There is definitely a "global" beauty standard, but it doesn't actually have anything to do with race or particular regions, it's just more of evolutionary/instinctive standards for attractiveness that all humans have evolved to like (like a 0.7 waist to hip ratio). People just associate those features with certain regions because those are areas where those traits are more likely to occur but it doesn't mean that other races can't have those traits, it just not as predominant.But i think it's a little 'naive' to think that this big "boom" of plastic surgery in asia (especially in Korea for example) has nothing to do with beauty standards that are spread all around the world . I don't think people who get work done systematically want to be white (even if we all agree that Xiaxue has definitively a white-complex) but i think theyr rather trying to reach beauty standards mostly ruled by white people
(studing/working in fashion industry, i can tell you that i know what i'm talkin about) : in some kind of way, theses standards are "picked off" various caracterictics (Caucasians' thin nose, full lips of African, soft skin of Asians, booty of Latinas... LOL etc etc) but as far as everyone cannot have -naturally- in the same time the lips of the african, the nose of caucasians, the skin of an asian, this beauy ideal can have some alienating aspects..... (even for white people, that's why i think everyone is, in some kind of, way, 'victim' of these beauty standards, except if -like me- you are wise enough to (at least try to) get over it =)
As for "beauty standards being ruled by white people" I still think you are speaking from a western-centric point of view, even working in the fashion industry is not going to make you neutral---speaking generally, working in a western region which will impose it's particular set of cultural standards and catering to a western audience that will also influence those standards. However its ridiculous to assume that the rest of the world is looking to those standards as well to aspire to- I mean that's basically saying 30% of earth is aspiring to look like the other 30%....(Yes there is cultural exchange around the world but it's not that one sided where one is dominating the other half)
For example, I find it interesting that the idea of a Caucasian nose keeps being brought up as something Asians are supposedly dying to have, what kind of nose would you say that you are picturing?
Realistically Caucasian noses tend to be oversized, with a humped or broken looking bridge and a tip that is too large or angled too high. (A nose which is stereotypically associated with the French, British, Italians, Greeks or people of the Jewish heritage, think classical art and statues)
However that is probably not the so called "Caucasian" nose that you are picturing right? You are picturing one that has a smooth bridge, a nose tip that proportional to the nostrils and one that not too high off the face and not too low?
Sorry but the one you are picturing is simply an "ideal nose", it's not a "Caucasian" nose because it doesn't occur any more often in Caucasians than it does in Asians. So when Asians get their bridges raised and when Caucasians get their bridges shaved, they're not trying to emulate the respective races- they're just trying to reach an universally accepted ideal of what is beautiful. (I'm speaking conventionally of course, noses that aren't ideal are beautiful too because they are perfect for the faces they were made with).
And one last thing, almond eyes (found often in Asians and other races) have been shown to be considered a more feminine trait than rounder eyes (not that both can be beautiful, they are) Most Asians that get their eyes done retain their original almond eye shape excluding the super dramatic transformations you see on plastic surgery websites.
I'm Chinese American and I think I have a relatively balanced and neutral viewpoint of eastern and western culture, one thing I notice is the West's appalling lack of knowledge about Asia and the different cultures within it, that combined with a feeling of superiority, brings about these misconceptions about "asians trying to look white".So okay, it's not because of white people that whitenish skin is more appreciate din Asia for example (aristocracy has always been a beauty ideal in many cultures & civilisation), but this "trend" of having this small nose+big eyes+thin face... hm i don't know, it's strange...
When i read Vogue Nippon or China, i'm surprised to see so much white girls - i don't say they should be banished ! lol ..but it's strange.. like, if it wouldn't be written in japanese, i wouldn't have guessed it's Vogue Nippon '_'
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That may just be Vogue or other international magazines (well they're based in the west so of course they have western models, plus they probably have content that gets translated for reuse in other countries), most Asia only magazines I've see use Asian models almost exclusively.
Celebrities in every country get plastic surgery, it's not something that is exclusive to Asian celebrities NOR do they do it more than celebrities in other countries. Also there are plenty of Asian celebrities who have not had any surgery and they're considered some of the most beautiful people in the world.It's a good sign if in Asian shows about beautiful celebrity they are mostly asian, but i guess if they didn't already had plastic surgery to ehance their beauty, haha 
Even saying Eastern Asia, and I'm saying this as someone who has travelled all around different countries in the region, does not mean anything appearance wise. China by itself is a region that could encompass all of Europe, with a population to match, the appearances there are incredibly diverse- the majority of the population there is Han but there are also 50 ethnic tribes that live there who are distinctive both culturally and appearance wise!
Westerner's have a very limited, cliched viewpoint of what they think an "asian" person looks like- I myself constantly get asked if I'm [blank, insert ethnicity here] because people in the west have not been able to see a range of Asian cultures (usually just that one or two particular ethnic group that lives in their area) because that is the only one they know. Which is why when asians get surgery, and their appearance no longer matches the specific idea of what an "asian" person looks like to that westerner, than they just jump to the conclusion that oh, this person no longer looks "as asian" to me so therefore they must be going for the alternative, which is caucasian!
("oh well Asians all have small eyes and flat noses and only Non Asians can have large eyes and high noses so any Asian trying to make their eyes bigger or nose higher must also be trying to be non Asian")
I'm going to repeat this again, all of Asia does not have one particular eye size, or even eye shape (certain traits like a mongolian fold yes but not one distinctive overall shape), or nose shape (I am not including India in this mix, I am talking about Eastern asia- China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, ETC ETC. Dont' forget Asia is a region that holds 60% of the world population) The features that Asian's have plastic surgery to get are NOT Caucasian because they do not occur in Caucasians any more often than they do in any other other race, they are just "ideal" features dictated by years of evolution and are features that are found in "beautiful" people of every race.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/niptuck-na ... d=16205231
Plastic surgery by percentage:
#1) South Korea
#2) Greece
#3) Italy
#4) Brazil
#5) Colombia
#6) USA
#7) Taiwan
