Criticized as Self Mutilation
by Sandy Kobrin
WeNews correspondent
"Double eyelid surgery is unnatural and people who do it are buying into a beauty myth that is not Asian-based. It's really just self-mutilation and a lot of it sadly is interjected by parents and their ideas," Wong said. "It's heartbreaking that these young girls don't have cultural pride; that they're ashamed of who they are and how they look."
Many Asian-Americans say that the idea that double-lids are beautiful and single-lids are ugly is reinforced by the beauty standards projected by Hollywood, television and beauty magazines. Few Asian celebrities are still single lidded, they say, noting that even Jackie Chan, action adventure superstar, has had the surgery. They also note that Asian-American women represent less than 3 percent of all actors in Hollywood's movie history.
"Everything you see in the media is big blue-eyed blondes and for Asians the ideal look seems to be to look more Eurasian, more westernized with big eyes," said Ellen Hwang, editor-in-chief of Jade Magazine, a New York-based magazine that caters to Asian-American women. "Here in the U.S., even more than in Asia, the models and movie stars you see and who girls want to emulate are Caucasian. Yes there is a Lucy Liu," she said, referring to the Asian-American actress and model, "but most models are Western. And young girls often want to look like those models."
Perhaps reflecting the intensity of emotions surrounding the surgery, no woman reached by Women's eNews who had the surgery was willing to be interviewed.
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