There’s a growing trend for people to alter their ethnic features – from double eyelid surgery, to chin implants, to skin lightening or darkening. In some cases, patients undergoing such ethnic cosmetic surgery say they are doing so to achieve a more ‘western look’. Others say it has nothing to do with trying to look more Caucasian – it’s just about being more beautiful.
Insight looks at the growing number of people who are willing to change their racial features in the quest for beauty, what is spurring them to go to such lengths, and what is considered ‘beautiful’ today.
Subsequent to this recording, Insight discovered Dr Andrew Kim gave Heidi Liow and Glenda Bui an 80% discount to publicise his practice.
SBS had no prior knowledge of this agreement.
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Meet the Guests
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Kema Rajandran
Kema Rajandran was the runner-up in the Miss India Australia contest in 2008. She spent two years modelling in the UK from 2009 but she says her career in Australia came to a standstill after a Perth-based casting agency told her that her non-Caucasian features would limit her career prospects. As a child, Kema was encouraged to use skin whitening products by her parents but has since taken a stand against them. Many Indians associate dark skin with a lower class status.
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Angelo Tsirbas
Dr Angelo Tsirbas is a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, specialising in facial cosmetic surgery. Angelo has recently returned to Australia after five years in the US – “the country where people share their botox stories at the photocopier”, he says. Angelo deals with patients from various ethnic backgrounds.
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Meredith Jones
Meredith Jones is a senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. Author of ‘Skin Tight: an Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery’, Meredith believes there are far more complex factors behind ethnic cosmetic surgery than simply non-Caucasians wanting to conform to westernised standards of beauty.
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Rhian Parker
Associate Professor Rhian Parker is a health sociologist at the Australian National University. Rhian says she’s concerned that women might choose to undergo cosmetic surgery without being fully informed of the possible impact on both their mental and physical health. She’s the author of “Women, Doctors and Cosmetic Surgery: Negotiating the Normal Body” .
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Heidi Liow
When Heidi turned 20, she decided it was time to make her childhood dream come true. She was determined to acquire a more defined Caucasian look. She googled “Asian eyelid surgery” and got in touch with a leading Asian cosmetic clinic in Sydney. Within a few months, Heidi had changed the shape of her eyes, the size of her nose and the tip of her chin. Subsequent to this recording Insight discovered Dr Andrew Kim gave Heidi Liow an 80% discount to publicise his practice. SBS had no prior knowledge of this agreement.
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Andrew Kim
Dr Andrew Kim is a Korean born cosmetic surgeon specialising in Asian cosmetic surgery. Andrew runs clinics in Sydney and Melbourne. He migrated to Australia in his teens. He says he was teased in school over his Asian eyes. He asked his father to let him ‘westernise’ his features through surgery but his father said no. He has since undergone several cosmetic procedures. Andrew is the surgeon who operated on Heidi Liow. Subsequent to this recording Insight discovered Dr Andrew Kim gave Heidi Liow and Glenda Bui an 80% discount to publicise his practice. SBS had no prior knowledge of this agreement.
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