GKT Scientific: Eyes The Window To The Soul?
...In 1896, Japanese surgeon K. Mikamo introduced a non-incision eyelid technique to the world, and subsequently popularised the "three-stitch technique" where upper eyelids were sutured six to eight millimetres above the eyelash with silk thread, creating a scar line that produced a fold. In most cases of modern day surgery, it takes approximately an hour and begins with an application of local anaesthetic. First, a surgeon cuts along a pre-drawn line and pulls down the skin on top of the lower skin of the incised eyelid. Fat tissue in between the layers is sucked out and the eyelid sutured. The patient returns home, and after six to seven days the stitches are removed and the patient is a proud owner of "double eyelids." The eyelid's skin is most delicate, and like all surgeries, risks are inherent. The most commonly reported problem is asymmetry. Of course, there are some risks of infection, scarring and blindness. To the surgery's many detractors, the most damaging post-operative risk, beyond death, is psychological: rejection of culture.
Many believe Oriental/Asian eyelid surgery was mainly born out of a desire to appear more Westernised. Eyelid surgery boomed after World War II, said Hawaiian surgeon Leabert R. Fernandez in a 1959 article, "due to the influx of Caucasians, with intermarriages.". In 1963, a Malayan doctor, Khoo Boo-Chai, creator of the popular non-incision method of "Oriental Blepharoplasty." posited that the desire for the surgery stemmed from three reasons: socio-economic (the western look being more accepted); local beliefs and superstition (to eradicate suspicious "mousy" eyes); and "domestic" (better chance to lure a prospective husband)...Figures from the American Association of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery indicate that there has been a 35 percent rise in cosmetic surgery procedures in the United States since 1990 [this article is from 2002]...It's been estimated that 40 percent of young Korean women undergo the surgery...The surgical technique to augment two flitting folds inspires debate in the Oriental American community. Is it a sell-out to western ideals of beauty, or is it a way to make an Asian face more - 'Westernised'?...Some Asian women who have had blepharoplasty claim, "I don't think it's a self-hate thing, it's a self-improvement thing"...more...
Related FG Thread: Eyelid Surgery for S. Korean President & Wife. See also NAM: Plastic Surgery As Racial Surgery and Time: Changing Faces.
