the whole having an aesthetic thing always baffled me an someone who is extremely pathetic and all attempts at trying to fit in have backfired. i get stuff like "frogs are cute i must have frog themed everything" but all this ballerinacore or bimbocore or even copying Black women stuff is so confusing to me. the time and effort and mental energy expended on reinventing yourself more than Madonna or Lady Gaga (also notorious culture vultures) must be exhausting and stressful.
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.
reducing the impact of centuries of cultural ideas developed in asia in favor of a gross generalization that "they just want to be white" absolutely ruins this piece for me. america is a new country founded on racial conflict, from european colonizers going to war with the native indigenous people, to the literal building of the country by enslaved people from africa. that's 200 years, from the literal inception of the country, to build the current racial ideas/standards. however, asians have lived in their countries, among their ethnic groups, for multiple CENTURIES. from BC! do you not think the vast majority of their complex cultural ideas were developed during that time? east asian culture is extremely classist and hierarchy-based, which is highly reflected in the languages (different word forms depending on who you're speaking to, for example). the elites who had the privilege of staying inside, away from the sun, had paler skin. the lower class workers had darker skin from tanning in the sun. it would not surprise me if this subconscious idea still influences their beauty standards today, given it obviously affected their languages. when was the earliest significant interaction between white people and east asians that we can point to as establishing standards for today? probably not until the world wars. do you seriously think the conclusions that derive from hundreds of years of black and brown oppression on american soil can also be easily applied to the approximately 80 or so years of white american influence (and I'm using that liberally) on east asians? I hope not. I understand that there can be overlaps, similarities, and influences, but that gross reduction of the centuries of asian culture is awful and jarring, as though they had no ideals before the white man told them what ideals they should have. people of color can also be harmful in their own cultural way, especially when their countries are geographically far from europe and america, and they have a well documented history of their societal development before white people even knew of their existence. I like to keep in mind that american racism is somewhat unique because of the country's unique creation, and that white people are not the creators of the world, no matter how hard certain parts of society try to convince you they are. (which I'm not saying you are, just saying in general.)
"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.
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.
I lived in China 🇨🇳 for a few years in the late 80s early 90s, and the “pale good/dark bad” is definitely a thing, still is on RedNote. Also the delicate doll body type. I wore men’s clothes a lot because I couldn’t find women’s clothes in my size, people were constantly complimenting my fair skin and hair and also expressing incredulity about my “huge” body (I’m 5’6” and size 10 feet).
"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.
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.
I’m a middle aged white woman of Northern European ancestry…I come from a long line of sturdy loud women who farm, fight, and survive damn near everything. As a young woman I put SO MUCH time and energy into trying to shrink myself and be delicate, soft and feminine. It never worked and I never even tried imitating WOC because honestly it is just racist, silly and embarrassing. I’m in the middle of finding my own aesthetic as an older woman and I’m drawn to my Nordic roots…embracing the fierceness of my foremothers feels really good. Growing out a faux hawk after buzzing off my waist length long hair. Taking up space and fuck being mindful and demure. White women can and must get curious and educated about their own pre-patriarchal/pre-colonial identities. Get busy creating a new culture for ourselves that doesn’t involve appropriating WOC’s cultures or regressing back to the Victorian era. I love Pilates for physical therapy but I don’t love almond mom Pilates culture, I feel like a freak amongst that tribe. Thanks for this very thoughtful post.
As a white lady I am selfishly curious if there’s any way to avoid critique here…on the one hand, adopting the aesthetics of non-white cultures is racist and appropriation. On the other hand, embracing aesthetics associated with whiteness is supremacist and exclusionary and reinforces white beauty ideals.
Is there any way to just… be white in a way that isn’t harmful? Asking for a friend… 😬
This is kind of an understandable complaint, there does seem to be a narrow, awkward middle ground between these competing ideas sometimes. I guess one thing to think about is why we need to participate in these aesthetics in the first place, obviously we all like to go with trends but I feel like a lot of this can be avoided by sidestepping aesthetics and doing what you like while being welcoming and normal towards women of color in either space and having genuine connections with women of color. I think embracing that happy medium of authenticity over having to completely embrace one aesthetic can be a good response to these ideas. Being a part of whatever aesthetic is trending is okay and realistic as the author pointed out, but just being cognizant of potential downfalls and cultural forces behind the aesthetics while having friendships with a diverse group of normal women can be super helpful. Kind of just spitballing here but I hope this gives stuff to think on!!
