Growing up and living in an Asian household can be endearing in some regard but some parts of growing up weren’t so happy and giddy. My whole life my sister and I were bombarded with commercials and remarks that we should lighten our skin, pinch our nose to make it look ‘pointier’. We were indirectly told that because of our darker complexion that we were worth less than our lighter skinned Asian counterparts. My close relatives would offer me skin lightening cream and many other skin lightening products. They often indulged in these products themselves, hence them offering them to us. But I’ve always wondered, what was wrong with my darker skin? Why should I change it? And where did this beauty standard originate or form from? As I grew up, the answers to these questions started building up and the beauty standards of having pointy noses and lighter skin finally made sense. These standards came from the idolization of European beauty and face structure. These ideologies had become even more apparent after the expansion of Western culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially after WW2, when films from Hollywood starring White actors were spread around the world. Asian media was riddled with these products and ideas. For example, I recently watched an Asian drama where these young girls would put a clothespins on their nose to make it grow in a pointier fashion, and they would buy lightening cream at the market (which often had its own skin lightening section). Another example is when I went to Taiwan in 2017 and all the commercials being shown were to lighten someone's skin or advertising how lighter skin would make you more attractive and approachable than someone who has darker skin.This ideology or mindset is still ingrained into Asian society and needs to change, because so many victims of this mindset are going through dangerous and possibly fatal procedures just to look like the most ‘ideal’ person. In the past many of my relatives injected themselves with a product called glutathione, which is a chemical that the liver produces naturally, but when injected, it lightens one’s skin. The side effects outweighed the benefits, but still the mindset that they needed to become lighter overpowered their desire to have good health. What is your take on this topic? Did this idea form because of Western influence? What can we do to change this? Can we even change this problem? Or must it die out on its own?
When I went to the Philippines three years ago, their capital city was adorned with commercials about skin lightening products, like you were saying. However, I think another internal factor contributes to this stigma of disapproving darker skin: a class issue. This stigma dates back to perhaps the even the earliest conception of Asian countries and cultures; the lower-class would work in the field under the sun, setting a class divide. Inevitably, lighter skin is considered prestigious and more desired. At this point, I will only be speaking from the Filipino point of view as to not project my own opinion or thoughts onto another culture. Another deep-rooted cause of this 'disgrace' involved the Spaniards. My grandfather said that the Spaniards would look down upon the darker skinned Filipinos (upon Spanish colonization over the country during the starting from the latter half of the 1500's), calling them "Indio", as a reference to the Native American people. I feel like this stigma has only been furthered by the introduction of Westernized media in the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that this problem of lightening the skin in Asia was influenced by Western beauty. Everything, from Spanish colonization in the 1500s to 20th century spread of western culture had a part to play in this. I honestly do not think we can do anything to change this problem. People from long ago and people now would do anything in the name of beauty, whether it be Chinese foot-binding or major plastic surgery. Like all of the trends considered "beautiful" in the past, this skin lightening trend will just have to die out on its own.
ReplyDeleteThe physical traits of Europeans has definitely influenced the beauty standards in Asia. I agree with Kristi, that skin lightening treatments are prevalent in developing Asian countries because of the desire to appear as part of a higher class. It's become an ideology that being light-skinned connects to having wealth and luxury for these countries. So to say, I'd like to bring up the topic of half-white and half-Asian people being favored over full Asians in both Western and Asian countries. Most leading actresses on Filipino television are often mixes of European and Filipino blood. Also with the entertainment industry in Korea, some idols that are labeled as group's "visuals" are of both Korean and European decent, having the desirable western facial features to attract fans. There has also been popularity in "wasians" on social media, consisting of Instagram models and TikTokers. I believe this causes a misconception to the recent attention on the Asian community in western countries. If half-white, half-Asian people are considered the ones to pave the way for the Asian community, then we are not solving the problem of western influence on Asian beauty, but embracing it. I do also agree with Zach, that the only solution is for this trend to diminish, and eventually have our cultural perspectives on beauty change.
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