Is the standard of beauty changing?

There was an interesting article in The Boston Globe Magazine last Sunday that centered on the changing face (no pun intended) of plastic surgery. For years, plastic surgery has been looked at, and marketed as, something for middle and upper class white women. That factor has dramatically changed in recent years, with women of color opting for cosmetic surgery in rapidly increasing numbers. According to the article, the number of minority patients undergoing cosmetic procedures increased from 300,000 in 1997 to 2 million in 2005. Even factoring in the increase in total demand for cosmetic procedures, the rate of increase for minorities still comfortably outpaces the overall rate.

It’s interesting the selections many of these people are getting. Estimates show that 6 in 10 black women are getting nose jobs, usually choosing narrower nostrils, pointier tips and higher bridges. Second most popular among Black women was liposuction, often centered on the hips and buttocks. More than half of Asian patients are opting for eyelid surgery, opting to create an eyelid fold to give the eye a more wide-open appearance. Hispanic patients are also opting for nose jobs in heavy numbers.

As I read, I found this interesting……Ethnic women were getting procedures done on their most distinctive ethnic physical characteristics and doing it in increasing numbers. Personally, to each his own….if anything it shows how cosmetic surgery has become more affordable and more people of color have ascended into middle class status enabling the, to afford these procedures. This is not a value judgment about the merits or lack thereof of getting cosmetic surgery. But with a trend this dramatic, I wondered what it meant in the overall big picture.

For years, the issue of Black people getting cosmetic surgery has centered around one person: Michael Jackson. People look at the self mutilation that MJ had done and have come to the conclusion that getting cosmetic surgery was an attempt to “look white” (That silly Black or White song didn’t help that perception). I don’t think that is the case at all with the current increase though. When you look at women of color across the board getting these procedures, coupled with Caucasian women also getting them in increasing numbers, it seems that there is a greater trend at work. And I think it all reflects how the standard of beauty is evolving in Western Culture.

Traditionally the standard of beauty has been white, very European features, blond hair and blue eyes. From Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe to Suzanne Sommers and Farrah Fawcett to Pamela Anderson and other cookie cutter Baywatch types, this has been promoted for ages as the ultimate standard of what is attractive. And I don’t think that has completely disappeared by any means. However, I do believe that the standard has expanded increasingly and to a significant degree.

When you look at any list of “Most Sexy” or “Most Attractive”, there are certain names that now always claim the top part of those lists: Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Beyonce Knowles, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba, Adriana Lima, and Eva Longoria. Women with "darker" features than the blonde/blue norm. Possessing ambiguous features that cause some to wonder “Hmmm just what are they” about their ethnicity. It’s almost as if ethnic ambiguity has become the new, primary standard of beauty. And the trend in plastic surgery seems to show people are out striving for it……It’s not women of color trying to look white, it’s women of color lessening the traditional ethnic features they have to fit into this new paradigm or ambiguity.

People from all races and ethnicities are seeking to adopt some, but not all, traits from others, with everyone striving for the “look”. Black women narrowing their noses, Asian women making their eyes less distinct. Some women getting butt implants, others getting liposuction to make their butts look smaller. Tanning, collagen implants hair extensions all around. All to look not like Marilyn but like Halle or Angelina, to have hips like Beyonce, the body of Jessica, the sex appeal of Adrianna.

What does it all mean? I am not sure, to be honest. I think a widening standard of what is considered beautiful is always a good thing. A small dose of progress away from the one dimensional Eurocentric standard. But does moving that standard towards ambiguity now take away appreciation of people of color with a traditional look? Is there still room at the table for the black woman with the natural and a broad nose or the Asian woman without the eyelid fold when discussions come about as to who is attractive? I guess in the end, beauty is in the eye if the beholder. But let’s be realistic…..We are a culture of followers….And what fashion and the media hold out and celebrate as attractive, the great majority will strive for, want to be or want to be with. I wonder if this trend is part of a greater move towards societal assimilation…..Or if it keeps women who retain traditional features in the same position of being outside what is considered attractive to the mainstream.