I was completely shocked to learn that journalist Julie Chen recently admitted to having plastic surgery to "fix her Asian eyes" in order to further her career.  She appeared on the CBS show "The Talk" and said she took the advice of her then boss {in Ohio} to change the appearance of her eyes. Allegedly, he told her she'd be more likely to go further in her career in journalism if she looked less "boring" and less Chinese.  This truly pisses me off.

{screenshot source}

As the mother of 4 beautifully handsome and perfect Asian boys, I am appalled that she could have done such a thing.  Am I against plastic surgery?  No.  Not by any means.  I don't think I would personally undergo any type of cosmetic surgery but that's not to say that I don't respect the wishes of others who want a tummy tuck after twins or a breast lift.  But this goes way beyond that.  

By listening to the piece of crap boss like the one she claims gave her the advice, not only did she sell out all Asians, but she showed what little self worth she actually had for herself.   What would posess someone to even entertain the notion of that?  If I ever had a boss that suggested anything remotely close to this, my response would be straight from a line in Wreck-It Ralph:  " Sayonara, suckers!"  I would never dream of disgracing my ethnicity or ancestors in such a way.  And, I know that I try hard to raise my kids to be ever-loving proud of their Latino and Asian roots.  

What is so sad about this situation is that instead of being an Asian-American who paved the way for future ones to move up in the industry, she's sold them all out.  She's set a precedent that pretty much says, "Well, if I'm not good enough for someone I'll just fix whatever needs fixing and then I'll be good enough."  The other sad part is that I truly believe she could have advanced in her career on her own merits without having undergone such drastic surgery.  But the person who most needed to believe in her was too busy listening to ignorant advice of others.

So to Julie Chen I say shame on you.  Shame on you for lowering the bar for all Asians.  Shame on you for the disrespectful heartache you've caused me as a mother of Asians.  Shame on you for the disrespect you've shown my kids' uncles, aunts, grandparents, and ancestors.  Shame on you for all the Asian women in the world, including my potentially future granddaughters.  Shame on you.  I feel so sorry for you.  Instead of keeping your looks the way God intended them to be so my sons could have someone to identify with, what you've effectively done by your own actions is said that those looks are not worthy.  If you were suffering racism, why would you not stand up strong against it to defend your race instead of giving in and taking the easy road?  Instead of fixing what was supposedly wrong with you on the outside, you should have been listening to those in your world who would build you up on the inside.  Perhaps it would have propelled you to go even further than you are right now in your career.  Too bad we'll never know.