Thread by @kristenrchoi

This week’s @NPRCodeSwitch episode 'Pretty Hurts' (bit.ly/2Sn3tfv) on beauty & race was one of the BEST episodes you've ever done, @RadioMirage & @GeeDee215.

Main topic: How can we decolonize beauty and de-center whiteness, given the racist origins of beauty standards?

There were 3 segments:

1. Geopolitics of beauty & Korean double eyelid surgery
2. Culture, trauma, & eating disorders in the Latinx community
3. Decolonizing beauty & de-centering whiteness

Segment 1 was especially interesting to me as a mixed Korean person. Some highlights:

Our perceptions of beauty are not just individual preferences, but are also shaped by national projects & geopolitics. Race is a huge factor in how we create beauty norms.

(from podcast guest Dr. S. Heijin Lee of @nyuniversity and her book 'The Geopolitics of Beauty')

An example: Korean double eyelid surgery. When we think of the double eyelid surgery, we tend to think of it as a way that Asians are trying to look more white.

However, this surgery has HIGHLY racist origins.

At the end of the Korean war, a US military doctor, Ralph Millard, was performing reconstructive surgeries for Korean War victims and decided to start performing an eyelid reconstruction surgery as well—for completely medically unnecessary reasons.

His first patient was his translator, and he said the surgery was to “alleviate his suspicious-looking eyes.” He also wrote that the absence of the eyefold produces “a passive expression which seems to epitomize the stoical and unemotional manner of the Oriental.” YIKES.

Racism was at the center of his logic as to why this surgery was necessary important.

100 years ago, it was taboo in Korea to alter anything on your body. Now, they have the highest rates of plastic surgery in the world.

Beauty was affected by war, empire, and colonization.

... and there's more on K beauty & Korean face masks in the episode with @elisewho. Go listen ASAP if you haven't already!