In today’s Korea, nearly 20 percent of the female population has had plastic surgery at least once in their lives. One of the most common procedures is the double-eyelid surgery.
Although the public rarely associates its ever-booming cosmetic surgery industry with race or the nation’s turbulent modern history, there is evidence that the origins of such procedures reveal dark roots of racism.
History of double-eyelid surgery
Around 50 per cent of Asians, or ‘Mongoloid Orientals’ (Chinese, Korean, Japanese…) are born without a visible eyelid crease above their lash line. Anatomically, their eyelid has an extra fold of skin called the epicanthus in addition to the low position where the eyelid skin is adherent to the underlying structures, combined, these features give the appearance of a ‘single’ eyelid.
A procedure known as blepharoplasty or more commonly known as the double eye-lid surgery can be done to remove excess skin from the upper eyelids.
While it is commonly believed that double-eyelid surgery was first introduced in 19th-century Japan, it became incredibly popular in Asia during the Korean War in the 1950s.
