Asians are turning into westerners!!

[Andromeda18_]

I just read the following article and it is shocking!

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/st...TVNewsAt11

I also read in another article that aside from having their legs lengthened the chinese have also been undergoing surgery in order to have western like eyes and speak english better. Apparently this is done not only for aesthetic reasons but also because more and more companies in China are now employing only people who have very white, non-yellow, skin, round eyes and who are at least 5'5'' tall!
Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?! They're turning into westerners! And while it's bad enough that it's being done for aesthetic reasons it is preposterous that people have to do it in order to get a job!
The surgery doctors perform on their tongues isn't really all that bad and it only requires local anesthesia. I think this one is rather acceptable because it doesn't change the way they are and allows them to speak english better which is good for professional reasons. However the leg lengthening surgery is horrible:

For Emma, this meant lengthening the bones in her thighs using a technique based on a procedure originally devised in the early 1950s. Before her surgeon would consider the operation, he made sure that Emma knew exactly what she was letting herself in for, and she was assessed by a psychologist to prepare her mentally. Some of her friends thought Emma would chicken out at the last minute, but she was very determined.

Under a general anaesthetic, her thigh bones were broken in two places, and pins inserted on either side of each break. A metal frame called a fixator was then fixed onto the pins. Each day, Emma wound the fixator to pull the pins apart and slowly widen the gap between her broken bones, by about 1mm per day. New bone then grew into the gap to mend the damage.

Once the pins and fixator are in place the procedure is surprisingly painless. Turning the pins does not hurt, even though they are gradually dragged through the skin and soft tissue lying over the bone. All that people like Emma feel is a slight vibration if they tap the pins.

It is essential that they keep the wound sites scrupulously clean as an infection can jeopardise the whole procedure and mean that the pins have to be removed.

Emma kept turning the pins in her legs for between four and five months, during which time she was bed-bound and unable to do anything for herself. She lived and slept in the living room of her parents' home. Once she had stretched her bones to the desired length there were more weeks of waiting while the bones finished healing before the fixators could be removed. There were also weeks of physiotherapy and exercises to get her legs back into working order. A fall cracked one of the delicate bones but, fortunately, no lasting damage was done. Emma is in no doubt that the months of immobility were worth it:

'The actual operation has changed my life completely. I'm so happy now, I can go out and enjoy myself without people saying, "She's short". I can walk down the street and not feel 11 any more. I feel 16 and I love my life now,' she says.

Emma went through all of this for medical reasons, the Chinese go through it for social and aesthetic ones. I mean, I would love being 5'11'' instead of 5'7'' but I'd never have such a horrible thing done to me. And then there's the eye surgery. Why? Why is it that they don't like their eyes?! They're beautiful, sexy and most of all they're the way asian eyes naturally are.

[Mantis421]

I think cosmetic procedures for peoplethat are say burn victims or had so disfiguring disorder I agree with. But plastic surgery american style and the article you posted is just a bad example of where we have become so superficial in recent years. What is going on in China is just wrong socially how a culture feels it has to change unnaturally to advance, but western procedures I think is so overboard what we do to our own bodies to look good as beauty and health magazines lead us to believe

[Robojack]

Keep in mind that MOST Chinese people aren't doing this, only those who are infatuated with the Western definition of beauty. By nature, I'm already 5'11" and my eyes are plenty large enough. Don't associated all Chinese people with this article, just because some people are doing it. There are always people in society who don't fit the typical mold, and want to break out. This is just one of the ways.

I can tell you that most Chinese people are very proud of their heritage, and we're very proud of the economic and social progresses we've made over the past 20 years. We're very quickly becoming an influential economic power in the world, even South Korea and Japan don't have the jump on us for long. Such people who want to become more Americanized in appearance probably only consist of less than 1 percent of the overall population of Chinese people in the world. I'm not kidding either.

[CrayonShinChan]

Well 200 ppl out of goodness knows how many chinese ppl, let alone Asians is not THAT alarming. I don't think the leg surgery will ever rival the popularity of the eyelid surgery. It sounds excruciating just reading about it. 0_o I don't think that Emma did it to get a job, it was for her own aesthetic reasons. If people can afford all that money for the surgery and all the money needed to support themselves when they are bed bound then they can't be that desperate for a job. Of course, such policies are plain wrong in the first place.

I think it is different from footbinding though. Footbinding pretty much enslaved women due to lack of mobility but leg lengthening only restricts them in the short term when they are bed bound.

Pale skin has long been held as a beauty standard in chinese history so i wouldn't say it is necessarily a western trend. Ppl with pale skin want tans and ppl with darker skins want pale skin... grass is always greener on the other side i guess.

