids or rounder eyes because it’s an “Asian thing.” Then probably hair and eye color, including skin tone.

    Posted 05 Mar 2008 at 8:08 pm ¶

43. Helen wrote:

    I forgot to add, that it differs for different Asians. With indians i think skin tone definitely takes top rank. As with Filipinos and other darker Asians. Next is probably things like hair texture, color, eye color, and other problems of “white features” like bumpy nasal bridge, thin lips, or body hair. With middle eastern women, i think it’s skin tone and body hair for sure.

    Posted 05 Mar 2008 at 8:15 pm ¶

44. Luis wrote:

    For my female Korean-American friends, eyes and the eye surgery was hardly ever discussed. Yet, each and every one of them had gotten it if they didn’t already have the crease. The point is that sometimes the most salient issues are also the most unspoken. It seems to be an embarrassing topic, especially for 2nd generationers. It also seems to be more important to Koreans than other Asian groups, based on my personal experience (which is admittedly limited).

    Skin tone and weight are globalized issues though, thanks to past colonialism and current media messages. Individuals aren’t trying to look “white,” entire COUNTRIES are trying to look “white.” Based on what I’ve read, color discrimination predated Western intervention in Asia and the Indian subcontinent, but the West certainly has compounded skin with weight and eyes and hair and any number of other difficult to attain features.

    This is how White supremacy is far-reaching, insidious, self-sustaining, and often unconscious.

    Posted 09 May 2008 at 11:16 am ¶

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