Photo Essay

Despite the fatal incidents and health risks associated with plastic surgery constantly highlighted in the media, women choose to ignore them, and rather look at the beauty advertisements shoved under their noses and at the aesthetic clinics popping up left and right in Singapore.

A Straits Times article published on Nov 18, 2013, reported that the number of anorexia cases received by the Singapore General Hospital quadrupled since a decade ago. Plastic surgery has also been on a rise due to the influences from our Asian counterparts like Korea and Thailand, and Singaporeans going for plastic surgery has increased by 30 per cent since 2006.

It has also been proven that “good-looking” people earn 10 to 12 per cent more than “less good-looking colleagues”, and are more likely be hired and promoted, according to research published by Psychology Today on Sep 3, 2011.

We all strive to look good, but the question we should ask ourselves is: Who determines what looks good, or what is considered beautiful? Ang Jia Yun asked ordinary women on their ideals of beauty.

Valerie Lim, 30, Senior Finance Executive

Valerie feels that her nose bridge is not high enough, and that the mark on her front teeth stands out like a sore thumb. Due to having a flatter nose than the average person, she prefers her “front view” to her “side view”. Throughout the years, she often “pinched” her bridge, and she felt that it started to “shape nicer” than when she was younger.
Valerie feels that her nose bridge is not high enough, and that the mark on her front teeth stands out like a sore thumb. Due to having a flatter nose than the average person, she prefers her “front view” to her “side view”. Throughout the years, she often “pinched” her bridge, and she felt that it started to “shape nicer” than when she was younger.

The dentist told her that the white mark on her teeth might have been due to excessive consumption of fluoride from toothpaste. But she is now “less self-conscious” than before, and thinks it’s a “trademark” of hers. Although she was given the option to cover it with "cavity patches", she refused. “It might not last long and it might drop off. What if one day it dropped out of nowhere? I [wouldn't] need to open my mouth for the whole day until I [went] to the dentist,” chuckles Valerie.
The dentist told her that the white mark on her teeth might have been due to excessive consumption of fluoride from toothpaste. But she is now “less self-conscious” than before, and thinks it’s a “trademark” of hers. Although she was given the option to cover it with “cavity patches”, she refused. “It might not last long and it might drop off. What if one day it dropped out of nowhere? I [wouldn’t] need to open my mouth for the whole day until I [went] to the dentist,” chuckles Valerie.
Vivien Wee, 43, Homemaker

Vivien is a mother of four, and she is uncomfortable with her weight – particularly her arms, which she terms as “chicken wings”, and her tummy. She has tried various means to lose weight, both before and after pregnancy, like dieting, gymming, taking slimming pills, and going to slimming centres. She has even considered going for liposuction, but only stopped after weighing its cost and possible risks. “The less dangerous it is, the lower the effectiveness,” she explains. She also consulted some of her friends, who had undergone liposuction, and she shared that some of them had “botched” procedures whereby the stomach looked “lumpy” after the surgery, so she finally decided not to go through with it.
Vivien is a mother of four, and she is uncomfortable with her weight – particularly her arms, which she terms as “chicken wings”, and her tummy. She has tried various means to lose weight, both before and after pregnancy, like dieting, gyming, taking slimming pills, and going to slimming centres. She has even considered going for liposuction, but only stopped after weighing its cost and possible risks. “The less dangerous it is, the lower the effectiveness,” she explains. She also consulted some of her friends, who had undergone liposuction, and she shared that some of them had “botched” procedures whereby the stomach looked “lumpy” after the surgery, so she finally decided not to go through with it.

Vivien has become “more realistic” with her targeted weight, and prioritises health before anything else. “I don’t think the anorexic look – like Kate Moss when she first started – is good, and I certainly don’t want my daughters looking like that. [On the other hand], I think weight gain causes high cholesterol and other things. If a person is a bit chubby, and they are still able to be healthy after going for health checks and [their] levels are fine, it’s fine with me. It’s not so much of not accepting a person because of their size, it’s more of a health point-of-view,” remarks Vivien.
Vivien has become “more realistic” with her targeted weight, and prioritises health before anything else. “I don’t think the anorexic look – like Kate Moss when she first started – is good, and I certainly don’t want my daughters looking like that. [On the other hand], I think weight gain causes high cholesterol and other things. If a person is a bit chubby, and they are still able to be healthy after going for health checks and [their] levels are fine, it’s fine with me. It’s not so much of not accepting a person because of their size, it’s more of a health point-of-view,” remarks Vivien.
Joanna Loh, 24, Student from NUS Design & Environment 

Joanna has always felt like the odd one out in her family, because of her freckles and fair skin. “Growing up, my aunt always bought whitening cream, and every night she would remind me to take a cotton bud and specifically dot them, which took a really long time. She said it was ‘spot treatment’. Then, you have people saying ‘you have measles or pox or some disease, and it has transferred to your clothes',” the ex St. Margaret’s Secondary School student recalls.
Joanna has always felt like the odd one out in her family, because of her freckles and fair skin. “Growing up, my aunt always bought whitening cream, and every night she would remind me to take a cotton bud and specifically dot them, which took a really long time. She said it was ‘spot treatment’. Then, you have people saying ‘you have measles or pox or some disease, and it has transferred to your clothes’,” the ex St. Margaret’s Secondary School student recalls.

