Erasing Ethnicity: is the trouble worth the hassle?

I ran across this article on MSN, and it made me do a lot of thinking. Many women today (especially black women) are doing a lot of damage to their bodies to look less ethnic. People also forget to take into account those women who have trouble with society putting them "in a box" of what they are supposed to act like based on what ethnicity they look like. For instance, in Kimmora Lee Simmons' book Fabulosity: What it is and how to get it, she mentions how blacks thought that she should act asian (because she looks asian), and asians didn't take her seriously as a girl of asian ethnicity because she's dark. At any rate, before I give you my take on this subject, here are some of the facts from the article I found to be most interesting:

Surgery:

In the past five years, the number of plastic surgeries performed on minorities jumped 65 percent — compared with an increase of 38 percent for the overall population. Why the spike in minority candidates? Higher incomes and access to a wider range of ethnic-specific techniques.

THE QUEST FOR A SKI-JUMP NOSE Unlike the rhinoplasties performed on Caucasians (often to straighten a bridge or remove a bump), nose reshaping for minorities generally leads to narrower nostrils, a higher bridge, and a pointier tip — shapes typical of white noses.

TOP COUNTRIES FOR BREAST AUGMENTATION Spain, Italy, U.K., Sweden, Finland, India, Norway, Slovenia. In the U.S., the procedure ranks #1 for Hispanics and #2 for Asian-Americans among minorities.

Color contacts:

Since color contacts by FreshLook became available in 1984, women of color — including Naomi Campbell, Lil' Kim, and Ziyi Zhang — have been eager to experiment. "Our largest market is with dark-eyed and dark-complected women," says Jeff Cohen, vice president of global marketing for CIBA Vision (makers of FreshLook), citing African-American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern women as the top customers in the U.S…

With this uniquely exotic notion of lighter eyes coming into vogue, colored-lens users climbed to 2.7 million in the U.S. alone last year.

Skin:

In June 2007, the first-ever tanning salon opened in Beijing. Called DB Salon, it serves legions of women under 30 with a strangely specific goal: to have the caramel coloring of American pop princess Christina Aguilera.

In India, Bollywood stars are going for the burnt-sienna hue one sees in Malibu, achievable only via a bottle.

And in Japan, bronzing goods account for $140 million in sales.

Hair:

34% of the hair dye sold in the U.S. last year was blonde.

80% of Koreans in their 20s lighten their hair.

It’s been a long road to loving myself for who I am. And that’s the beauty of me, loving who I am despite my flaws. Yes, it’s hard, but God made me this way for a reason, and I know that I have to have pride in who I am and the women that are dark and beautiful just like me.
Plus, I think that society puts such a strain on what they think a woman should look like, people tend to forget what's important--her overall health! Don’t think you have to follow the crowd. If you’re healthy and happy, then leave the rest to God.