Don't you make my brown eyes blue

Don't make my brown eyes blue.

A California doctor has invented a laser that turns brown eyes blue. Interesting stuff, all right, but it also sounds a little scary.

Dr. Gregg Homer first tested his laser on cadavers, then on some Mexican volunteers. Apparently, the procedure only takes about 20 seconds and US$5,000 to blast away the brown pigment in your eye.

Then, in a few weeks, the blue colour that's underneath all brown eyes is gradually revealed.

The result is a set of baby blues that would rival Crystal Gayle's.

The laser is still awaiting government approval, but in a few years it might be possible to have the blue eyes you'd wished you were born with. But there's no word on whether or not it looks natural. You'd think it would for that price.

I was born with blue eyes but they turned brown by the time I was a year old. I was also born a blond, which is kind of funny considering I'm aboriginal.

One of my aboriginal friends complains about the fact he has naturally light-coloured eyes.

"I always wanted brown eyes so I could fit in at powwows," he says.

All jokes aside, it brings up a point.

Most aboriginal people have brown eyes, so it's a marker of our cultural identity. Usually if you have lighter eyes, it's because there are some European genes in your background.

Amazingly, I don't miss my baby blues. In fact, I like my brown eyes.

When I was growing up in a town full of blue, green and hazel-eyed moonee-yows (white people), my brown eyes were unusual. I would get compliments for them, and one of my blue-eyed friends liked them so much she wanted to get brown contact lenses.

Blue eyes are nice, as are grey, green and hazel ones. But brown eyes are nothing to be sad about. Brown eyes are warm, friendly and exotic. What's not to like about brown eyes?

My eyes come from a long line of aboriginal ancestors going back thousands of years. They are clear and bright and do their job well.

They get darker when I have a headache and sparkle when I'm teasing someone. If I got rid of my brown eyes, I would also be getting rid of a part of what makes me an indigenous person.

Back in the '90s, a few of my friends wore blue-coloured contact lenses for fun. I thought it was funny, since they were trying to look "different," yet all had the same colour eyes. And coloured contact lenses aren't for everyone.

Blue eyes suit some people, but a few of my friends looked like they had cataracts, or worse "zombie eyes" that stared in different directions.

Granted, coloured contacts have come a long way since then. However, I'd prefer that people wear coloured contacts instead of a getting them lasered permanently.

Ideals of beauty have changed over the years, and today we should love ourselves the way we are.

I just hope I don't run into a bunch of my friends with permanent zombie eyes this time, or heaven forbid, their irises fall out in a few years. I doubt an Indian Affairs eye-care plan will cover that, either.

Colleen Simard is a Winnipeg writer.

colleen.simard@gmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 12, 2011 A17