At work earlier today, my fellow intern and I were chatting across rows from each other about various shows we’ve seen and we got to discussing one MTV reality show where the main character underwent a drastic change in her “before” and “after” plastic surgery pictures. In that same vein, I mentioned how getting double eyelids is one popular plastic surgery procedure among Asians. My friend, who is African American, had no idea what double eyelids even referred to, so I had to explain to her the difference between “single eyelids” and “double eyelids,” and how people with “double eyelids” have an extra flap of skin that folds over on their eyelids. My friend then decided that she couldn’t understand why it would make any difference in one’s appearance, declaring that if I had single eyelids, I wouldn’t look any different. When I mentioned that my Korean friends told me that it is standard practice to get the double eyelid procedure done after high school graduation, my friend was even more baffled and joked that she should convert to single eyelids and start a new trend.
Thinking about our conversation on the train ride home, my conclusion was that her statement underscored the minuteness of this physical trait in comparison to its importance among Chinese and other Asians. While the truth is that she is quite right in highlighting the absurdity of this distinction, is there really anything we can do to change the standard? (I doubt she would be very successful in starting a new conversion to single eyelid trend). Ultimately, I think that philosophically speaking, getting double eyelids is no different from getting your ears pierced or putting on makeup—they are all procedures to alter one’s body or appearance to fit certain standards of beauty. The trick in my opinion though, and the key to a healthy and happy life, is getting to a point where you are comfortable with the way you look.
P.S. There are some ways in which plastic surgery can add to our enjoyment in life though—get a laugh out of this picture!
今天在工作时跟同事聊起了最近在看的一些真人秀。我们讲到了那个剧中的主角整的前后对比照的差异实在是太大了。整容后就好像变了个人。我跟我的同事说，在亚洲现在做双眼皮很流行。我的那位同事不是亚洲人所以根本就不知道什么是双眼皮，什么是单眼皮。于是我跟他解释，双眼皮就是指眼皮有一道折痕。我那位朋友就觉得这双眼皮跟单眼皮没什么差别。他说如果我变单眼皮看过去还是我。我跟他说我得韩国朋友说高中毕业后去做双眼皮是很基本得。我的朋友跟我开玩笑说那他就去弄个单眼皮也掀起一个新潮流。
他这么一说更突出双眼皮这特征的微秒性。虽然他说的好像很有道理。难道这一条折痕这么重要吗？但我们又有什么方法能改变这个标准呢？我觉得从哲学方面看的话，其实做双眼皮跟穿耳洞没什么两样儿。这些都是为了让自己更美丽更符合美的标准。只要拥有一个健康的心态就好了。
有时整容也能给大家带来一些乐趣，比如看看下面这张照片。