Erasing Ethnicity

[Lady Dragonfly]

Most of us want to look nice. But I could never understand public's fascination with artificial plastic "beauty". All this dyed dead "blonde" hair full of sticky mousse and styling gel, current "Is she on meds?"-style haircuts, look-alike makeup-plastered faces and even bodies, and augmented breasts. But the enthralling Vanity Fair has yet another ugly aspect.
Marie Claire magazine published some peculiar facts regarding cosmetic surgery -- what some women do to look Western (preventive strike: no, I don't read any "beauty" or "celebrity" magazines; I've read this article on MSN ).
Here are a few snippets:

Around the world, the desire for pert features, pin-straight hair, and a willowy physique — those dubious emblems of American beauty and success — is driving a multibillion-dollar industry.

From eyelid surgery to leg-lengthening and calf-narrowing, it seems there is little some women won't do to achieve that iconic look.

Double-eyelid surgery (aka Asian blepharoplasty). Cost: $2500 to $5000.
About 50 percent of Pacific Asians do not have an upper-eyelid crease. For those who do, the crease falls about 7 mm above the lashline, whereas for Caucasians, the crease falls about 11 mm above it.
Almost 300,000 Asians in the U.S. had the surgery in 2006.

Calf reduction. Cost: About $2800
Most popular in South Korea, but gaining popularity all over Asia; it has yet to make its way to the U.S. In general, Asian women have shorter legs and thicker calves than Caucasian women. These features are thought to be unsightly in their culture (some refer to them as "radish legs").
Risks: Excessive bleeding, shapeless legs.

Leg lengthening. Cost: $15,000 to $25,000
The Chinese are so height-conscious, jobs and even schools often post height requirements. To apply for the foreign ministry, women must be 5'3" (the national average), whereas flight attendants must be at least 5'5". As a result, being tall — or short — can have a direct impact on one's livelihood.
Risk: Horror stories include misshapen legs, feet that splay outward, and bones that never heal properly and break easily.

In the past five years, the number of plastic surgeries performed on minorities jumped 65 percent — compared with an increase of 38 percent for the overall population. Why the spike in minority candidates? Higher incomes and access to a wider range of ethnic-specific techniques.

In an attempt to preserve traditional Eastern looks, plastic surgery was banned in China until 2001. Now, it's a $2.4-billion-a-year business. Add Japan, which spends $18.4 million on plastic surgery annually, and India, where cosmetic surgery has experienced a 15 percent growth in the past three years, and Asia is now the world's second-largest plastic-surgery hub. The U.S. is still in the lead, with its whopping $8.4 billion industry.

Unlike the rhinoplasties performed on Caucasians (often to straighten a bridge or remove a bump), nose reshaping for minorities generally leads to narrower nostrils, a higher bridge, and a pointier tip — shapes typical of white noses.

While only about 2 percent of the world population is born blonde, the rest are still going for gold:
34% of the hair dye sold in the U.S. last year was blonde.
80% of Koreans in their 20s lighten their hair.

Bizarre, isn't it?

[Monolith]

Very. And all the money it costs. A psychiatrist would be SO cheaper. And could also/actually/probably (you decide) improve their well being.

[dragon wench]

Both tragic and bizarre...

I'm not surprised though. When I was in Japan during the early 90s I noticed that many ads portrayed characters with obviously Western features. Even those models who were Japanese by birth had traits that evoked Western concepts of attractiveness.

I really loathe artificial "beauty" to begin with... for example I find excessive makeup or obvious bleach blond hair looks tacky, and I have no empathy at all for those women whose breast implants go wrong.
And then there's the whole issue of extremely unhealthy dieting and related eating disorders..

However... to see other cultures attempting to emulate our so-called standards of "beauty" is perhaps even more disturbing.

[Crenshinibon]

I'm completely against all beauty type products. I believe in natural beauty and can't stand when I see women with make up and dyed hair and what not. I mean sure, it's okay if you're going to a costume party and what not, but otherwise stay away from it.

I think that dissatisfaction with looks is just awful. The thoughts of plastic surgery make me cringe. It's not beauty, it's becoming an abomination. Actually, it reminds of of Frankenstein.

