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Double eyelids, double luck in future?
By Bridget Lee (That's Shanghai)
Updated: 2004-06-07 15:54 Li Fei cannot make up her mind. Alternately
consulting a small pocket mirror and a hospital pamphlet, the 20-year-old sits
with a dozen other women in the plastic surgery department at Shanghai's Ninth
People's Hospital, contemplating a future seen through different eyes.
 The young college student is considering eyelid reconstruction, the most
popular - and most dangerous - cosmetic procedure in China. During the 30-minute
surgery, doctors will cut, fold and sew her upper eyelids with what looks like a
little fishhook to create a crease above her eyes.
Li Fei believes that creased eyelids will improve her chances of securing a
good job and a suitable husband after graduation. "People often make judgements
based on one's appearance," she says, peering into the mirror once again.
"Bigger eyes make you look more awake, more beautiful."
Women young and old share Li's outlook and are lining up to undergo double
eyelid surgery. Whether it's career ambition or a desire to marry well that
provides the motivation, the procedure's popularity says a great deal about the
shift in China's ideal of beauty. To some, eyelid reconstruction aspires towards
an overtly Western notion of beauty. For centuries, the Western caricature of
Asians has focussed on the eyes - and the surgery may be an attempt to bridge
this age-old difference. While the daily application of glue or tape can offer a
makeshift solution, many women are eyeing the RMB 960 operation as a more
permanent answer.
Li Fei is not worried about the cost. "My parents are paying for it."
Growing numbers of women are convinced that the long-term financial benefits
more than compensate for the initial outlay. This May, Li Fei will join six
million other graduates entering the intensely competitive job market. Her
parents, fearing that the years of supplementary classes, private tutors, and
instruction in the finer arts of music and dance may not guarantee her success,
have joined the thousands sacrificing weeks' worth of salary to pay for their
children's nips and tucks.
A survey of Xiamen University graduates in 2002 found that 54.3 per cent of
new job seekers identified physical appearance as the defining factor in
securing a position.
The idea that good looks hold the key to opportunity has prompted Yu Peipei
to spend almost two months' salary on plastic surgery in the hope of improving
her performance at work. "I'm a salesgirl at a department store," she explains.
"The better I look, the more I sell."
Her aunt, Wu Xiuying, fully supports her choice: "It is wonderful that women
now have the opportunity to make themselves more beautiful. They should take
advantage of it."
And they are. All over the city, the busiest hallways in hospitals are in the
plastic surgery departments, and some of Shanghai's private clinics report
performing 20 to 30 procedures a day to keep up with the growing demand. The
Ninth People's hospital conducted over 26,000 cosmetic surgeries last year, a 40
per cent increase from 2002.
Ben Chang is the marketing director at Fu Hua Aesthetics, a private plastic
surgery clinic that sees 8,000 patients a year. "Chinese culture is more
accepting and open to plastic surgery," says Chang. "And people now have money
to spend to improve their quality of life."
One young woman's high-profile bid to improve her looks is perhaps
responsible for the recent nationwide shift. Hao Lulu, an unemployed fashion
writer from Beijing, completed six months of donated plastic surgery from the
capital's Ever Care clinic in a 'live advertisement' for the company last June.
Regular TV updates and splashy tabloid spreads detailed her every alteration for
a rapt audience.
Hao's first deficiency - her smooth, creaseless eyelids - was the first to be
erased. But she did not stop there. The aspiring actress eventually underwent
US$36,000 worth of liposuction, breast implants, nose reconstruction, hairline
correction, calf enlargements, and face-narrowing jawline surgery. Her efforts
paid off, too. Her glamorous new look landed her a glamorous new job: a starring
role in Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden alongside pop pretty boys F-4.
Not that all eyelid reconstruction patients are interested in fame and
fortune. Sun Qingmei, an attractive 45-year-old divorcee, says: "I am just
looking for an honest man to marry. I need help paying my mortgage and my son's
school fees. I want to lift my eyes to look younger." She seems certain the
investment will pay off. "It is my decision. I will pay what it costs."
Gao Lingjuan defends her choice with equal conviction. "This is not my
fiance's decision," says the 35-year-old, dark glasses hiding bruised and
swollen eyes. Gao was operated on a week ago, and she is here for a routine
check up. "I trust the doctors here. Nothing went wrong."
Some are not so lucky. Liu Xingmei, a teacher in her 50s, is waiting for her
final post-operative care after three separate visits to the operating room. She
initially embarked on her surgical saga to solve a lifelong problem of sagging
eyelids. "The first time I had it done, at a private home by a local
practitioner," she says, "one eye ended up bigger than the other. The second
time, I had it done at a salon but the stitches got infected. This time, I went
to the hospital and it looks good."
Liu is just one victim of over 200,000 botched operations over the last
decade, as untrained practitioners lured unsuspecting patients with promises of
an instant new look. Eyelid surgery, if done incorrectly, can cause nerve
damage, punctures in the eyelid, or even blindness.
Despite the continuing dangers of a largely unregulated industry, the women
wandering the unadorned waiting room defend their choice for a new pair of eyes.
Whatever their origins, the women say, double eyelids will bestow confidence and
new opportunities.
Li Fei is still unsure but dismisses any suggestion that she is simply
conforming to a Western ideal. "I am not trying to look like some American
celebrity. I am just trying to be a better version of myself."
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