The global makeover全球大改造

1 In recent years Western notions of beauty have been sweeping aside classical ones,from China and India to Korea and Japan.The classical Zaftig Indian goddesses and the heart-shaped face of the Chinese beauty are yielding to round eyes,oblong faces and lean figures.The signs can be seen in the faces of the stars of the big screen and the glossy magazines,many of whom take on a kind of amalgamated look of East and West.”It’s going both ways”,says Nancy,”but there’s still a huge influence from the western standard.”

近年来，西方的美学观念已经席卷了从中国、印度到韩国和日本的古典美学观念。古典的印度女神和中国美女的心形脸正在向圆眼、长脸和瘦削的身材屈服。在大屏幕和光鲜杂志的明星脸上可以看到这种迹象，他们中的许多人都具有一种东西方的混合外观。Nancy说："这是双向的"，"但仍然有来自西方标准的巨大影响"。

2 The current trend is in many ways an extension of the longstanding influence of Western image in movies and television,accelerated in recent years by the addition of satellite television and Internet .But the proliferation of cosmetic surgery has given this trend a new twist.Techniques and technologies of plastic surgery are more widely available than ever before .As prices keep coming down,more and more women and men are electing to go under the knife in pursuit of an emerging global standard of beauty .What started years ago in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs,California,has spread to Seoul ,Beijing,Tokyo and Mumbai,not to mention thousands of smaller places in between.It’s not just the wealthy and the famous any more who are free to warming to the idea of augmenting the breasts,hips and buttocks or shaving a few millimeters off the cheekbones.

目前的趋势在许多方面是西方形象在电影和电视中长期影响的延伸，近年来，卫星电视和互联网的加入加速了这一趋势，但整容手术的扩散给这一趋势带来了新的变化。 随着价格的不断下降，越来越多的女性和男性选择动刀子，以追求一种新兴的全球美丽标准。多年前在加利福尼亚州的比佛利山庄和棕榈泉开始，已经蔓延到首尔、北京、东京和孟买，更不用说中间的数千个小地方。现在不仅仅是富人和名人可以自由地热衷于丰胸、丰臀和丰臀的想法，或者从颧骨上刮掉几毫米。

3 All this tinkering with facial and body types may be changing the way our brains perceive beauty.For millions of years our sense of beauty served an evolutionary function:it helped us choose the best mate-the wide-hipped woman best suited to bearing children,or the broad-shoulder hunk of a man who could protect and provide.But a good portion of what we think of as beautiful is merely our brain’s average of all the faces we’ve been exposed to.Back in the days when we expressed out beauty preference in our choice of mates,the course of human beauty was determined by natural selection.

所有这些对面部和身体类型的修补可能正在改变我们的大脑对美的感知方式。数百万年来，我们的美感起到了一种进化的作用：它帮助我们选择最好的伴侣--最适合生孩子的宽臀女人，或者可以保护和提供的宽肩大块的男人。 但是，我们认为美丽的东西有很大一部分只是我们的大脑对我们所接触到的所有面孔的平均值。在我们在选择配偶时表达出对美的偏好的时代，人类美的历程是由自然选择决定的。

4  For many years Asian women water fair skin,a small pouty mouth,a straight nose,very shiny black long hair and an oval ,melon-seed-shaped face,Nowadays,some Asian women want their faces lengthened and their cheeks made more angular.In China,Evercare performs about a half-dozen operations a day,seven days a week,while elsewhere doctors work in hospitals,clinics and even beauty salons.Although the Chinese government doesn’t keep official statistics ,the number of cosmetic operations performed in the past several years is probably in the millions.The practice had become so widespread that last year the government issued regulations to control the industry for the first time.In South Korea,business has been even more brisk.Although official figures aren’t available ,Korea has more 1200 plastic surgeons,the highest per capita in the world，who perform roughly half a million procedures a year.

许多年来，亚洲妇女皮肤水光白皙，嘴巴小巧，鼻子挺直，黑色长发非常闪亮，脸部呈椭圆形，呈瓜子形，如今，一些亚洲妇女希望她们的脸被拉长，脸颊变得更有棱角。在中国，Evercare每周七天，每天进行大约半打手术，而其他地方的医生在医院、诊所甚至美容院工作。 虽然中国政府没有官方统计数据，但在过去几年中进行的整容手术数量可能达到数百万。这种做法已经变得如此普遍，以至于去年政府首次颁布了控制该行业的法规。在韩国，生意更加火爆。虽然没有官方数据，但韩国有1200多名整形外科医生，是世界上人均水平最高的国家，每年大约进行50万次手术。

5 In fact,the cosmetic industry is booming worldwide-including makeup,plastic surgery and spa treatments.Cosmetic procedures from Botox to breast-lift ,are safer,readily available and easier to access that ever before.Sales revenues of Allergan’s cosmetic pharmaceuticals-the company that makes Botox,the wrinkle-smoothing drug-reached close to half a billion dollars,of which 30 percent came from outside the United States.Cosmetic procedures in the United States jumped to 6.9 million last year,up 226 percent from 1997;the jumps in Europe and Asia have followed suit.

