"The beauty standards in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China are also nothing more than aping attempts at assimilating to whiteness"
Ok, you don't have the first fucking clue about Asian or White beauty ideals.
In both Asia and the Western world, white women's complexions are considered inferior to Asian women's, because they aren't brown enough.
And this is in fact a long-standing historical trend: white men have always placed Asian women above white women in the hierarchy of Western beauty standards. That's why whire women have always usd to tan.
In the 1800s in Indonesia, an entire mixed-race ethnic group was created (the Indo people) because so many white men ditched their white women for brown Southeast Asian women:
"The colonization of non-white countries by European migrants sometimes led to the establishment of inter-racial beauty ideals, such as in Dutch Indonesia, where white Dutch male colonists defined beauty standards that ranked Southeast Asian women as more attractive than white women, on the basis of their darker skin and black hair.[21] Some studies using Caucasian male subjects from Western countries have identified a preference for women with darker skin, which indicates that there is no innate preference for lighter skin within the Western world.[22] Thus, there is a preference for tan-skinned women that is largely specific to Western culture.[23] Some studies from Western countries have found that, among young women, those with a tanner skin color have higher self-perceived attractiveness.[24]"
"According to research from China, since the 2010s, tan skin has emerged as the new beauty ideal for women in China, and Chinese women themselves believe their tan skin is more attractive and healthier than pale skin.[99] Similar findings from Japan have found that the ideal female skin colour is tan, with no spots or roughness. There is a widepread perception in Japan that White women's skin is less beautiful than Japanese women's, as White women are stereotyped as being too pale and roughly textured.[100]"
"In East Asia, women with black hair are presented as the beauty ideal, while blonde women are denied the ideal status. Blonde Swedish women have reported low self-esteem while living in Singapore, as local beauty standards reduced their sense of femininity.[12][13] Japanese advertisements have occasionally depicted blonde women as envious of black-haired women.[14]"
"Women tend to have darker eyes and lips than men, especially relative to the rest of their facial features, and this attribute has been associated with female attractiveness and femininity,[7] yet it also decreases male attractiveness according to one study.[8] Women may use cosmetics such as lipstick and eye shadow to increase their facial color contrast, or to increase the apparent distance between their eyes and eyebrows.[7] A 2009 study found that East Asian people had more facial skin contrast than white people, owing to their consistently darker eyes.[8]"
This piece is not about the white man's (much less Dutch colonists??) perception of beauty, which would not be indicative of Asian beauty standards in the first place, so I'm not sure why you've started your comment out with that. In your Wikipedia source, the only mention of tan skin being popular in East Asia is within a Japanese counterculture.
Colorism is deeply rooted in East Asian beauty standards (hence the counterculture). However, because of historical associations, colorism's degree of connection to whiteness, I would say, is not as strong as those of other trends, e.g. a high nose bridge. Regardless, anyone could argue that a Eurocentric influence only helps to reinforce the existing standard of pale skin.
If you don't believe me or this author, celebrities from each culture are only a Google search away. They will be a far better representation of beauty ideals than any research study or Wikipedia page.
"In both Asia and the Western world, white women's complexions are considered inferior to Asian women's, because they aren't brown enough.
And this is in fact a long-standing historical trend: white men have always placed Asian women above white women in the hierarchy of Western beauty standards"
Man wtf are you talking about lmao? Did you just create your profile to post this stupid comment? A comment based on a wikipedia page about dutch colonists?
Listen I have lived in Europe my whole life and I can tell you the Eurocentric beauty standard is well and alive. There is no such thing as brown enough. Actually, East or South Asian women are seen as "others" or in the "best" cases simply fetished. It is terrible.
This author wrote a nuanced and very well thought out essay and you are just mad bc it does not align with the weird ideology you got going on.
It doesn´t take a lot of research to find out how popular skin whitening products are in almost all parts opf asia. I have east/south and even west asian friends who all say the same. How bad darker skin is perceived in their home countries. Bollywood is colorist, south-korean entertainment is colorist and the double eyelid surgery hit, filipinos are colorist and so go on. I cannot process hwo you could come to this conclusion, where you could have read this and if you ever opened an asaian social media platfrom or did a little research on those countries beauty cultures.
You´re blatantly wrong and attack the author for what? Girl give some proof because I know there won´t stack anything.
Tell this writer to edit her article. She is adding to the problem. And also tell the people who liked and shared it she was factually wrong and to stop doing what they're doing.
Great article! Being a (mostly) white Mexican, I've also noticed how these dainty, hyperfeminine aesthetics mainly feature white women. Ocassionally you'll see an East Asian girl too, because her pale skin and tiny frame is 'close enough'. But she can never look 'too Asian' either - many of them are wearing contacts and have dyed hair. Like you said, there have been *some* efforts to include POC in these aesthetics, but the change is never deep and fundamental. Arguably, it shouldn't even *have* to occur in the first place.
This article had a lot of great points, but I couldn’t follow a clear path of reasoning from premise to conclusion. It’s probably because I’m sleep deprived and have a cold, and I’m white and over 35 so a lot of the references went over my head. But certainly, I couldn’t argue with what I think the substance of the article was.
"The beauty standards in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China are also nothing more than aping attempts at assimilating to whiteness"
Ok, you don't have the first fucking clue about Asian or White beauty ideals.
