Popularity of Ethnic Plastic Surgery Is Growing
Since its founding, America has taken pride in its reputation as the world’s melting pot. For centuries, people from diverse ethnic groups and diverse cultures around the globe have immigrated to the U.S., each different group adding its unique spice to the American stew. Until fairly recently, newcomers to America strove to blend in, as quickly as possible shaking off the isolating language and telltale customs of their native cultures to become homogenous members of American society.
Many immigrants turned to New York facial plastic surgeons to “Americanize” their appearance. Not so long ago, cosmetic surgery to change the shape of the eyes, slope of the brow or size of the nose to de-emphasize ethnic differences was quite common among new immigrant groups. Times have certainly changed. Today, American immigrants take great pride in their ethnic heritage and strive to preserve their language and cultural roots. America is becoming less of a melting pot and more of a bouquet.
The emphasis seems to have shifted from creating a homogenous society where everyone looks, acts and talks the same, to creating a multi-faceted society that accepts and preserves cultural differences by celebrating the unique contributions that each individual ethnic group brings to American society.
The change in attitude has been particularly evident in the offices of Manhattan facial plastic surgeons. Rather than de-emphasizing ethnic facial features, immigrants and their descendants are now requesting facial cosmetic surgery procedures that emphasize the distinct standards of beauty that are unique to their particular cultural heritage. Interestingly, many ethnic plastic surgery patients are not recent immigrants but descendants who may have lived in the U.S. for several generations but have developed new-found pride in their ethnic heritage.