Each culture has their own "beauty standard" and even with that, it's so unimportant. What is the point of looking beautiful to a group of strangers? The satisfaction? What's there to be satisfied about when the parts they consider beautiful are not even you but inanimate objects covered with your skin from your back or foot or wherever else? You should look beautiful for your lover, that is all, and if he/she does indeed love you, they will accept your natural beauty, otherwise they should have dated a Ken/Barbie doll.

[Dottie]

Artificial beauty isn't an exclusively western concept, but I agree that this is tragic, both because of the health hazards involved and because it imo reflects the fact that western people are seen as better, more skilled, more valuable etc.

On a side note I like makeup, dyed hair and looking good to strangers.

[DesR85]

Celebrities are also to blame for this trend as well. If it wasn't for them, the public wouldn't be so obsessed with their physical look. Celebrities have tanned skin, the public want to follow suit and by tanning for too long, they get sunburn. Yet, they still want to do it.

And when these celebrities have good looks (or 'symetrical' shape), the public also want them too, even if it means burning a hole through their wallet just to achieve that perfect look. I just wish people would just stop this celebrity worship stuff.

[Dottie]

@DesR85: "Celebrities" doesn't decide beauty ideals, they might have a slight impact on fashion, but that's not the same thing.

That people go to extraordinary lengths to look good is nothing new, it's been a part of many cultures for very long time. Neither is it the fault of a group of people who are just as exposed to cultural baggage as you or me.

It's sad that present beauty ideals are so unhealthy, but that's the end of it imo.

[VonDondu]

There's no doubt that an obsession with beauty lies at the heart of most of those surgeries and cosmetic enhancements. But I think that there is also a motivation to be "successful". For example, perhaps some of the Asians mentioned in the article feel like they can't be successful in life unless they look (more) Caucasian. I guess it goes along with having a great job, lots of money, a big house, smart and beautiful kids, and high standing the community. Vanity and ambition are clearly connected.

I hesitate to mention this, but there is also a great deal of racism in Asian cultures. I don't mean that Caucasians are perceived to be better than other Asians; I mean that some Asians are perceived to be better than other Asians. I wonder if that has anything to do with the desire to alter "undesirable features". In any case, it's clear to me that some of those cosmetic enhancements are connected to a desire to raise a person's status in society.

On the other hand, aside from radical surgery, I don't think that most cosmetic enhancements such as makeup or hair dye/bleaching constitute "erasing ethnicity". Hair color doesn't have much more effect on appearance than hair styles and it has even less effect than clothing choices. If an article suggested that people around the world were adopting Caucasian hair styles and clothing in order to "erase their own ethnicity", I would say the author misunderstands the nature of fashion.

[Lady Dragonfly]

Marie Claire magazine is all about fashion and beauty, so I assume they know the subject well.
And yes, I agree that blond hair evokes the coveted image of happy, successful Barbie catching gullible rich Ken in her golden net and climbing up the social ladder. So, go blonde, whatever it takes.
What it actually takes is summarized below:

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: THE LABOR, COST, AND STRESS OF RELAXING BLACK HAIR
HOW IT'S DONE: A petroleum base is applied to the scalp, then a relaxer with sodium hydroxide (basically, lye) is put on the hair. It stays on for 25 to 30 minutes and is then washed two or three times with a neutralizing shampoo. Finally, a deep conditioner is applied and rinsed, and hair is styled.
TIME: 2 to 3 hours
COST: About $225 for virgin hair; $110 for touch-ups
MAINTENANCE: A touch-up is needed every 8 to 10 weeks. Because of damage caused by the chemicals, hair can only be washed once or twice a week.
RISKS: A too-strong relaxer causes excessive breakage and scalp burns.

Granted, bleached hair cannot be compared to leg lengthening. But bleached hair and breast implants in one package imply the third component: dead brain.

But wait, there is more. Dark-skinned blondes also crave blue eyes. Unfortunately, blue eye transplants ain’t readily available… yet. But color contacts are.

Since color contacts by FreshLook became available in 1984, women of color - including Naomi Campbell, Lil' Kim, and Ziyi Zhang - have been eager to experiment. "Our largest market is with dark-eyed and dark-complected women," says Jeff Cohen, vice president of global marketing for CIBA Vision (makers of FreshLook), citing African-American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern women as the top customers in the U.S. "Color contacts are huge with Middle Eastern women because their clothing often covers everything except their eyes. It's one of the only ways they have to express their originality."

