Serena Yang

So has Serena Yang, our "Girl Talk" profile.Her new show Eye of the Beholder for the Travel Channel (of course) takes her all over the world in search of how we define "beauty."But you don't need to be a broadcast journalist to experience different cultures.Take it from our travel writer who writes about all the nooks and crannies she's discovered as a solo traveler.She's inspired me to look into a couple of hiking trips myself.

Eye of the Beholder, with host Serena Yang

It really was quite interesting watching them work backstage, with Serena Yang as the hostess, a director, a soundperson and a cameraman.
...
About Serena Yang.As the Creator, Executive Producer and Host of Eye of the Beholder, Serena Yang introduces viewers to a dynamic cross-section of people and their passions on a global quest to examine and expand our definitions of beauty.

A veteran world traveler and former international correspondent for CNN, she is highly suited to the task of bridging cultures.As the West Coast Correspondent for "World Beat," CNN's groundbreaking international music series, she anchored specials from Hong Kong to Montreal, covered the Grammy Awards and international WOMAD festivals, and interviewed the world's most renowned musicians, from B.B. King and Stevie Wonder to Carlos Santana and Ravi Shankar.

Prior to joining CNN, Yang was a writer, producer and interviewer for E! Entertainment Television's "E!
...
Born in New Jersey and raised in Portland, Oregon, Yang began traveling with her globetrotting family from the age of six.At age 19, while still earning her degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Southern California, she began her broadcasting career in Hong Kong as a writer, producer and reporter for TVB, the largest English-language programming network in Asia, covering fashion, business and technology as part of the network's primetime news magazine team.

An intrepid producer, interviewer, and cultural explorer, she established Serena Yang Productions in 1998, producing programming for CNN, MGM and Touchstone Pictures on subjects ranging from Mongolian throat-singing to the inner-workings of the CIA.

Serena Yang sees it and she is determined to show that beauty to the world.As creator and host of Discovery Channel's new perception-busting series Eye of the Beholder, Yang delves into what human beings find beautiful and why.But when most beauty-themed shows would simply milk the Hollywood cash cow all the way to the Clinque counter and just call it a (spa) day, Yang, instead, gets sub-culture savvy and does a Dick-and-Jane around the globe: See Serena jetset to India and brave more than ten hours under the savvy hands of a henna tattoo artist.See Serena cringe and assist a nerve-racking tongue piercing.See Serena go bodybuilder chic and shatter stereotypes about elite professional lifters.

"Oftentimes beauty is in a form we don't recognize," says Yang, a former CNN international correspondent and E! reporter."For instance, bodybuilding has a criteria and poetry all its own, much like opera, or abstract art, and if you're not versed in those pursuits, your appreciation for them is limited.My job is to capture different forms of beauty and different ways of looking at beauty."

With Australia, India, Italy, Japan and balmy Southern California among the dreamy backdrops, Yang packs a provocative punch here.Coupled with some ultra slick cinematography, this new series is primed to register high on the wow meter as Yang explores the "aesthetic tastes, identities and sensualities of communities around the world."

Skin Deep
...
For Yang, the excitement lies in taking "beauty" out of its modern-day runway-model paradigm.In Eye's "Branding and Body Modification" episode, the host treks to Monday, India, and becomes the human canvas for a prominent Mehndi artist skilled at creating visually luscious henna tattoos for wedding-bound women.

"I was decorated so elaborately, essentially from elbow to fingertip, and then from kneecap to the toes," Yang says."Generally it takes up to ten to fifteen hours depending on how many artists you have working on you at once.And it's all done by hand with these very delicate combs-Mehndi combs.The henna paste comes out in these super fine lines and the skill the artists have, their artistry, is amazing.It was a little more elaborate than what I was prepared for."

So was Bear, a man Yang encountered in New Zealand.
...
They're so wide Yang can easily insert her entire forearm through each one-his lobes were stretched and are held in place via a decorative silver hoop.

"He's the sweetest man you will ever meet," Yang says."Certainly, when I first saw Bear from across the room, you know, I was as shocked as most people are when they see him for the first time, because you just don't see that every day.He is so strikingly and elaborately decorated.He's what you would consider a 'modern primitive.'

"I wanted to give people a chance to see the real motivations, the philosophy, the spirituality and the deeper meanings that these things have for people," Yang adds.
...
"I am 'woman' in a corset," notes the corset-loving gal Yang interviewed in the episode."I feel fully empowered.Not only empowered mentally, emotionally and physically, but also personally."

