Well, not anymore. Go back a century...
Asian skin culture
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Well, not anymore. Go back a century...
DedalusJoyce
Member
This is true in India and Pakistan as well. Fairness creams are a big thing
It's not classicism, maintaining your skin is a part of maintaining your professional image, just like maintaining your hygiene and weight. It's simply a part of the standard of beauty, though there are fashion circles that embrace dark skin, it is considered unprofessional in an office setting.
There is a range of naturally light to dark skin color in Japan, but it's really quite narrow and anyone in that range is never "too tan" to work in the service industry or anything. People don't really have dark skin unless they've been vacationing in Guam and left their sunblock at home, and in that case, it does look bad for your image because it looks like you don't care about how you present yourself.
Doesn't mean that in Japan either. You're just jumping to conclusions based on some dubious at best speculation.
When I first came to China a few years ago I met this girl with gorgeous freckles all over her cheeks and nose. I told her I thought they were beautiful and she got really sad. She said I shouldn't point out that a girl has freckles in China because they are ugly. Oops.
Apparition
Member
Yeah, I've heard stories of black people not being treated as well as whites in Japan. One even claimed he was refused entry to a shop (but that seems to be an isolated case).
On the other hand, I have seen many white people complaining that they are the only ones being refereed to broadly as Gaijin 外人 (making them the token gaijins) while others get a more specific form of address (e.g. Kokujin 黒人 for a black person or Indojin インド人 for Indians).
There are still traces left. Burakumin are still treated badly in many parts of the country. My Scottish professor of communication told me about a Burakumin community in Kanto and said it's less developed than surrounding areas.
This was quite controversial a while back:
Racism in Japan 日本では人種差別がありますか？[字幕付き]
Racism in Japan Part 2 日本では人種差別がありますか？パート２[字幕付き]
Also, Ainu people are being forced to assimilate instead of just integrating.
101 East - Japan's Ainu
So, like all other places, there are issues here and there. If you want to take it to the extreme, you can always have a guy like this (but that's an outlier).
密着24時！日本のネオナチ - A Japanese Neo-Nazi
On the other hand, I have seen many white people complaining that they are the only ones being refereed to broadly as Gaijin 外人 (making them the token gaijins) while others get a more specific form of address (e.g. Kokujin 黒人 for a black person or Indojin インド人 for Indians).
There are still traces left. Burakumin are still treated badly in many parts of the country. My Scottish professor of communication told me about a Burakumin community in Kanto and said it's less developed than surrounding areas.
This was quite controversial a while back:
Racism in Japan 日本では人種差別がありますか？[字幕付き]
Racism in Japan Part 2 日本では人種差別がありますか？パート２[字幕付き]
Also, Ainu people are being forced to assimilate instead of just integrating.
101 East - Japan's Ainu
So, like all other places, there are issues here and there. If you want to take it to the extreme, you can always have a guy like this (but that's an outlier).
密着24時！日本のネオナチ - A Japanese Neo-Nazi
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
Good, because, for me personally, darker Asian skin is so much sexier.
So I was a bit letdown after moving to China and everyone is trying to be whiter. /brokenheart.
The issue in the OP, about white skin being a standard of beauty and possible classism has absolutey nothing to do with racism toward foreign people of different ethnicities.
Alx
Member
Not officially, but there is an unconscious implication that people who tan can afford spending time on vacation. Which is why people compliment each other on their tan when they come back from holidays. It's still a hidden way of bragging about your social status, even if it's less categorized that it used to be.
Sumio Mondo
Member
This is definitely a thing in India and Pakistan.
The Spoony Hou
Member
I'd say that it's more of an ingrained idea in their society than something people think about consciously. I'm from Brazil and there are still traces of that feudal way of thinking, even though having a tan is the cool thing nowadays.
That reminds me of when, here on GAF, people were complaining about how the villain of Hyrule Warriors acquiring a tan when she went evil was racist, and I was trying to explain that, while it might be discrimination, it's not race related.
It definitely has its roots in classicism especially in Japan so it's important to note such especially where nearly every place else in the world colorism stems from white supremacy.
Even in Manhattan, easy to spot korean girls as they usually walk around with a ton of bb cream plastered all over their face.
I do find it a bit weird that Asian women tend to run away from the sun while pale Caucasians who can take the sun the least like nothing better than to sit under the sun and do nothing until their skin falls off.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Yes it does have roots in classism. I see your point.
It also happened in Africa, Sub Asia (India, etc) and all East Asia for the same reason. Before western influence.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Man, Sheamus and Paige should join NJPW
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
But tanned asians are the hottest
Not really. I'd say it died near the start of the 2000s. Can you find it? Yes. Is it "a thing"? No.
Audioboxer
Member
Same. Scottish skin reflects sunlight like a mirror.
AppleSeason
Member
I still remember the ads for anti tan cream in Thailand. Oddly with non Asian actors.I have a bottle of the stuff, but I haven't tried it. It may be useful for those days I end with short sleeves tan.