Despite being surrounded by people who not only had trouble appreciating them, but also had gone out of their way to criticise them, Joanna has learnt to embrace this feature of hers that she finds is “inherently a part of [her]”. “I’m fine with [my freckles], I actually like them. After growing up with them for so long, if one day I had no more freckles, I would feel very uncomfortable with my face,” says Joanna.
Despite being surrounded by people who not only had trouble appreciating them, but also had gone out of their way to criticise them, Joanna has learnt to embrace this feature of hers that she finds is “inherently a part of [her]”. “I’m fine with [my freckles], I actually like them. After growing up with them for so long, if one day I had no more freckles, I would feel very uncomfortable with my face,” says Joanna.
Angela Lim, 25, Actuarial Associate  

Angela also finds her freckles a unique feature, or “little perks” as she puts it, as she secretly indulges in the possibility of having “foreigner genes”. Although she finds them special herself, her mother tends to badmouth them, because like most Asians, she prefers her skin to be “smooth, white and shiny”. Her mother also often worries that they will “combine and grow bigger”.
Angela also finds her freckles a unique feature, or “little perks” as she puts it, as she secretly indulges in the possibility of having “foreigner genes”. Although she finds them special herself, her mother tends to badmouth them, because like most Asians, she prefers her skin to be “smooth, white and shiny”. Her mother also often worries that they will “combine and grow bigger”.

“There are a lot of advertisements on skin whitening and pigmentation removal. It makes it seem like [freckles are] a flaw, and you need to have spotless skin to be beautiful. I think it’s helpful to know that there are such treatments available, but people don’t have to take it as a 'must' to go for treatments, just because it’s being advertised or recommended,” Angela voices.
“There are a lot of advertisements on skin whitening and pigmentation removal. It makes it seem like [freckles are] a flaw, and you need to have spotless skin to be beautiful. I think it’s helpful to know that there are such treatments available, but people don’t have to take it as a ‘must’ to go for treatments, just because it’s being advertised or recommended,” Angela voices.
Jaycee Lim, 23, Student from NUS Design & Environment

Jaycee was born with single eyelids, but they now have a “changing nature”, whereby there are days where she wakes up with double or triple eyelids, too – or on some days, a contrast of both. “I thought they might have been inferior or boring – definitely ‘boring’. It seemed back then that girls or guys who had bigger eyes had that big, gooey, watery effect that single eyelids could never achieve, even with a substantial amount of makeup,” admits Jaycee.
Jaycee was born with single eyelids, but they now have a “changing nature”, whereby there are days where she wakes up with double or triple eyelids, too – or on some days, a contrast of both. “I thought they might have been inferior or boring – definitely ‘boring’. It seemed back then that girls or guys who had bigger eyes had that big, gooey, watery effect that single eyelids could never achieve, even with a substantial amount of makeup,” admits Jaycee.
However, Jaycee now finds her eyes “interesting”, as she feels that the media has shifted their focus from “deep-set, Western-based, dewy eyes” to more “simplistic” and “bland” features. For example, Korean celebrities like Ahn So-hee from Wonder Girls is known for her single eyelids, as well as Brown Eyed Girls’ Son Ga-in, who shared that using eyeliner helped her to embrace her eyes such that she felt she no longer needed eye surgery.
However, Jaycee now finds her eyes “interesting”, as she feels that the media has shifted their focus from “deep-set, Western-based, dewy eyes” to more “simplistic” and “bland” features. For example, Korean celebrities like Ahn So-hee from Wonder Girls is known for her single eyelids, as well as Brown Eyed Girls’ Son Ga-in, who shared that using eyeliner helped her to embrace her eyes such that she felt she no longer needed eye surgery.

Gloria Steinem, an American feminist and activist who was part of the women’s liberation movement in the late 1960’s and 70’s, once said: “Women with body image or eating disorders are not a special category; [they are] just more extreme in their response to a culture that emphasises thinness and impossible standards for women instead of individuality and health.”

Women are victims of absurd beauty standards, but it is important for everyone – both men and women – to look past that, and shape a society that is accepting of all types of faces and bodies. It is in our human nature to appreciate physical beauty, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, what is problematic is finding flaws in these physical features themselves.