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There's a line in the film The Wizard Of Oz which goes "Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown? Uh-huh." Technology isn't quite there yet but people travel abroad to have eye surgery for cosmetic reasons. The most high-profile case occurred quite recently:
Reality-TV star Tameka "Tiny" Harris "just wanted to do something different" when she traveled to Africa for a procedure that permanently changed her eye color from brown to light gray, she said.
"They are ice gray. That's the color I purchased," Harris, 39, told ABC News' Deborah Roberts in her first interview confirming the buzzed-about change.
Harris, the star of two reality shows who first gained fame as a member of the R&B group Xscape, traveled to Africa for the procedure because the operation is illegal in the United States.
People are complaining that she did to appear less Black and more Caucasian/Oriental but it appears to be a choice based on the frequency of wearing colored contact lens:
"I had been wearing colored contacts for a couple of years, and they were making my vision blurry," said Tiny. "A friend of mine mentioned that she had heard of a procedure where you could permanently change your eye color, and we looked into it. We researched it for a bit, but I was nervous because … it’s your eyes! But two years later, it came up again. I spoke to the doctors and to patients who’d had it. I learned that there was no downtime, that it only took about 15 minutes - plus it’s reversible. When I found out that you could reverse it, I was sold."
Many doctors strongly advise against the surgery which can cause permanent blindness or death.
Also in the news for looking less ethnic is Renée Zellweger. Personally, I think she looks greatly improved but her ancestry is an issue for other people:
Renee Zellweger hit the news headlines earlier this week, following some pretty drastic cosmetic surgery she had done to her face recently, and apparently, she did so to hide her Norwegian Sami/Kven heritage in order to look more "traditionally European."
That claim comes from a top professor of Finnish culture, Edward Dutton, from Oulu University in Finland, who says that Renee went under the knife to hide her ethnic roots.
According to Professor Dutton, "With a Swiss father and a mother who is part Kven and part Sami - ethnic minorities Indigenous to Norway, Finland and Sweden – Renee had a somewhat "eastern" face. I suspect Renee has had plastic surgery which makes her look less Sami, less Kven, and more stereotypically North European. She was so much more beautiful and interesting when she had the courage to be Sami and Kven."
While talking about Renee Zellweger's possible intentions for the surgery, Dutton compared her to none other than the King of Pop himself. "There seems little question that Michael Jackson underwent plastic surgery to make himself look more European, and Renee seems to have done exactly the same thing. How sad," he said.
The article has further information about ancestry and blepharoplasty to remove a style of eyelid believed to be an adaptation for cold climate.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:20PM
So we have arrived to the point where white people have a definition of what it is to be white? And they go out of their way to butcher themselves to look it? What does more European mean?
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday November 03 2014, @12:09AM
Ignoring the risks, the one-time cost of US$10,000 to change eye color can be viewed as an absolute bargain.
I recently watched Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair [wikipedia.org] and I was astounded. He made it for his daughters and also to show what black people are suffering unnecessarily. He interviewed a black woman who was spending US$1,500 per month on her hair. Another interviewee, the Reverend Al Sharpton [wikipedia.org], had encountered cases where black women were neglecting their children to ensure their hair was maintained. Another interviewee, a hairdresser, was offering finance plans to customers. And a black man was very candid about his preference for white women because it could be economically equivalent to a woman with one less dependent.
Having "Good Hair" is also a risk of permanent acid burn in addition to being very time consuming. (A particularly demanding style may require eight hours of labor every 30 days.) However, some people are spending US$12,000 per year or more partly because they believe it provides an economic advantage.
Now people from this demographic and other demographics are risking blindness and death to change their eye color. From the one example I've seen, I prefer the natural, complimentary color.
1702845791×2
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday November 03 2014, @04:46AM
The funny thing is I learnt this from a GF who was from Ghana. When I first met her I didn't think she was wearing a wig till I spent my first night with with her. She took her hair off and I was in a bit of shock. She laughed and said, "first time you seen a black woman take her hair off, huh?" She then went into a bit of detail about how difficult black hair can be in the sense that as a white person I take washing my hair once a day for granted. She explained that if she were to do the same, her hair would dry out and fall apart. And to make things worse, swimming in a pool can also damage their hair (chlorine). Washing has to be done carefully and infrequently using moisturizing shampoos and conditioners. She showered every day but wore a shower cap. So instead, many back women braid their hair into corn rows and hide it under a wig. That or go to a salon and spend many hours and dollars on elaborate hair treatments and styling using nasty chemicals. So the wig is very economical, simple and safe. She went to the salon only once a month for a wash, trim and re-braiding. A few times I even helped her re-braid he hair. One time she had her hair straitened using a hot comb but the hair care product she had to use afterward smelled funky. She tried it out for a bit and went back to wigs after a few weeks. I asked why she didn't go natural and go for one of those big fluffy hair styles (I think they look very attractive) but again it was laborious, requires leave in conditioners, oils, and can tangle easily. Up until that point I was totally ignorant to how much of a PITA African hair can be. This is why you most always see black men with very short hair.
(Score: 2) by khedoros on Monday November 03 2014, @07:55PM
Basically, corn rows and a wig are the easiest ways to keep her hair healthy, while giving her control over styling. Perms suck because of cost and the potential for chemical burns. Long braids suck because of cost in time and money. Keeping her hair natural sucks because she *still* needs to devote a ton of time to maintaining it. At least with cornrows, she can do that herself once or twice per month, and just oil them a few times a week.