Talavera 1

Nadine Talavera
English 115
Professor Lawson
12 September 2014
Summary of Text: Draft 1
284
Summary of Text: Finding my Eye-Dentity
In Finding my Eye-Dentity by Olivia Chung, Olivia's mother discusses with her the very
common sang ka pul surgery (eyelid surgery). Olivia's eyes are strongly influence by her Korean
American ethnic background. From a young age she remembered being teased for not looking
like everyone else. Growing up she tried to train her eyelids by taping and gluing to make them
crease. When she looked through magazines to learn new makeup techniques, she would often
fumble at the word crease. Throughout her whole life she was taught that bigger eyes were a sign
of beauty. Her friends and family members would get the sang ka pul surgery and even
encouraged Olivia. In the end, she realizes that sang ka pul surgery will not make you any
prettier, and having noncreased eyes are beautiful.
American mainstream media and culture has pressured people from different racial
backgrounds and ethnicities to modify themselves. America is known as the melting pot people
from different nationalities and classes melting into one diverse culture. Although, America is
known for the melting pot phenomena, underneath shows pop culture's influence on society. For
Olivia and among most asian communities, having rounded eyes are beautiful. Flipping through
tv channels, almost all actors have creased, big-rounded eyes. In hope of being in the norm and
fitting in with pop culture, Olivia needed creased eyelids. Because of the strong influence that

Talavera 2
pop culture has on society, it creates a false standard of beauty. The sense of beauty that society
creates has a strong effect on women. They are taught that in order to be considered pretty, they
need to look like a certain actress or model. It makes women self-conscious and can cause low
self-esteem.