Some Asians Want to Change their Eyes

NorthJersey.com has a nicely reported story on how a “new generation” of Asian-Americans is embracing a cosmetic procedure known as “double-eyelid surgery.” Wired news had this story.

“Pioneered in 19th-century Japan, double-eyelid surgery has appealed to Asians by promising to make their eyes larger and more defined. The numbers of Asian-Americans seeking the surgery has climbed steadily, which they get at a far higher rate than any other ethnic group, according to surveys by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery..

The surgery’s relative ease has probably boosted its popularity. It costs about $2,500 to $5,000, and takes about an hour.

Is the surgery a rejection of Asian appearance and heritage? Maybe, maybe not.. surgeons have become more conscious of creating smaller folds that they say are contoured to the proportions of an Asian face. Ahn, who performs as many as 200 Asian eyelid surgeries a year in New York and New Jersey, said the new goal is to duplicate the look of a naturally occurring Asian double-eyelid, blunting the notion that features have been “Westernized.”

Many Asians seeking the surgery no longer are constrained by its controversial past, and many say they want it to make their eyes less “sleepy” or for more basic cosmetic reasons.