The results were eye opening.

According to some estimates as of 2014, South Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery per capita. The most common procedure is the double eyelid surgery.

Many Asians have monolids, which are lids without a crease or fold. The purpose of the double eyelid surgery is to make a fold so that the eyes appear larger, a feature that many South Koreans have come to view as a beauty ideal.

Kevin J. Nguyen / BuzzFeed

So we had three Koreans come in to talk about their experience growing up with monolid eyes and then we photoshopped double eyelids on them to see their reaction.

BuzzFeedVideo / Via youtube.com

"People I knew would just offhandedly suggest surgery to me. They offered it as gifts, as graduation presents."

Annie: I've had a tumultuous relationship with my monolids as soon as I realized that I had them, and became hyperaware of my eyes. It was clear that my Korean friends and family held double eyelids to a higher standard. I spent a lot of time fretting about how my own lids made my eyes look smaller and more tired, and often tried to "fake" the crease with makeup.

Relatives would enticingly tell me about how cheap and accessible "good" eyelid surgery is in Korea so I felt a lot of pressure as a self conscious, malleable teen. The idea of having bigger eyes was SO tempting for me at the time.

Kevin J. Nguyen / Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

"I definitely knew I was different. There were jokes about my eyes being smaller."

Jason: To be honest, I never felt that self-conscious about having monolids growing up. Probably because there were larger issues of not seeing many role models or public figures that looked like me. I didn't ever consider the double eyelid surgery, but I think when I was growing up there was less pressure on guys to look that way. That said, I think even those expectations have begun to change.

Kevin J. Nguyen / Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

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