The Search for Beautiful

Cosmetic surgery is no longer just for white women. Now record numbers of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanics are lining up for a nip here, a tuck there. Are they chasing a Caucasian ideal of beauty? Or are they aiming for racial and ethnic ambiguity?

At left, Tamar Williams, 24, a bank teller, reduced the width of her nose and got a perkier tip. On her results, Williams said “I was always confident. But now I can show off my nose.”

At right, Mei-Ling Hester, 43, a hairdresser, had excess fat removed from her eyelids, plus gets regular Botox injections into her forehead. On her naturally sharp nose, Hester said “I just got lucky, because if you look at my sister, she’s got a fl at nose.” (Photos by Tanit Sakakini) Photos by Tanit Sakakini

By Anupreeta Das

January 21, 2007

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For almost a century, the women who have turned to cosmetic surgery to achieve beauty – or some Hollywood-meets-Madison Avenue version of it – were of all ages, shapes, and sizes but almost always of one hue: white. But now, when there seems to be nothing that a few thousand dollars can’t fix, women of color are clamoring in skyrocketing ... (Full article: 3114 words)