So, where did this odd perception (stereotype?) come from? Is it because the eyes on all of those ancient Chinese drawings were slanted (and why were those slanted)?
Why did (do) Americans say that Asians have slanted eyes?
Has to do with how they perceive the epicanthic fold, as opposed to the “Round Eye”.
Well, some people of asiatic descent do have almond-shaped eyes which are (or appear to be) situated at angles. Perhaps its an apperance fostered by particularly pronounced/differently shaped cheekbones.
Cecil Adams on Why do Oriental and Occidental eyes differ?
I once heard that the ancestors of Asians spent a lot of time in the desert, and the almond-shaped eyes developed as a means of defense against the blowing sands.
Well, I have known some asians, most notably a family friend who’s Korean, who has epicanthic folds that are larger then normal and he looked like his eyes were on the verge of closing all the time. This was the way it was even when he was in his 20s and he hasn’t been the only one I’ve known like this.
Also when Asians age the folds naturally droop more. Look at Pat Morita when he was a young man, say in one of his appearances on MAS*H* and then look at this pic with Mr. Morita’s eyes aparantly opened as wide as they can and then with this more natural pic.
So basically what I’m saying is that the perception could very well have developed from actualy observance of certain subsets of those people which Americans call Asians.
As for ancient prints, of those that I’ve seen they do often draw eyes as merely lines in many of them. This however certainly is a trait unique to them, we do that too. Although the Japanese were usually showing people who are only seen from a distance and too much detail would muck up the picture. Perhaps someone with a better knowledge of portraits could comment.
- The photos are scrunched. Open the properties and copy the location into the URL to see a larger version.
One of the more interesting pictures I"ve seen relating to this is a Japanese picture of Admiral Peary, entitled something like “true and accurate portrait of the American Admiral”. It shows a cartoonish picture that looks nothing like Peary. Plus it has an absolutely enormous nose.
And slanted eyes.
To the Japanese, Americans looked like they had slanted eyes.
The picture is reproduced in the Grove Press paperback edition of the script from Rashomon.
…uh… SLANT. That’s “slant”, not “slit”. Like this" \ / ", see?
That should be Commodore Perry. Peary was the polar explorer.
I’ve been to the Perry Museum in Shimoda and the artwork of the Americans there done by the Japanese makes we Americans look pretty ugly. But I would agree it’s the nose that does it. For the most part, Japanese don’t have prominent noses like Europeans so that’s what they would accentuate in a cariacature.
If you see any Japanese drawings of Townsend Harris, you would think he had a nose like Pinocchio.
Whoops, sorry. Those perceptions always seems to travel hand in hand and I didn’t stop to seperate them. Although I guess that the perception of one could have something to do with the perception of the other. But I can’t really say anything meaningful on the matter.
Although we did all have a good laugh at “Lilo & Stitch” at the very pronounced slant eyes of the locals.
Lucy Liu is the only person I’ve ever seen who actually seems to have slanted eyes.