The connection between double eyelid surgery and race is a fancy one. Back in 2007, Tyra Banks invited Liz, a Chinese-American woman, on her show to discuss her double eyelid surgery. Banks accused her guest of “ethnic tweaking” to make herself look wide-eyed and Caucasian, despite Liz’s protests that it was merely to stop her eyes from drooping. Then there may be the infamous story of Julie Chen within the 90s, the Chinese-American television personality who underwent double eyelid surgery after her boss said she’d never make it as a top news anchor because her eyes made her look “disinterested” and since she was Chinese.

In 2017, an estimated 1.3 million people worldwide underwent double eyelid surgery, in accordance with a report by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The procedure is especially popular in Asia, where it’s the most commonly requested surgery. In Japan, for instance, 187,000 eyelid procedures were done in 2017 – well over the quantity of each other surgical treatment combined (roughly 107,000).   

Around 50 per cent of Asians are born with out a visible eyelid crease above their lash line (meaning they’ve monolids). In 1896, Japanese surgeon Mikamo developed the procedure often called blepharoplasty with the intention to address this, believing the double eyelid to be “more attractive”.  “The double eyelid creation is a reasonably common procedure,” says Singapore’s leading plastic surgeon, Dr Ivor Lim. “It’s normally performed on what we call ‘Mongoloid Orientals’ (Chinese, Korean, Japanese…). Anatomically, this eyelid has an additional fold of skin called the epicanthus along with the low position where the eyelid skin is adherent to the underlying structures, combined, these features give the looks of a ‘single’ eyelid. Some orientals have the ‘Western’ eye to start with and shouldn’t have a distinguished epicanthus.”

There are two ways to perform the 30-minute double eyelid surgery. First is the closed thread/suture technique where easy stitches are used to create a depression within the skin. Second is the open incision technique, which creates a more intricate design. It will be significant to notice that this surgery can be performed on individuals with natural double eyelids, to either increase eyelid exposure, make them symmetrical, or tighten the skin where the attention starts to sag. It costs about £2000-£6000 (depending on what anaesthetic you select and the complexity of the surgery).

“Demand for the procedure has historically been pegged to a desire to look more Western.”

Demand for the procedure has historically been pegged to a desire to look more Western. Within the Nineteen Sixties, Dr David Millard, a pioneer of cosmetic surgery, published a series of articles in academic journals on how patients living in post-war South Korea were choosing surgery because they “wished to look more just like the American troops, or aspired to the foreign sense of aesthetics”. Fast forward to South Korea today, and “corrective” double eyelid surgery has been normalised simply as a way of becoming more attractive. Advertisements for the procedure with slogans like “pretty girls all know” and “just like my mother’s choice” are plastered everywhere in the city, including on public transport, with an almost propaganda-like feeling to them. In truth, the procedure has turn out to be an integral a part of growing up, with parents offering it to children as a reward for tutorial achievement, or at the same time as a present following highschool graduation and before they begin applying for jobs as many Koreans consider that success is dependent on looks. In accordance with the South China Morning Post, hundreds of thousands of young people in China undergo double eyelid surgery “to assist them get a job (and) be comfortable”.

Celebrity culture is one other influencing factor, with quite a few K-drama stars and K-pop singers getting the surgery. In an interview about his surgery, singer Kyuhyun said the procedure was “suggested by my label… to have a more soft impression”, while singer Shindong admitted his “double eyelid surgery increased the variety of my fans”. In a 2012 Vice documentary, a bunch of Korean girls admitted to wanting to appear like “pretty Western celebrities”, while K-pop singer Miss Duboc from band D-Unit she said surgery would create an “ideal appearance (which) could be that of westerners.”

The representation of a “perfect face” with double eyelids encouraged by the media and unavoidable avertisting has lead the general public, not only in Korea but throughout Asia, to consider that reaching these “ideal” beauty standards will end in their success identical to their idols, and improve each their social and work lives.

