How Asian Beauty Standards Affect Body Image

Asian beauty standards tend to emphasize thin and light features with pale complexions. Furthermore, women in Asia tend to favor having a V-shaped chin and double eyelids (and many even undergo surgery for these).

These beauty standards are enforced through media coverage, celebrities’ endorsement, and family pressure. An effort to meet them may lead to mental health problems like body dysmorphia and depression.

Body Dysmorphia

Body image issues cause many to have an inaccurate view of themselves and cause internal stress, eating disorders or depression – some resort to cosmetic plastic surgery in extreme cases – but there are ways to combat them.

Body dysmorphia is a mental condition characterized by an obsessional focus on one’s appearance. This condition can be brought on by emotional trauma or medical illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder; exposure to images online or television could also trigger it. People living with body dysmorphia are at an increased risk for suicide and it may negatively impact both work and social life.

Pressures placed upon individuals to meet an ideal beauty standard can affect everyone. Asian women in particular are exposed to these standards and suffer the repercussions of them socially; men may find it hard to date Asian women because they do not find them physically attractive enough, or may view them as exotic sexual partners and view them as potential sexual partners; this has serious ramifications on Asian communities in general and workplace environments alike.

Studies have demonstrated that pressure to meet an idealized beauty standard can cause anxiety, low self-esteem and eating disorders in its victims. Furthermore, this strain on their ability to perform their jobs may hinder career advancement; and can even contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes in certain individuals.

Even though many Asian cultures have stringent standards of beauty, some do not feel pressure to conform. Yet researchers have discovered that these women are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction due to the Western media they consume and its impact on their appearance.

These findings demonstrate how recent movements towards body positivity and neutrality may help reduce body image issues among Asian communities. Furthermore, reducing Western media’s impact could have positive results as Western media has been linked with higher rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors in Asian nations.

Eating Disorders

Many individuals with eating disorders have reported feeling pressure to achieve an ideal appearance, going to great lengths to attain it – including plastic surgery such as rhinoplasty and double eyelid surgery; using supplements and diet pills in an attempt to lose weight quickly. Such pressures may have lead to disordered eating such as bulimia or binge-and-purge behavior which were heavily influenced by family, friends, or peers; the good news is there are a few solutions which may prevent or reduce this problem.

People who enjoy strong peer and family support tend to be at lower risk of experiencing these types of problems. Furthermore, body-positive movements and cultural inclusion initiatives may have positive outcomes.

Studies on the effects of Western beauty standards on Asian Americans tend to focus on their relationship to eating disorders (EDs). But individual cultures within Asia may experience different influences and consequences due to Western acculturation; thus illustrating that overly attributing EDs among certain Asian societies to Western influence would be too simplistic an explanation.

Researchers examined the relationship between acculturation and eating disorders among Asian American young adults. Their results demonstrated that objectification – which includes internalizing thin and muscular body ideals, surveillance, and shame – was the mediating mechanism behind this relationship. Furthermore, maintaining heritage culture has an indirect influence on disordered eating through this mechanism while adopting mainstream American culture does not significantly alter either outcome.

Studies have also demonstrated that acculturation plays an essential role in Asian women’s risk for Erectile Dysfunction, with higher degrees associated with an EAT-26 score. This may be explained by immigrant and native Korean values that encourage thin body ideals using cosmetic and diet practices, leading to high levels of acculturation for these women who may encounter both unrealistic beauty standards as well as negative stereotypes regarding their cultural heritage.

Depression

Asian beauty standards were traditionally defined by small V-shaped faces with bright pale skin, plump lips and slim figures; these requirements were communicated to women and girls as the ideal definition of beauty, which often caused them to feel unhappy if they did not possess such attributes – leading to depression and body dysmorphia among other consequences.

Asian societies’ unrealistic beauty standards are driven by Western cultural influences and promulgated through media, celebrities, and companies. Not only are young Asian women being affected, but so are men and boys as these ideals have become embedded within society and impact how individuals view themselves and perceive their bodies.

These unrealistic Asian beauty standards have an immense negative effect on women and girls living in Asian societies, severely diminishing their self-esteem. Due to these standards, people often go out of their way to change their appearance in order to conform with this ideal standard of beauty – including using skin whitening products or even plastic surgery procedures to lighten their skin tone – this should be stopped immediately as this trend can have serious repercussions for health and well-being.

Similar to China, Western culture values thinness as an ideal beauty trait while butt implants remain one of the most widely performed cosmetic procedures globally.

Though these trends are less widespread in Asia, they still exert considerable influence among young people. The pressure to be thin can lead some women to resort to eating disorders or overexercise – leading to serious health concerns and permanent damage. It’s important to remember that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes; we shouldn’t judge people by how they look but by who they are as individuals; each has unique talents which make us beautiful in our own ways.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

Alka Menon of Yale Sociologist read an article in The New York Times discussing cosmetic surgeons as creators and gatekeepers of beauty standards. A plastic surgeon quoted in this piece noted that they could predict which procedures patients would request based on cultural preferences and ideals of beauty; Menon has since written extensively on this phenomenon in her book which also delved into ethnic differences in beauty standards as well as attitudes toward cosmetic surgery procedures.

Menon conducted her research by interviewing plastic surgeons and reviewing medical literature related to beauty. Her results show that while Western standards of attractiveness are universally appealing, certain ethnic groups tend to favor certain features for their beauty traits; Chinese women typically favor smaller faces with prominent eyes (similar to their favorite celebrities), while African patients favor larger buttocks and narrow hips. Furthermore, many women from diverse ethnic groups prefer physicians from their own culture who can better comprehend their aesthetic goals and expectations.

Menon contends that the growing popularity of Asian-influenced facial features, including double eyelids and heart-shaped faces, in the Western world may be attributable to an unrealistic Instagram aesthetic filtered and altered through photo editing software. She further notes these trends may also reflect Asian American’s desire to be perceived as “neutral” socially while seeking a balance of Asian and Western features in their appearances.

East Asians still possess a tendency towards cosmetic “corrections”. Koreans in particular often seek to mimic the looks of their favorite celebrities by opting for plastic surgery procedures to attain small faces with sharply pointed noses, full lips and V-shaped jaws and straight eyebrows; many also desire flawless complexions as well as slimmer figures which go against their natural body type.

Plastic surgery clinics in Seoul have become the hub of Asia’s beauty industry, often performing up to 100 procedures a day at their facilities. This phenomenon speaks volumes about their culture – female beauty has been treated as something to consume through cosmetic enhancement techniques that go far beyond basic skincare treatments.