Ximena Navarrete Rosete, 2010 winner of Nuestra Belleza México (prolific Mexican beauty pageant)

Cut to present day Mexico, where women like Ximena Navarrete Rosete (pictured above) when Mexico’s beauty pageants.  If national Mexican beauty pageant queens can adequately represent the beauty ideals within the country, then Ximena is a perfect example of modern Mexican beauty.  She is quite a bit different than the Aztec goddess Xochiquetzal and very similar, at least in looks, to the 2009 winner of the Miss America Pageant, Katie Stam.

Katie Stam, Miss America 2009 (courtesy of palisadespost.com)

Interesting that, two countries, whose histories are so different, yet have one thing, European presence, in common have two very similar beauty queens at the same time.

Coincidence? I think not.

Western popular culture has affected both of these countries very much, especially in the area of beauty.

The Advent of Appearance-Altering Technologies

In the 1940s, skin bleaching became popular for Mexican American women.

Rhinoplasty is becoming more and more popular among Mexican Americans.

• In fact, in 2008, the use of plastic surgery rose by 11% (on average) in all ethnic groups in America, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Irma Serrano, an unfortunate casualty (no, she's not dead) of the dangers of plastic surgery (Courtesy of awfulplasticsurgery.com)

to HOW ACCULTURATION AFFECTS MEXICAN IMMIGRANT BODY IMAGE AND PERCEPTION OF BEAUTY→