interesting that america now cares so much about asians and their double eyelid surgery.  first, the tyra banks show and now dr. phil.  soon middle-aged women will be better than me at spotting the surgery. =)

unfortunately, they always set the show up to portray this larger issue among asians in a ridiculous, caricature-like way, although no different from typical talk show fare.  even when good, valid points are made by the asian american guests, the show is constantly brought back to this idea of "ethnic tweaking" as tyra puts it. 

like they try to explain [in defense of the procedure], there is no way any asian person actually thinks in their mind that this surgery will make them look more white.  no one thinks at that level, and this one modification to the eyes can't result in anything nearly as drastic. people have the surgery with the hopes that it makes their eyes/face look better, more beautiful (this statement being a debate in itself).

martin wong (GR) was good to mention how these things need to be considered in context, with a larger cultural perspective in mind.  in our world, beauty is defined in a very eurocentric fashion.  its not just eyes...  its everything.  you can make arguements for skin color, hair (as tyra mentions over and over), hair color, eye color, size and shape of the body.   the eurocentric definition of beauty is an issue in itself, and only part of the reason why asians are getting this surgery in vast numbers. there's also the issue of whether or not plastic surgery is an acceptable way to feel better about yourself (in korea, it is widely accepted with little debate).  and finally, there's a huge issue in why these surgical procedures are so popular.  the eyelid surgery is not so common because so many people want to look white.  its because the value of women are held to such an extent based on their looks.  this is true in american society, but particularly true in asian societies.  asian societies traditionaly put a lot of value in a woman's ability to be married off - if not explicitly, than in more subtle ways like constant mention of your wide nose throughout childhood... and the rest of your life.  social pressures placed on women are more of an issue than the notion of "trying to look white."

its important to separate the different issues from each other, not mash them together and arrive on an overly simplistic conclusion in judging this one person on the show.  you don't need to put an asian girl on tv just to set her up for a spectacle of judgements like "insecure, shallow asian girl just trying to look more white."

also funny that martin wong of giant robot was there to represent "asian america" on both shows.  he represented well and all.  but even he was sayin, when he came to chicago, that he has no idea why they need him to talk about eyelid surgery.  he's editor for a magazine that focuses on punk rock and asian art, media and cult phenom.   there has to be plenty of other asian americans out there better qualified to offer perspectives on eyelid surgery...  selection process was probably more like, "any asian will do."