We used to have this in Britain (like, a century ago or more). I'm suprised it still exists in Asia, but considering their stance on some other things I guess it's not all that surprising.
Give it time and I'm sure this'll change though. At some point being tanned will be desirable and perceptions may even switch.
Give it time and I'm sure this'll change though. At some point being tanned will be desirable and perceptions may even switch.
johancruijff
Banned
It was a thing in the previous centuries in europe
The image of a dame with an umbrella in the sun is pretty common
Monet (or Manet?) painted one for sure
The image of a dame with an umbrella in the sun is pretty common
Monet (or Manet?) painted one for sure
But it has nothing to do with European imperialism.
BronsonLee
Member
I'm tan as fuck so miss my ass Asia
PS stay over there Tab, I'm borrowing your spoy
PS stay over there Tab, I'm borrowing your spoy
Sumio Mondo
Member
Or white people sit in tanning salons until they get skin cancer. Light tans can be nice for sure but some people really overdid it a few years back, doesn't seem as bad nowadays though.
Maedre
Banned
An little anecdote: When i see someone that i more tanned than normal, i put this person into a lower class category/drawer. There is a name for Solariums in germany. We call it "Asi-Toaster" (Asi = short for Anti-Social)
I fucking hate Solarium or fake Tan.
But this is more like the extreme variant. I dont have any problem with a darkend skin through holydays or normal sun exposure.
The asians i know dont have any problem with sun exposure.
I fucking hate Solarium or fake Tan.
But this is more like the extreme variant. I dont have any problem with a darkend skin through holydays or normal sun exposure.
The asians i know dont have any problem with sun exposure.
Probably because people are more aware of the negatives and the hype for them died down.
I like how a trip to Asia apparently made you an expert in Asian culture
It surprises me, that people are surprises by the concept.
In Europe we had the same sense of beauty around the Renaissance, for the same reason. Nobles wanted to display their status through white skin, since peasant would work on the fields and get a tan there.
It changed through the Industrial revolution, where perception changed and a white skin represent the working class working all day in mines or facilities away from the sun.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/19/history-of-tanning
Sumio Mondo
Member
I always thought it was obvious enough that sitting in those places for days on end would obviously give you cancer but hey, guess they had to be told it first. Some people looked hilarious with their overdone tans too.
30yearsofhurt
Member
I think in Japan the Ainu people tend to have darker skin too.
Never met one myself.
Never met one myself.
Joel Was Right
Member
People say that cultural upbringing can influence what our psyche defines as attractive. But sometimes what we find attraction is more innate e.g. women preferring taller men. I'm of the opinion that height in male is a universal preference, regardless of the culture. What I want to know is how we do we define the distinction between the two causes of attraction?
My girlfriend is from Vietnam and she tells me quite often she wishes she had "beautiful white skin" like me. I'm amazed every time she says it too. I'm just a really pasty white guy-- I need more sun. She is pretty fair skinned as it is, but she insists she is "yellow." If she didn't have Asian facial features, the average person would think she was white, so I don't get it...
Cow Mengde
Banned
Whitening is still a beauty thing. I don't know how prevalent it is here in China, but my cousin, who is a girl, always compliments how white my skin is. I ask her why would she compare herself to me, I'm a guy. Who gives a shit how white my skin is. She's definitely a little vain, but I got the feeling girls are more obsessed over being thin here in China than being white. I thought it was just my cousin.
Being thin is a whole different level here in China. You bare ever see any fat girls. One girl I went out with outright told me girls are competing fiercely to be thin here in China. They come up with all kinds of weird metrics to judge how thin you are.
Being thin is a whole different level here in China. You bare ever see any fat girls. One girl I went out with outright told me girls are competing fiercely to be thin here in China. They come up with all kinds of weird metrics to judge how thin you are.
YesNOnoNOYes
Member
you can only be fat once you are an 'aunty' or otherwise undesirable :x
Cow Mengde
Banned
Yup, only older middle age women are fat here.
Me, I do like thin girls, but not stick thin. A lot of girls here have no figure. They're all just sticks.
sixteen-bit
Member
Colorism is real, y'all
There's whitening products everywhere in the Philippines and it is super ingrained into their culture. It's on the brink of sickening, really an obsession for many. And I dislike it when my now exes have done anything to become white, while I prefer they are their natural color.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
This is HUGE in India, which I know is technically Asia but this thread seems to be revolving around China/Korea/Japan.
I saw a documentary about it that pretty much nails everything everyone here is saying. Status, prejudice, marriage chances etc. It's doubly crazy and sad in India where there is already a horrible caste system on top of it all.
Regardless, whitening is a huge industry
I saw a documentary about it that pretty much nails everything everyone here is saying. Status, prejudice, marriage chances etc. It's doubly crazy and sad in India where there is already a horrible caste system on top of it all.
Regardless, whitening is a huge industry
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