When asked about why he believes the procedure is so popular, especially amongst Asians, Dr Lim says that clients often get “the surgery to higher define the eyelids which otherwise appear low. Consequently of the surgery, there may be a pleasant frame to the attention which also makes it look more attractive. A pleasant crisp fold also allows for higher make-up application.” That is something which resonates with 20-year-old Hong Kong native Hailey, for whom growing up with monolids was an insecurity. “In the wonder world, tutorials are barely ever tailored for Asian features,” she says. Following her surgery last yr, nevertheless, Hailey believes she has “a more universal eye shape, which makes applying any kind of make-up and any beauty technique easier.”

But not everyone opts for surgery with the intention to fit wide-eyed Western beauty ideals. Take Margaret, for instance, a 21-year-old from China but now based in Melbourne, who selected to have the surgery for physical concerns. Throughout Margaret’s teen years, she began to feel her eyelids were starting to sag: “I had to begin lifting my brow with the intention to open my eyes,” she says. After undergoing surgery at 19, she is pretty pleased: “My eyelids aren’t huge or unnatural looking. It fixed the droopiness.” Which, despite Tyra Bank’s accusations, is identical reason her guest gave back in 2007 for undergoing the procedure. “My eyes were beginning to sag,” she told Tyra. “I used to be looking drained. I didn’t have that youthful look.”

Then there’s Kiki, a 22-year-old student from Seoul living in London who had the surgery when she was 20. “Eyelid surgery is a private preference,” she says, “different people like to focus on different parts of their face. Some deal with their skin, their lips, their eyebrows. I desired to be comfortable having no make-up and still feeling wide-eyed and assured. I don’t know if growing up with Eurocentric beauty standards have anything to do with this.”

But for some, the pressure of Eurocentric beauty ideals, which dominate mainstream media, can’t be ignored. Dr Eugenia Kaw, published writer and doctorate of Anthropology analyses how cultural perspectives have influenced the way in which Asian Americans view beauty. In her book, Medicalization of Racial Features she explores the assumption that Asian American women undergo cosmetic surgery to vary their natural features which they consider lack emotion, and are subsequently considered to look dull and lacklustre.

“Growing up in London as a Chinese-Malaysian, I often experienced discriminating comments about my eyes reminiscent of “are you able to see as much as a white person can?””

One doctor she spoke to attributes the rise in blepharoplasty to “exposure to Western culture” which has ultimately led to a cultural “realisation that the upper eyelid with out a fold tends to provide a sleepy appearance, and subsequently a more dull look.” Which is something Julie Chen noted. Despite apologies issued to her from Ohio TV station, whose racist comments had led her down the trail of surgery, she ended up thanking her plastic surgeon on The Talk for making her look “more alert”.

The type of microaggressions inflicted on Julie is something numerous people of East Asian descent have experienced. Which is certainly one of the explanations we glance to emulate Western beauty ideals, as a way of fitting in. Growing up in London as a Chinese-Malaysian, I often experienced discriminating comments about my eyes reminiscent of “are you able to see as much as a white person can?” This made me very aware of the looks of my eyes and the way they differed from other people’s. Nevertheless, I actually have been lucky enough to surround myself with an open-minded and diverse group of friends who all have a good time each other for our differences. I actually have never felt pressure to have blepharoplasty (also partly because I’m very queasy in regards to the idea of surgery typically). Nevertheless, I usually wear false eyelashes to open up my eyes and make them more appealing as a focus of my face, which might be as a result of the identical reason my friends have opted for surgery. It’s not a lot about looking ‘Western’, relatively looking more attractive. But perhaps the 2 can’t be divorced?

Whether individuals are modelling themselves after Western-looking eyes or simply attempting to look more “alert”, we are able to’t ignore the undeniable fact that numbers are growing. Obviously what people do with their body is a private decision and needs to be accepted, nevertheless when individuals are being pressured into looking a certain way, it becomes an issue. To challenge this, we must confront media representations and societal definitions of beauty. Now could be the time that we have to be seeing images of girls with all eye shapes celebrated, as a reminder that there is no such thing as a such thing as a set beauty.