In both Asia and the Western world, white women's complexions are considered inferior to Asian women's, because they aren't brown enough.
And this is in fact a long-standing historical trend: white men have always placed Asian women above white women in the hierarchy of Western beauty standards. That's why whire women have always usd to tan.
In the 1800s in Indonesia, an entire mixed-race ethnic group was created (the Indo people) because so many white men ditched their white women for brown Southeast Asian women:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminine_beauty_ideal#Skin_color_standards
"The colonization of non-white countries by European migrants sometimes led to the establishment of inter-racial beauty ideals, such as in Dutch Indonesia, where white Dutch male colonists defined beauty standards that ranked Southeast Asian women as more attractive than white women, on the basis of their darker skin and black hair.[21] Some studies using Caucasian male subjects from Western countries have identified a preference for women with darker skin, which indicates that there is no innate preference for lighter skin within the Western world.[22] Thus, there is a preference for tan-skinned women that is largely specific to Western culture.[23] Some studies from Western countries have found that, among young women, those with a tanner skin color have higher self-perceived attractiveness.[24]"
"According to research from China, since the 2010s, tan skin has emerged as the new beauty ideal for women in China, and Chinese women themselves believe their tan skin is more attractive and healthier than pale skin.[99] Similar findings from Japan have found that the ideal female skin colour is tan, with no spots or roughness. There is a widepread perception in Japan that White women's skin is less beautiful than Japanese women's, as White women are stereotyped as being too pale and roughly textured.[100]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminine_beauty_ideal#Skin_color_contrast_and_cosmetics
"In East Asia, women with black hair are presented as the beauty ideal, while blonde women are denied the ideal status. Blonde Swedish women have reported low self-esteem while living in Singapore, as local beauty standards reduced their sense of femininity.[12][13] Japanese advertisements have occasionally depicted blonde women as envious of black-haired women.[14]"
"Women tend to have darker eyes and lips than men, especially relative to the rest of their facial features, and this attribute has been associated with female attractiveness and femininity,[7] yet it also decreases male attractiveness according to one study.[8] Women may use cosmetics such as lipstick and eye shadow to increase their facial color contrast, or to increase the apparent distance between their eyes and eyebrows.[7] A 2009 study found that East Asian people had more facial skin contrast than white people, owing to their consistently darker eyes.[8]"
This piece is not about the white man's (much less Dutch colonists??) perception of beauty, which would not be indicative of Asian beauty standards in the first place, so I'm not sure why you've started your comment out with that. In your Wikipedia source, the only mention of tan skin being popular in East Asia is within a Japanese counterculture.
Colorism is deeply rooted in East Asian beauty standards (hence the counterculture). However, because of historical associations, colorism's degree of connection to whiteness, I would say, is not as strong as those of other trends, e.g. a high nose bridge. Regardless, anyone could argue that a Eurocentric influence only helps to reinforce the existing standard of pale skin.
If you don't believe me or this author, celebrities from each culture are only a Google search away. They will be a far better representation of beauty ideals than any research study or Wikipedia page.
"In both Asia and the Western world, white women's complexions are considered inferior to Asian women's, because they aren't brown enough.
And this is in fact a long-standing historical trend: white men have always placed Asian women above white women in the hierarchy of Western beauty standards"
Man wtf are you talking about lmao? Did you just create your profile to post this stupid comment? A comment based on a wikipedia page about dutch colonists?
Listen I have lived in Europe my whole life and I can tell you the Eurocentric beauty standard is well and alive. There is no such thing as brown enough. Actually, East or South Asian women are seen as "others" or in the "best" cases simply fetished. It is terrible.
This author wrote a nuanced and very well thought out essay and you are just mad bc it does not align with the weird ideology you got going on.
It doesn´t take a lot of research to find out how popular skin whitening products are in almost all parts opf asia. I have east/south and even west asian friends who all say the same. How bad darker skin is perceived in their home countries. Bollywood is colorist, south-korean entertainment is colorist and the double eyelid surgery hit, filipinos are colorist and so go on. I cannot process hwo you could come to this conclusion, where you could have read this and if you ever opened an asaian social media platfrom or did a little research on those countries beauty cultures.
You´re blatantly wrong and attack the author for what? Girl give some proof because I know there won´t stack anything.
Tell this writer to edit her article. She is adding to the problem. And also tell the people who liked and shared it she was factually wrong and to stop doing what they're doing.
The irony in pilates being created by a black person! Great read!
Great article! Being a (mostly) white Mexican, I've also noticed how these dainty, hyperfeminine aesthetics mainly feature white women. Ocassionally you'll see an East Asian girl too, because her pale skin and tiny frame is 'close enough'. But she can never look 'too Asian' either - many of them are wearing contacts and have dyed hair. Like you said, there have been *some* efforts to include POC in these aesthetics, but the change is never deep and fundamental. Arguably, it shouldn't even *have* to occur in the first place.
This gave me so much to think about! Thx for this :)
This article had a lot of great points, but I couldn’t follow a clear path of reasoning from premise to conclusion. It’s probably because I’m sleep deprived and have a cold, and I’m white and over 35 so a lot of the references went over my head. But certainly, I couldn’t argue with what I think the substance of the article was.
what a read.