事实上，美容行业正在全球范围内蓬勃发展--包括化妆、整形手术和水疗治疗。从肉毒杆菌到隆胸，美容手术比以前更安全、更容易获得。 爱力根公司（Allergan's cosmetic pharmaceuticals）--制造肉毒杆菌（Botox）这种抚平皱纹药物的公司--的销售收入接近5亿美元，其中30%来自美国以外。

6 Fueling the democratization of cosmetic surgery is a steady stream of new technologies-implants,Botox and laser treatments-that have come out of the lab in recent years.Dr.Stephen insists that ideal beauty can be reduced to a facial geometry based on the Golden Ration-the recurring Measurement in nature of 1.3 to 1 that shows up on everything from snail shells to tree leaves.”People tried to understand a beautiful face,but what the hell is it?””It’s an image that is mathematically quantifiable .All life is biology,all biology is chemistry and all chemistry is mathematics” He’s invented technology for digitally scanning a client’s face and then morphing it on a computer to conform to his mathematical standard,which surgeons can then use as a guide.

斯蒂芬博士坚持认为，理想的美可以归结为基于黄金比例的面部几何学--自然界中反复出现的1.3比1的测量值，从蜗牛壳到树叶都有。 "人们试图理解一张美丽的脸，但它到底是什么？""它是一种可以用数学量化的图像，所有的生命都是生物，所有的生物都是化学，所有的化学都是数学。"他发明了数字扫描客户脸部的技术，然后在计算机上进行变形，以符合他的数学标准，然后外科医生可以将其作为一个指导。

7 Despite the progress,cosmetic surgery is still a tricky business,especially when it comes to Asian women.Because the Asian face is vertical and smooth,without all the contours of Western faces,a slip of the surgeon’s hand is readily apparent.Moreover,standards are often poor .In China,many illegitimate practitioners offer procedures for less than $100,turning out almost as many beasts as beauties.In the past decade more than 200 lawsuits have been field by patients who claim they’ve been victims of botched procedures,who had had to repair damage done by these so-called doctors.Another disturbing trend is that procedures are being marketed at young people-the ones most insecure about their looks.In Korea,plastic surgery is common among youth.on the streets of Seoul these days,we see so many same-looking standardized young people produced by the same surgery.Plastic surgery deprives Korean youth of their individual characteristics.

尽管取得了进展，但整容手术仍然是一项棘手的业务，特别是当涉及到亚洲妇女时。由于亚洲人的脸是垂直和光滑的，没有西方人的所有轮廓，外科医生的手一滑就很明显。此外，标准往往很差。在中国，许多非法医生提供不到100美元的手术，产生的野兽和美女几乎一样多。 在过去的十年里，有200多起由病人提起的诉讼，他们声称自己是手术失败的受害者，不得不修复这些所谓医生造成的损害。另一个令人不安的趋势是，手术被推销给年轻人--那些对自己的容貌最不安全的人。

8  In many ways,the western fixation on looks is being exported eastward.There’s been an estheticization of the whole culture.Everything has become an esthetic choice.The trend is bolstered by studies showing that good-looking people are more successful in getting jobs and higher grades in school and making friends.It’s changed her life:friends gave her compliments,her boss praised her for her positive attitude and she had better luck on date.They used to say I was just cute but now they say I am pretty.

在许多方面，西方对容貌的痴迷正在向东输出。整个文化已经出现了审美化，一切都变成了审美的选择。这种趋势得到了研究的支持，研究表明，长相好的人更能成功地找到工作，在学校取得更高的成绩，并能交到朋友。这改变了她的生活：朋友们给她点赞，她的老板称赞她态度积极，她的约会运气更好。

9  Although the global tendency is toward homogenization,there are some countervailing trends.L’oreal ,the industry leader in cosmetics,now operates 12 research centers around globe to understand how the company can fine-tune its products to the unique needs of different cultures.In September,L’oreal opened up the Institute for Ethnic Hair and Skin Research in Chicago,devoted to African-Amercian beauty,and the company has also done similar work in China.We’re fighting against in ideal beauty.some experts say that greater travel and cultural exchange among Asian countries is creating more of a Pan-Asian standard of beauty than a Western one.

虽然全球的趋势是同质化，但也有一些相反的趋势。欧莱雅是化妆品行业的领导者，现在在全球有12个研究中心，以了解该公司如何根据不同文化的独特需求对其产品进行微调。 9月，欧莱雅在芝加哥成立了民族头发和皮肤研究所，专门研究非裔美国人的美，该公司还在中国做了类似的工作。

10  Some scientists think that beauty has always been standard.They have a point.Part of our perception of beauty has been programmed by evolution to ensure that we choose the best mates,and so hasn’t changed much since we were hunter-gathers.But that’s only part of the beauty formula.Nature also gave us the ability to adapt to changing circumstances-in a sense,to love the ones you’re with,even if it means learning to like the look of silicone-augmented buttocks and Botox-smoothed skin.

一些科学家认为，美一直都是标准的。他们有一个观点。我们对美的看法有一部分是由进化程序设计的，以确保我们选择最好的伴侣，所以自从我们是狩猎者以来就没有什么变化。