Epicanthus medialis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epicanthus medialis

As epicanthus medial ( ancient Greek ἐπί EPI , German , on, it ' ; ancient Greek κανθός Kanthos , German , corner of my eye' ; Latin medial "to the center"), even epicanthus-fold , simple Oberlidfalte or Mongolian fold is often a genetically caused crescent-shaped skin fold on the inner corner of the eye , which makes the eye appear almond-shaped .

The epicanthus medialis is characteristic of many members of the East and Southeast Asian peoples from Mongolia to Thailand . For example, most Mongols , Han Chinese , Hui Chinese , Tibetans , Koreans , Japanese , Vietnamese and Thais have epicanthus folds, but also members of Siberian and some Turkic peoples , such as the Tungus , Tuwins , Selkupen , Yakuts , Altaians , Kyrgyz people , Kazakhs , Dolgans and Uighurs . Furthermore, the Mongolian fold occurs in indigenous peoples of America including Greenland , as well as in Khoikhoi peoples in southern Africa.

perception

For Europeans , the eye as a whole appears to be narrowed in East Asians and this is how the expressions slit eye and almond eye came about.

East Asians often perceive another difference; The epicanthus fold in the inner corner of the eye does not play such a big role here: Here, because of the fold in the eyelid that is usually not present in East Asians in contrast to people of European descent , a distinction is made between eyes with "one upper eyelid fold" (Japanese 一 重瞼 , hitoe mabuta ) and Eyes with "double upper eyelid fold " ( 二 重瞼 , futae mabuta ). Eyes with only one upper eyelid fold are typical of East Asian eye shapes, while European eyes almost always have double upper eyelid folds.

Due to the western influence, double eyelid creases are nowadays an ideal of beauty in many East Asian countries. A European look is preferred in many cases, and the double crease of the eyelid should optically create a larger eye, and the owner should appear "friendlier" and "more alert". Therefore, double eyelid folds are often painted on or glued on. They are also increasingly being realized through aesthetic eye surgery . This operation is now one of the most common cosmetic surgery procedures in East and Southeast Asia.

Pseudostrabism

The cosmetic appearance of an epicanthus often simulates an internal squint , especially in small children from the age of two to three, for whom an epicanthus is the rule. The impression of squinting increases with horizontal eye movements. Usually this impression disappears when the bridge of the nose develops.

Down syndrom

An epicanthus is one of the external characteristics of Down syndrome - in addition to ascending eyelid axes, a round face, a large tongue, a short neck, four-finger furrows and gaps in sandals . The designation of trisomy 21 by its discoverer John Down as "Mongolism" stems from the similarity to the eyes of Mongolian peoples.

Web links

Commons : Asian Eyes  - Album with Pictures

literature

  • Theodor Axenfeld (founder), Hans Pau (ed.): Textbook and atlas of ophthalmology. 12th, completely revised edition. With the collaboration of Rudolf Sachsenweger and others Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart and others 1980, ISBN 3-437-00255-4 .
  • Pschyrembel clinical dictionary. With clinical syndromes and nouns anatomica. = Clinical Dictionary. Edited by the publisher's dictionary editor under the direction of Christoph Zink. 256th, revised edition. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1990, ISBN 3-11-010881-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Asian Eyes: A Fold Between Beauty and Identity , Marinadang.com
  2. ↑ Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek 'western' look ( plastic surgery is booming because East Asians wish for "western" appearance ) , CNN.com
  3. ↑ a b Herbert Kaufmann (Ed.): Strabismus. With the collaboration of Wilfried de Decker u. a. Enke, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-432-95391-7 , p. 292.