Sadness in the eyes of those who behold her

So you are thinking of taking the plunge that will change your life? Think again

Once upon a time, the maiden looked at her reflection and said: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

These days, she's just as likely to put that question to her cellphone at work or in the car. And with voice recognition-enabled phones, the quick-witted maiden who lives inside that little box may well shoot back, "What do you mean by fairest?"

A fair enough question, too.

Is the beauty in the eye of the beholder, or in the lens of the iPhone?

In ancient China, single-eyelid, slanted eyes were considered the most beautiful, something reflected in traditional Chinese paintings. They are called phoenix eyes, with the corners raised to the temple, resembling a flying phoenix.

For centuries, the four beauties - Xishi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan and Yang Yuhuan, who lived in four different dynasties during the past 2,600 years - have been the poster girls for the Chinese female aesthetic. Each gives off a different aura, but if the paintings are to be believed, they had at least one thing in common: they were endowed with phoenix eyes.

But fashions and tastes change. Whereas it used to be that any Chinese woman born with small, single-lid eyes would have been considered to have drawn the long straw, these days, it seems, bigger, double-eyelid eyes are all the rave.

"Thank you for my big, double-eyelid eyes, straight nose, slim face and trim figure" could well be the daily prayer that those so endowed offer to the god called Destiny.

Not everyone is so lucky, but why let destiny decide your aesthetic lot in life? Enter the magic hands and tools of the plastic surgeon, which have helped save many Chinese from what they consider their hell of a life shuttered behind small, single-eyelid eyes.

The media give cosmetic surgery a lot of attention, largely because of the spotlight they shine on the faces of celebrities who go under the knife in order to look better, but you don't need to be famous or incredibly rich to have a face-lift. Indeed, in China, many young graduates, often with one eye on their career and marriage prospects, are having cosmetic surgery.

Recently, Jingling Evening News reported that the plastic surgery department of Nanjing's major maternal and child care center has treated more than 40 patients a day since the start of summer holidays in early July, double the average daily number. The spike is apparently due to the fact that the holiday period gives young women two months to recover from surgery.

Three of the most popular procedures are said to be giving someone double eyelids, making faces smaller through injections, cutting eye corners to make the bigger eyes, and nose-straightening, something young men go for, too.

One Beijing psychologist suggests that a far better option would be for these women to seek help to address the root causes of their desire to go under the knife, which she believes is psychological.

My niece, who is in her third year at university and for the past few years has contemplated having plastic surgery, much to the chagrin of her mother, says, "I know I'd be more confident if I had double eyelids."

"But you're pretty," her mother tells her, something that the young woman rejects. "I know that for all parents it's their child that is the most beautiful," she says. "But my friends call me Small Eyes."

I once tried to humor her by saying that animals such as horses, cows, deer and even pigs have big, double-eyelid eyes. I added that personality is much more important than looks, and that in any case it's good that we all look different. But she seemed unconvinced.

The other day, I ran into an acquaintance who until recently had beautiful single-eyelid, phoenix eyes. I barely recognized her because those eyes had vanished, replaced by a pair of puffed up objects on her face, on top of which sit the double eyelids she has dreamed of having.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the saddest of them all?

linjinghua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/02/2016 page22)