Asian Eyelid Surgery in the News
People have many different motivations for undergoing cosmetic surgery procedures. Some do so to restore a bit of their youth, some do so in order to further a career, some to repair a part of the body after some trauma.
In all cases, a person’s motivations must be respected.
A story came up in the news in the past week about news anchor Julie Chen undergoing a procedure know as Asian Eyelid Surgery. The story, which ran in several outlets, contained two details I would like to highlight:
“He said, ‘You will never be on this anchor desk, because you’re Chinese,’” Chen revealed to her co-hosts. ”He said, ‘Let’s face it Julie, how relatable are you to our community? … Because of your Asian eyes, sometimes I’ve noticed that when you’re on camera and you’re interviewing someone, you look disinterested, you look bored because your eyes are so heavy, they are so small.’”
First of all, using a person’s heritage as a way to discriminate against them is not only unfair, it shows that this news director thinks very little of his audience to believe that the audience could not accept someone who looked different than them. As this occurred 25 years ago, I hope that this sort of stigma is lessening.
More from the story:
The concept of changing her face to look less Chinese divided her family, she said. “Members of my family wanted to disown me if I got it done.”
In the end, her parents supported the decision. She showed before and after pictures to show that, “If you look at the after, the eyes are bigger, I look more alert.”
“I don’t like to live with regrets,” she said. “I did it, I moved on. No one’s more proud of being Chinese than I am.”
I love that her family and others came to support a decision that was wholly hers. She states her pride in her heritage and how that is not affected by her decision to get surgery.
I find it brave of Ms. Chen to come forward and discuss her experience openly and honestly as she has done.
Any kind of elective surgery or procedure that a person undergoes is a decision which is personal to her (or to him). Assuming that person is consulting with a qualified and caring physician who is also looking out for the patient’s health and well-being, I believe the best response of family, friends and others is one of support, encouragement and understanding — and, if the occasion fits, celebration — of the choice.
In our Inland Empire Cosmetic Surgery office, Asian Eyelid Surgery is a procedure which I often perform. Although, some refer to this as ‘westernization’ type of cosmetic procedure, if done conservatively and selectively, it will preserve the native ethnicity and will not alter the beautiful exotic Asian look.
Feel free to call my office at (909) 590-2299 or contact us in order to learn more about this procedure or any other cosmetic surgery in which you may be interested. I specialize in procedures of the breast, body and face, and I also do extensive work with fillers (such as Juvederm) and other injectables (such as Botox).