Why do Asians' eyes look the way they do?

Question

Please don't call me a racist or ignorant, as this is an honest question from an evolutionary stand-point, not to mention the fact that I'm almost half asian myself.

I am aware of the reasons for other evolutionary traits, such as the fact that caucasions have light skin because they evolved in places where the sun was not as strong and darker skin doesn't absorb as much vitamin D, etc., but I could not come up with a reason for Asians to have the eye shape that they do.

Does anyone know the evolutionary reason for this? And please, if all you have is some racist bullshit answer, don't bother posting it.

Answer 1

Here's what I've learned in courses, and straight out of wikipedia's mouth: (it has to do with the epicanthal eye fold, extreme temperatures, and sands and dust in the desert)

The maintenance of the epicanthic fold into adulthood in many populations is believed to be an evolutionary defense against both the extreme cold as well as the extreme light that occurs in the Eurasian arctic and north. It has also been suggested that the fold provides some protection against dust in areas of desert such as that found in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia as well as parts of Africa.

Answer 2

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I'm not quite sure what you mean by asian eyes. The one definative thing that makes asian eyes asian is the epicanthic fold, which is a fold of skin that covers the inside corner of the eye. That can be simulated with a little bit of a liner or shadow at the inside corner of the eye, downslanting towards the nose but don't extend it too far or else it'll look costume-y and/or you can add a little bit of shadow or liner at the outside corner of the eye, upslanting towards the hairline. I'd recommend a natural color, maybe a light bronze/gold if your skin tone permits and please, not black. I find that a lot of people that do the "asian eye" make-up with heavy dark black eyeliner just tend to look costume-y. If anything, a brown would look more natural. Besides that, I couldn't really give you any more specifics without really knowing what you consider beautiful asian eyes. There are asians with naturally upslanting eyes and others with downslanting eyes. There are some with double eyelids and others that have monolid eyes. Some have deeper set eyes and others may not. Generally speaking (there are exceptions, of course) asian people tend to not have as deeply set eyes as other races so a light, neutral main eyeshadow color will work well. Asian faces are just as diverse. Generally speaking (again, exceptions), many asians tend to have full lips. If you have thin lips, using the same color liner as your lip color helps to plump them up. Gloss helps too. Asians do tend to have round faces which can be simulated with a little bit of a bronzer or blush dusted on the chin and forehead. Also, for the appearance of a shorter nose, a bit of bronzer/blush/shadow on the tip of the nose and underneath the nose can help. I hope no one was offended by the generalizations. I'm asian too. I wasn't really sure what asian features are really desired (Like, if it's the more "typical" asian look or the asian media ideals or what?) if there is a specific feature that you want to know about, tell me and I'll see if I know how to simulate it.

Answer 3

Asians Eyes

Answer 4

I read somewhere that this was because of the wind. Way back in the day, the people in Asia traveled a lot and had to deal with a lot of very cold wind and snow and so their eyes adapted by being "slanted." (This sounds so very ridiculous to me now, but I'm just telling you what I read).

The same explanation was used to explain why native South Africans also have "slanted" eyes. The difference here was extreme wind and sand...

I don't believe in these evolutionary reasons because I do think they are kinda bs-ish... but this is what was taught at one point in time. Who knows? Perhaps there is some truth to these explanations. I'm not sure what the current teachings are. I know that some biological anthropologists refuse to even teach that different races exist... so a current explanation of the differences would be beyond them.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why do Asians' eyes look the way they do?
Please don't call me a racist or ignorant, as this is an honest question from an evolutionary stand-point, not to mention the fact that I'm almost half asian myself.

I am aware of the reasons for other evolutionary traits, such as the fact that caucasions have light skin because they...

Answer 6

The almond shape that are associated with Asian eyes are just a phenotype that arose in history sometime. It is also seen in some Native Americans, in Africans, etc.
Probably why this phenotype is so successful up north is because of the cold and the blistering winds. You see eskimos and siberians with the same qualities.
Honestly though, all of it is genetic randomness, and almond shape eyes just happened to be successful in that region.

Answer 7

I think the Asian women have beautiful eyes..

Have you tried searching on the internet.. various ways of phrasing your question.. etc.

An epicanthal fold, epicanthic fold, internal fold[1] or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid (from the nose to the inner side of the eyebrow) covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the human eye.

The term "epicanthal fold" refers to a visually categorized feature; however the underlying physiological reason and purpose for its presence in any given individual may be entirely different.

In children

All humans initially develop epicanthal folds in the womb. Some children have lost them at birth, but epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any ethnicity before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate.
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Inherited

The maintenance of the epicanthic fold into adulthood in many populations is believed to be an evolutionary defense against both the extreme cold as well as the extreme light that occurs in the Eurasian arctic and north. It has also been suggested that the fold provides some protection against dust in areas of desert such as that found in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia as well as parts of Africa.

There is a wide distribution of the epicanthic fold across the world. It is found in significant numbers amongst Native Americans, the Khoisan of Southern Africa, many Central Asians and some people of Sami origin. The presence of epicanthal folds is common in people of many, though not all, groups of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent. It also occurs sometimes on people of South Asian descent. Due to classic genetics children of a parent with a pronounced epicanthal fold and one without an epicanthal fold will have varying degrees of epicanthal folds as a result.

In Asian cultures, the presence of an epicanthal fold is associated with the lack of an upper eyelid crease, commonly termed "single eyelids" as opposed to "double eyelids". The two features are distinct; a person may have both epicanthal fold and upper eyelid crease, one and not the other, or neither.
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Pathological

In persons whose ancestry would make epicanthal folds otherwise unlikely to occur, the presence of the feature can be indicative of chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome or Cri du Chat syndrome.

Surgical alteration

The procedure of reducing or removing epicanthal folds is epicanthoplasty.
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Colloquial terms

As might be expected of an inherited feature of such appearance there are many associated descriptions used among various groups. In some parts of the English speaking world, the term "slanted eyes" is still in colloquial use. The term is technically incorrect, most individuals possessing Epicathal folds actually having eyes which appear aligned more horizontally than those who do not. The term is also considered offensive [1] and, along with other terms with racially motivated undertones, is declining in usage. Another offensive term is "Slit eyes", this probably originates in relation to individuals who have "single eyelids" as the roundness of the eye is less obvious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthal_fold

continue to read at the above site

Learning about one another is always a good thing..

Answer 8

They have an extra layer of fat under the skin which makes their eyes almond shaped. Its speculated that it was an evolutionary adaptation to protect their eyes from cold in the upper Himalayan regions.

Answer 9

I know a lot of asians, and worked with some closely. What are you talking about? I've never noted anything different about their eyes-I also have a neice and nephew that are korean and they do not have slanted eyes, I believe this is a big myth

Answer 10

Almond shaped eyes are the evolutionary answer to the question of filtering ultra violet light reflected off snow and ice. Nowadays we have sunglasses to do the same job.