There was an article in HuffPost recently about Asian eyes and how Asian-Americans are grappling with their identity and standards of beauty and handsomeness, as well as instances of discrimination and taunting.
I was a bit surprised that, in this day and age of political correctness and inclusiveness, this issue is still an issue, and that the mostly 20- and 30-something interviewees (two of the 13 interviewed were in their 40s) – Chinese-Americans (one, though, identified herself as Taiwanese-American) and Korean-Americans – still felt, or were made to feel, that the size and shape of their eyes defined their being.
Thus, when they were younger they put Scotch tape on their eyelids every night hoping they’d wake up with a fold or at least have their eyes look bigger (you had to cut that sliver of tape exactly right so it would fit on your eyelid and make a fold, otherwise I guess you just end up taping your eyes shut). I thought that trick went out in the 60s; it didn’t work back then (I remember one classmate who swore by it, but I don’t recall that her eyes held the fold when she took off the tape) and I guess it still doesn’t work now.
Growing up, having chinky eyes (other terms are slit eyes and slant eyes and, of course, singkit) wasn’t really a problem, largely because most of the people around me had similar eyes and I wore glasses since third grade, so poor vision was more of a problem than shape or size of eyes. When as a teenager I got fitted for contact lenses, the doctor wanted me to take the next step and undergo eyelid surgery; since glasses would no longer be hiding my eyes I should have folds at least. My mother said no, and I agreed, driven by the fear that, whatever the odds were – one in a thousand or one in a million – for sure I would be that one case where something would go wrong and I’d end up blind. That proved to be a really good decision, because years later when I was in college at the UP, I had poetry written for me because of my eyes.
Nowadays of course – at least hereabouts – being singkit is the height of correctness and chicness, since China and being Chinese is now most sought after (hey, we are described as having the “kindest souls”). Yes, there are still occasional verbal jabs – double entendres like liit mata-laki kita – but I don’t take offense, since the guys around here are equal opportunity racists who don’t discriminate with their insults. Some might say that by taking this attitude I may be encouraging, or at least tolerating, racism and discrimination. But honestly, I think we have more important things to stress about.
Last week I underwent cataract surgery and had a lens implanted in my right eye, so now I have mixed vision – crystal clear on the right, blurry on the left. Next year I should have the other eye done so the world will be clear and bright. This time around there was – happily – no mention whatsoever of eyelid surgery.