Who defines our motivations for what we do? In the article “Lessons from ‘Around the World with Oprah’”, author Sharon Lee demonstrates how sometimes the way people understand the things we do has little or nothing to do with why we’ve actually done them. She introduces her subject by talking about how Oprah Winfrey encouraged her viewers to ‘go around the world’ with her to learn more about the real ways that women lived their lives in other countries. Although the performer attempted to present a balanced report or at least gave the impression that this was her goal, the reality was that Oprah was presenting her own ideas of these women, finding people who were not necessarily emblematic of their culture, but people who Oprah and her staff found interesting.
In arguing about how Oprah made the definitions of the women that she was presenting, Lee points to several examples in which the women themselves didn’t necessarily agree with the message Oprah was developing. The particular example Lee brings forward is the example of South Korean women going to get plastic surgery to give their eyes a more ‘Western’ look, rounder and bigger than what they were born with. While South Korean women see the procedure as a means of increasing their political and social status by associating themselves more fully with the dominant ideal, Oprah and others have defined it as an act of submission rather than seizing strength.
To help support the South Korean women’s claim that their preference for eye surgery is an attempt to grab greater power in society rather than to submit to a dominant ideology, Lee suggests the theory of neoliberal economy as having brought about significant change in the way we identify ourselves. Instead of seeing ourselves as trying to live up to an ideal image of beauty, women all over have come to associate their appearance as a commodity, a bargaining chip they can use to get a better position. “Moral autonomy is measured by a capacity for self-care and the ability to make choices that will benefit the citizen no matter how constrained those choices are … since everything from our evaluations of ‘right and wrong’ to life choices, like a college education or the decision to undergo plastic surgery” (Lee, p. 27). While their choices are based on matters of practical common sense, Lee also illustrates that a great deal of how we define what a successful person looks like has to do with what we see on TV, including and especially what we see on Oprah’s show. Because Oprah has made it acceptable and preferable to engage in activities that create a self-made woman, she is herself promoting the concept of using plastic surgery as a means of gaining an open door at the office place. Rather than being an issue of beauty or appearance as such, these women are merely trying to give themselves a greater competitive edge following a pragmatic understanding of the world around them as it is presented to them by the media channels, including Oprah’s show.
During this particular show, Oprah compared the concept of plastic surgery among South Korean women, something bad and a way for the women to show submission to the dominant culture, with the concept of plastic surgery among American women, who were seen as intelligent and empowered because they were saving money by having their surgeries done in South America and then taking a vacation at the same time. By doing this, Oprah sends the message that women from first-world countries like America are demonstrating their power in bringing change into their lives by acquiring the image they want but women from third-world countries like South Korea are demonstrating their lack of power in submitting to Western ideals instead of finding their own. However, South Korea doesn’t necessarily qualify as a third-world country and South Korean women should not be considered in a different light from their American counterparts when they are seeking plastic surgery.
Thinking about the various ways in which Oprah’s show and the media, in general, have served to define the way we see women in all parts of the world makes me realize how much of my identity is formed by what I see on TV and how I judge what I hear from others. If I respect Oprah Winfrey and her advice, her assessment that if I went in for plastic surgery to change the shape of my eyes would be a signal that I was giving in to the Western society would make me stop and reconsider my action. If I had been approaching the surgery with the understanding that I was making myself more competitive for the economic marketplace, I might suddenly feel weak and powerless in not being able to seek surgery because of the messages Oprah says it sends. At the same time, not getting the surgery would mean I might not have as great a chance as a job candidate. This is only one example of how other people’s ideas can influence how I think about myself. Rather than basing my ideas so much on what other people think, this article illustrates why it is important to know more about how I think about things and why I make the decisions I do.
Works Cited
Lee, Sharon Heijin. “Lessons from ‘Around the World with Oprah’: Neoliberalism, race and the geopolitics of beauty.” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory.