The movable piece of skin that covers and protects your eye and helps keep it moist.
From “eye” and “lid,” where “lid” comes from Old English “hlid” meaning “cover” or “door.” So an eyelid is literally the “cover” for your eye.
You blink your eyelids thousands of times a day without noticing, like tiny windshield wipers cleaning and protecting your eyes. If you try not to blink, your body quickly forces you to, because your eyes can’t stay healthy without it.
Like other facial features, eyelids have been sites of gendered beauty expectations, including pressure on women to wear eye makeup and, in some cultures, to alter eyelids surgically. These norms often target women more intensely than men.
When discussing eyelids in a cosmetic context, avoid assuming only women use eye makeup or undergo eyelid procedures.
Women surgeons, ophthalmologists, and makeup innovators have contributed significantly to both medical and cosmetic practices involving eyelids.
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