When I was growing up in South Korea in the 2000s, my mother always hinted that double-eyelid surgery — a type of blepharoplasty that surgically creates an eyelid crease — was an option for me. She’d look at me, play with my monolid eyes, and be like, You’d look so cute. You’d look so much better.
It wasn’t a truly serious conversation until the end of high school, when she said, “I think you should really do it. I think it’s going to help you in the future.” The standard of beauty instilled by actresses and K-pop idols at the time gravitated toward one perfect face, which had a slim V-line jaw shape, pale skin, blushy cheeks, and big doe eyes.
