Globalization of Beauty: Trends and Concepts

The traditional view on beauty has focused on the standard of the Caucasian, Nordic race.  In the past two decades the trend has been to incorporate many models of mixed heritage.  In fact, with the growing acceptance of marriage between races, racial lines have continued to blur in the United States; and racial barriers have diminished.  Reading an article in the New York Times recently stimulated this blog post.  Many students who are entering college today do not know how to respond when asked what race or ethnicity they belong to when they are perhaps part of several or at least two.  I think when I talk about “Asian beauty” or “Hispanic beauty” etc., I may be oversimplifying these terms for the sake of categorical purity.  However, the case is that these terms may already be outdated.  When I look at prospective patients’ faces I am always ethnically sensitive, especially growing up as an Asian kid in a primarily white Texas culture.  Travelling abroad and completing almost 6 months of training in Asia has made me more culturally aware of the effacement of racial lines.  In addition, I did all of my training in the East Coast, where there is truly a melting pot of cultures, identities, and ethnicities.  So forgive me if I tend to write in categorical ways on this Web site but take it that I am very sensitive to the composite of one’s ethnic persuasion when helping you achieve your desired aesthetic goals.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon, specializing in facial plastic surgery. For more info, or to schedule a consultation please call 972.312.8105. If you would like to ask Dr Lam a question please visit our Plastic Surgery Forum.