[Nina182B]

Yep, people in the Philippines also think lighter skin is beautiful. It's so crazy to hear what other people are doing nowadays for beauty! Has anyone seen Gattaca? This reminds me of it.

[takumi25]

I suggest watching "Shallow Hal". This movie made quite an impression on me as to what real beauty is like. All the magazines and TV shows are injecting these images of slim and perfect bodies and faces, if you think about it... if there was aliens, im sure we'll think that they are ugly since they look very different from us but fellow aliens like them will think they are normal and even beautiful. If there is some kind of psychological procedure where they can change the way you define beauty then I'll gladly have it. Just like what the Jack Black said "I saw a knockout!! I dont care what other people say"

[tsunami]

I heard about this kind of leg lengthening thing but mostly really short chinese were getting it. I have never heard of a tounge surgery for english but that is an eye opener.

I think what is worst is the americans who try to be asian. Irony... :p

[Andromeda18_]

Keep in mind that MOST Chinese people aren't doing this, only those who are infatuated with the Western definition of beauty. By nature, I'm already 5'11" and my eyes are plenty large enough. Don't associated all Chinese people with this article, just because some people are doing it. There are always people in society who don't fit the typical mold, and want to break out. This is just one of the ways.

I would never assume that all Chinese people do that, if for nothing else then for the simple fact that China has a very big population. Saying all of them are doing this kind of thing would be like saying that all women of a certain country are getting breast augmentation. I do have a friend who just spent 2 months in Taipei and she says that one thing she noticed was that women felt less beautiful than western women. Also, much to her surprise, she was continuously harassed by men which is something that doesn't happen at all here. This could lead me to believe that many Chinese are indeed infatuated with the western definition of beauty but then again it will probably still be less than 1% of the population. I just think that Western people are in no way more beautiful than Asian people so this kind of thing seems crazy from my point of view.

I can tell you that most Chinese people are very proud of their heritage, and we're very proud of the economic and social progresses we've made over the past 20 years. We're very quickly becoming an influential economic power in the world, even South Korea and Japan don't have the jump on us for long.

Yes, I've been hearing a lot about China's progress. It's all over the news, my teachers talk about it, I read about it in magazines, etc. I just think that's a great thing for the Chinese, they deserve it. Apparently this progress poses a threat to Europe, since it seems Europe won't be able to cope with it, but I think it's more than about time that countries that have been undermined show the world that they too can progress and be wealthy.

Well 200 ppl out of goodness knows how many chinese ppl, let alone Asians is not THAT alarming. I don't think the leg surgery will ever rival the popularity of the eyelid surgery. It sounds excruciating just reading about it. 0_o I don't think that Emma did it to get a job, it was for her own aesthetic reasons. If people can afford all that money for the surgery and all the money needed to support themselves when they are bed bound then they can't be that desperate for a job. Of course, such policies are plain wrong in the first place.


Pale skin has long been held as a beauty standard in chinese history so i wouldn't say it is necessarily a western trend. Ppl with pale skin want tans and ppl with darker skins want pale skin... grass is always greener on the other side i guess.

I posted Emma's story just so you could read about the details of the operation. She's an American girl who did it because at the age of 16 she was smaller than her doctor's 8 year old daughter. Ultimately it was for aethetic reasons, at least that's the way I see it, but it was her doctor who suggested it.

Pale skin has long been held as a beauty standard in chinese history so i wouldn't say it is necessarily a western trend. Ppl with pale skin want tans and ppl with darker skins want pale skin... grass is always greener on the other side i guess.

That's not necessarily true, you know. I have pale skin and I'm proud of it, I don't want to be tanned even though that's very appreciated here in Portugal. I could be, I live only some meters away from the beach and it's common for people here to have a tan during the summer, but I don't like it, I like my skin the way it is.

[rav96]

ONE thing that has to be said!!!

EVERYONE WANTS WHAT THEY HAVENT GOT

its human nature!!!

[Andromeda18_]

True but not always!

[rav96]

the option of FREEWILL is also human nature :p

well like i always say

Freewill

Mans greatest Gift
Mans greatest Burden

wouldnt life be simple if we werent a supposed higher intelligence race

[takumi25]

I heard about this kind of leg lengthening thing but mostly really short chinese were getting it. I have never heard of a tounge surgery for english but that is an eye opener.

I think what is worst is the americans who try to be asian. Irony... :p

No! whats worst is caucasians that are trying to be black!

[Andromeda18_]

Or black trying to be caucasian if you know what I'm talking about. :p

[takumi25]

Or black trying to be caucasian if you know what I'm talking about. :p

I have'nt seen anyone who's black and trying to be caucasian. now thats something!

As for me Im asian and Im proud to be one. I never even thought of changing anything about me.

[Blight]

Michael Jackson anyone?