Beauty Lessons

Yang once said "I think human understanding begins with our ability to see beauty in other people."

Her excursions in Eye, then, appear to be about one thing: bridging cultures.Whether Yang is learning how to ride a swank Honda motorcycle for the sake of understanding the "beauty" of machines, or venturing to Ethiopa to uncover body-scarification, these journeys arouse compassion and appreciation for other people and their world.

"l learned how we are really the same," Yang says.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER WITH SERENA YANG.Created, produced and hosted by Serena Yang, veteran world traveler and former CNN international correspondent, the series provides a witty and provocative study of the expression and understanding of attractiveness around the world and presents an empowering celebration of beauty in all its forms.

By Serena Yang - CNN World Beat

Diverse, daring and just plain out of this world, Serena Yang's
...
Serena Yang sees it and she's showing it to the world.As the host of Travel Channel's new perception-busting series Eye of the Beholder, Yang delivers one of the most ingenious concepts ever to hit the small screen.

When most "beauty" oriented shows would simply milk the Hollywood cash cow all the way to the Clinique counter, Yang, instead, combs through a bevy of diverse subcultures: tattoo, body piercing, India 's Mehndi henna art, professional body building and more.She also jet-sets around the globe, exploring culturally rich areas of Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Southern California and more.Above all, Yang shatters stereotypes while embracing the concept of beauty found in each region and culture.

"Oftentimes beauty is in a form we don't recognize," says Yang, a former E! reporter and CNN correspondent.
...
Yang timidly asks.

Bear shrugs."Sure.Go ahead."

This memorable scene from Eye's branding and body modification segment illustrates the gist of Yang's series-to celebrate cultural diversity and definitions of beauty from a nonjudgmental point of view.

"I wanted to give people a chance to see the real motivations, the philosophy, the spirituality and the deeper meanings that these things have for people," she says.

And it's like this in each episode.Yang visits a city, swims its cultural rivers and attempts to understand its people.Her journey to Mumbai, India, for instance, shows off Yang's unmistakable bravura.Here, the striking host surrenders her body to a highly skilled Mehndi artist to become the human canvas for a visually luscious henna tattoo masterpiece, ones typically seen on women in the culture's wedding ceremonies.After braving more than ten hours under the artist's dynamic hand, Yang's forearms and hands, and calves and feet have are suddenly colorful portrait of pure artistic achievement.

"It was a little more elaborate than what I was prepared for," Yang admits.

That Hourglass Figure

One Eye segment destined to make heads turn: Corseting.

"Corseting in and of itself is considered fascinating, not only for historical reasons, but for the garment's social and sexual overtones," Yang says.
...
That was something Yang discovered first-hand.A yank here, a helluva tight tug there, and voila!, Yang's figure was reduced down to a mere 20 inches.

"Some people get down to 17," she notes."I certainly couldn't walk around like that for more than 20-25 minutes without feeling lightheaded."

The corset's grand comeback is definitely a dramatic one. (The garment's steely insides can permanently modify the waste if it's worn long enough but Yang says it fits "like a glove.") The bottom line?Exploring this subculture proved that the post-modern corset could be more than just a fashion statement.It's really part of a lifestyle.One corset-hungry woman interviewed by Yang quipped: "I am 'woman' in a corset.
...
Admittedly, maintaining that "new perspective" has become her life's journey - Yang jumped the CNN ship because "climbing the corporate ladder didn't turn me on. "

" I think human understanding begins with our ability to see beauty in other people," Yang adds.
...
Things that made Yang squirm?Assisting a tongue piercing.Says Yang: "It surprised me because the actual process was so simple and apparently pain-free."

As Corgan told CNN WorldBeat correspondent Serena Yang, "The band is basically modeled upon what we call like a Beatles ideal, which is that the band is about being the band and the music is the band's personality and interests."

Created, produced, and hosted by Serena Yang, veteran world traveler and former CNN international correspondent, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER provides a witty and provocative study of the expression and understanding of attractiveness around the world and presents an empowering celebration of beauty in all its forms.

In EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, Serena ventures into the global melting pot to reveal the rich mix of cultures that influence our beliefs about beauty.In the process, she gets fitted for a custom corset, allows herself to be heavily detailed with henna, even embeds herself in a biker community, all in pursuit of the elusive answer to the question, what is beauty?