Beauty Is Not Pain - 1704 Words

Beauty is NOT pain As we get older we all experience changes in our body, some that we love and others that we could do without. People are born in all shapes and sizes, but why is it that some choose to change that with cosmetic and plastic surgery? What would motivate someone to go through hours of pain just for a new body? With the appearance of more â€Å"perfect† looking celebrities in the media, the self-esteem of many women spiral down, especially in Asia. Beauty standards in South Korea are now being define by many K-Pop idols. â€Å"In Seoul, 1 of every 5 women ages 19 to 49 has had some type of plastic surgery, according to a 2009 survey by Trend Monitor† (Chow, NPR). With the media exposing the image of â€Å"perfection† in K-Pop celebrities’†¦show more content†¦Lee). The surgery is done with â€Å"IV sedation and local anesthetics† that are enough to keep you awake in order to â€Å"cooperate during your surgery to determine t he desired outcome of the upper eyelid fold† and to insure â€Å"that the shape and size of your eyes remain symmetrical† (Dr. Lee). The double eyelid surgery are said to date back to Japan in the late 19th century, however it was first introduced to South Korea sometime during 1950-1953, which marked the era of the Korean War. Credit goes to American plastic surgeon Dr. Ralph Millard who during the war was station in Seoul, Korea to do reconstructive surgery on wounded soldiers. During Dr. Millard’s time in Seoul, he was the first to develop and perform the double eyelid surgery on a Korean man who wanted rounder eyes (Baer). Dr. Millard managed to finish the surgery successfully and shortly after receiving many Korean women patients who reportedly worked in the sex trade and Korean women who were future war brides. Sex trade women wanted the surgery in order to gain more appeal to American men and Asian war brides wanted the surgery in order to â€Å"fit in† with their husband’s American family (Baer). The double eyelid surgery became popular more after World War II as Asian women wanted to reflect western women who were seen as more beautiful (Baer). The controversy and