With this uniquely exotic notion of lighter eyes coming into vogue, colored-lens users climbed to 2.7 million in the U.S. alone last year.

“It’s one of the only ways they have to express their originality”. Indeed.

[dragon wench]

I hope I'm not going too far off topic here, but I've never understood the fascination with blond hair, blue eyes and height in the first place..
Personally, I've generally considered darker skin, hair and eyes to be more attractive, and almost every guy I've been involved with has had some variation of those features. I also think that darker women are more attractive; I get so tired of seeing blond hair and blue eyes on almost every magazine cover while standing at checkouts, and has anyone ever noticed that all of those women look practically identical to one another? It's almost as though there's a cloning facility somewhere mass producing them.

[Crenshinibon]

Blond hair and blue eyes? Huh, it appears that the idea of the Aryan race hasn't left after all. I fail to see the "perfection" of blond hair and blue eyes. To each his own... or as influenced by the social standards. Looks like Hitler was working on a trend then. Huh.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Crenshinibon

I fail to see the "perfection" of blond hair and blue eyes.

I suppose if we give it thought, just beyond the gut reaction, it likely has something to do with the notion in Western cultures of dark somehow being akin to "Evil" while light epitomizes "Good."
Let's also remember that earlier representations of Christ transformed him into a blue-eyed, blond haired Western European male, when in actual fact Christ would have had Semitic or North African features.

It is interesting to note, however, that in a number of other (generally dark-skinned) cultures white is actually synonymous with death..

[Crenshinibon]

Yes that is true. Light colors tend to represent death or misfortune. White and yellow are the only two I know though, for a fact at least.

No offense to anyone here, but I think Caucasians discriminate the most about outward appearance. I guess it's because they probably occupy the larger part of the earth's population, on a "racial scale". Something about America influences a lot of cultures... I'm not seeing "what" though... I'm not seeing the "why" either.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Crenshinibon

No offense to anyone here, but I think Caucasians discriminate the most about outward appearance.

I'm not certain that's entirely true..
As VonDondu mentioned above, many Asian cultures are extremely racist, both within their own nationality and against other Asians. Koreans in Japan are essentially second class citizens... Blacks and Hispanics in Japan are viewed with considerable intolerance. The Chinese are often very xenophobic..

It has become politically correct to claim that those of European descent are more racist and intolerant than any other group of people on earth, but, frankly, I don't generally have the impression that we have exclusive purchase on bigotry..

[Lady Dragonfly]

Yes, Japan's xenophobia and jingoism are well-known. At the same time, they seem to like American "culture" that sweeps through Japanese cities like plague. Besides, I've read that when a fashion trend hits Japan, it spreads fast and becomes fairly universal, and almost everyone would be wearing it. Might have something to do with Japanese collectivism.
The current cosmetic surgery craze is no different, in my opinion. Even very young girls opt to go under knife:

Obsessed with physical appearance, girls who underwent cosmetic surgery this year are getting younger — a disturbing trend. Most of the younger patients, aged from 10 to 15, went with their mothers to the cosmetic surgery clinics. Many carried photos of their idols and requested operations to look like them. Both mother and child believed that for anyone to attain popularity was to look cute.

In a materialistic world, cosmetic surgery seems to be a quick solution to achieving personal success. Perhaps so, but there are many cases of failures that have been left untold. As long as society continues to idolize youth and beauty, the cosmetic surgery industry will make a killing for years to come.

Oh, and the most popular procedure among Japanese teens is "Asian blepharoplasty".
Of course, a strong perception that the "improved looks" will open doors to success is universal. American teens have a "nose job" and "boob job" done often enough. (In the U.S., according to statistics provided by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 244,124 procedures were performed on patients ages 13 to 19 in 2006.)

Actually, when Monolith mentioned that a psychiatrist would be much cheeper, he was right on the money. It is estimated that many people undergoing plastic surgery (up to 15%) suffer from so-called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). There was also a study that found that suicide rates among patients with BDD was 45 times higher than in the general population and the suicide risk among women with breast implants 2-3 times higher than the risk among other women. Go figure.