White Like Them
The new Asian craze (why are all the "crazes" in Asia?) is skin-whitening, and it's having some mixed results.
But why the interest? According to the report:
Sociologists have long debated why Asians, who are divided by everything from language to religion to ethnicity, share a deeply held cultural belief that lighter skin is more attractive.
One commonly repeated rationale is that a lighter complexion is associated with wealth and higher education levels because those from lower social classes, laborers and farmers, are exposed to the sun and thus have darker complexions.
Another theory is linked to the waves of lighter-skinned conquerors, the Moguls from Central Asia or the colonizers from Europe, whose complexions became the standard for attractiveness.
"The success of the skin whiteners signifies that the Western concept of beauty in terms of skin color has finally seeped down to the lower classes," said Randy David, a sociologist at the University of the Philippines.
In other words, "to the victor goes the image of power." The story goes on to say:
Nithiwadi Phuchareuyot, a doctor at a skin clinic in Bangkok who dispenses products and treatments to lighten skin, said: "Every Thai girl thinks that if she has white skin the money will come and the men will come. The movie stars are all white-skinned, and everyone wants to look like a superstar."
In Thailand, as in other countries in the region, the stigma of darker skin is rooted in language. One common insult is "tua dam," or black body, a rude term to degrade someone of lower social standing. Along the same lines are "e dam" (black girl) or "dam tap pet" (black like a duck's liver).
Films and advertising also clearly have a role in promoting the idea that whiter skin is more beautiful. The runaway success of South Korean soap operas across the region has made its lighter- skinned stars emblems of Asian beauty.
Advertisements for skin-whitening products promote whiter skin as glowing and healthier. Olay, a popular brand, has a product called "white radiance." L'Oréal markets products called "white perfect."
In a survey carried out in June 2004 by Synovate, 61 percent of respondents in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan said they felt they looked younger with a fair complexion. Half of Filipino women, 45 percent of Hong Kong women and 41 percent of Malaysian women said they were currently using a skin-whitening product.
There are small groups of people in Asia who seem to prefer tanned skin. In Japan, young women commonly referred to as "Shibuya girls," after the Tokyo neighborhood they hang out in, have been regular patrons of tanning salons for a decade.
But they are an asterisk in Japanese society and indeed in Asia over all.
"Everybody else basically wants white skin," said Leeyong Soo, the international fashion coordinator at Vogue Nippon, the Japanese edition of the fashion magazine. "People might say to you when you come back from a holiday, 'Oh you have a tan.' But it's not necessarily complimentary."
So after generations of people wanting to be themselves and express their uniqueness, we now have a growing Asian population who aspires to be white. Meanwhile over here, Americans still obsess with big-lipped, blonde hybrids.
At what price is "perfection?"
But why the interest? According to the report:
Sociologists have long debated why Asians, who are divided by everything from language to religion to ethnicity, share a deeply held cultural belief that lighter skin is more attractive.
One commonly repeated rationale is that a lighter complexion is associated with wealth and higher education levels because those from lower social classes, laborers and farmers, are exposed to the sun and thus have darker complexions.
Another theory is linked to the waves of lighter-skinned conquerors, the Moguls from Central Asia or the colonizers from Europe, whose complexions became the standard for attractiveness.
"The success of the skin whiteners signifies that the Western concept of beauty in terms of skin color has finally seeped down to the lower classes," said Randy David, a sociologist at the University of the Philippines.
In other words, "to the victor goes the image of power." The story goes on to say:
Nithiwadi Phuchareuyot, a doctor at a skin clinic in Bangkok who dispenses products and treatments to lighten skin, said: "Every Thai girl thinks that if she has white skin the money will come and the men will come. The movie stars are all white-skinned, and everyone wants to look like a superstar."
In Thailand, as in other countries in the region, the stigma of darker skin is rooted in language. One common insult is "tua dam," or black body, a rude term to degrade someone of lower social standing. Along the same lines are "e dam" (black girl) or "dam tap pet" (black like a duck's liver).
Films and advertising also clearly have a role in promoting the idea that whiter skin is more beautiful. The runaway success of South Korean soap operas across the region has made its lighter- skinned stars emblems of Asian beauty.
Advertisements for skin-whitening products promote whiter skin as glowing and healthier. Olay, a popular brand, has a product called "white radiance." L'Oréal markets products called "white perfect."
In a survey carried out in June 2004 by Synovate, 61 percent of respondents in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan said they felt they looked younger with a fair complexion. Half of Filipino women, 45 percent of Hong Kong women and 41 percent of Malaysian women said they were currently using a skin-whitening product.
There are small groups of people in Asia who seem to prefer tanned skin. In Japan, young women commonly referred to as "Shibuya girls," after the Tokyo neighborhood they hang out in, have been regular patrons of tanning salons for a decade.
But they are an asterisk in Japanese society and indeed in Asia over all.
"Everybody else basically wants white skin," said Leeyong Soo, the international fashion coordinator at Vogue Nippon, the Japanese edition of the fashion magazine. "People might say to you when you come back from a holiday, 'Oh you have a tan.' But it's not necessarily complimentary."
So after generations of people wanting to be themselves and express their uniqueness, we now have a growing Asian population who aspires to be white. Meanwhile over here, Americans still obsess with big-lipped, blonde hybrids.
At what price is "perfection?"
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