Excellent piece (omg I'm only being served this two years later...). Towards your conclusion, I can't help but think about Anti-Influence and how the rise of gendered/racialized/colonized trends often force folks out of enjoying what they enjoy because they don't want to be associated with the invading force. Like how no one can wear red hats anymore. Like the Black woman who just wanted to do pilates in peace and now that could be read as some imperial endorsing commentary. It's so exhausting.
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 whole having an aesthetic thing always baffled me an someone who is extremely pathetic and all attempts at trying to fit in have backfired. i get stuff like "frogs are cute i must have frog themed everything" but all this ballerinacore or bimbocore or even copying Black women stuff is so confusing to me. the time and effort and mental energy expended on reinventing yourself more than Madonna or Lady Gaga (also notorious culture vultures) must be exhausting and stressful.
waiting for someone to ask me about my aesthetic so i can call it "going outside-core"
It is. Like seriously I have a lot on my plate and I need an aesthetic that isn’t the equivalent of a full time job.
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.
reducing the impact of centuries of cultural ideas developed in asia in favor of a gross generalization that "they just want to be white" absolutely ruins this piece for me. america is a new country founded on racial conflict, from european colonizers going to war with the native indigenous people, to the literal building of the country by enslaved people from africa. that's 200 years, from the literal inception of the country, to build the current racial ideas/standards. however, asians have lived in their countries, among their ethnic groups, for multiple CENTURIES. from BC! do you not think the vast majority of their complex cultural ideas were developed during that time? east asian culture is extremely classist and hierarchy-based, which is highly reflected in the languages (different word forms depending on who you're speaking to, for example). the elites who had the privilege of staying inside, away from the sun, had paler skin. the lower class workers had darker skin from tanning in the sun. it would not surprise me if this subconscious idea still influences their beauty standards today, given it obviously affected their languages. when was the earliest significant interaction between white people and east asians that we can point to as establishing standards for today? probably not until the world wars. do you seriously think the conclusions that derive from hundreds of years of black and brown oppression on american soil can also be easily applied to the approximately 80 or so years of white american influence (and I'm using that liberally) on east asians? I hope not. I understand that there can be overlaps, similarities, and influences, but that gross reduction of the centuries of asian culture is awful and jarring, as though they had no ideals before the white man told them what ideals they should have. people of color can also be harmful in their own cultural way, especially when their countries are geographically far from europe and america, and they have a well documented history of their societal development before white people even knew of their existence. I like to keep in mind that american racism is somewhat unique because of the country's unique creation, and that white people are not the creators of the world, no matter how hard certain parts of society try to convince you they are. (which I'm not saying you are, just saying in general.)
"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.
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.
I lived in China 🇨🇳 for a few years in the late 80s early 90s, and the “pale good/dark bad” is definitely a thing, still is on RedNote. Also the delicate doll body type. I wore men’s clothes a lot because I couldn’t find women’s clothes in my size, people were constantly complimenting my fair skin and hair and also expressing incredulity about my “huge” body (I’m 5’6” and size 10 feet).
"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.
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.
Bro, what? 🫠💀 Who are you talking to lmao
At 55, I'm in my Old, Rich, Black Lady era, watching, With Love, Meghan. I approve allll of this.
I’m a middle aged white woman of Northern European ancestry…I come from a long line of sturdy loud women who farm, fight, and survive damn near everything. As a young woman I put SO MUCH time and energy into trying to shrink myself and be delicate, soft and feminine. It never worked and I never even tried imitating WOC because honestly it is just racist, silly and embarrassing. I’m in the middle of finding my own aesthetic as an older woman and I’m drawn to my Nordic roots…embracing the fierceness of my foremothers feels really good. Growing out a faux hawk after buzzing off my waist length long hair. Taking up space and fuck being mindful and demure. White women can and must get curious and educated about their own pre-patriarchal/pre-colonial identities. Get busy creating a new culture for ourselves that doesn’t involve appropriating WOC’s cultures or regressing back to the Victorian era. I love Pilates for physical therapy but I don’t love almond mom Pilates culture, I feel like a freak amongst that tribe. Thanks for this very thoughtful post.
So interesting and raises a lot of great points.
As a white lady I am selfishly curious if there’s any way to avoid critique here…on the one hand, adopting the aesthetics of non-white cultures is racist and appropriation. On the other hand, embracing aesthetics associated with whiteness is supremacist and exclusionary and reinforces white beauty ideals.
Is there any way to just… be white in a way that isn’t harmful? Asking for a friend… 😬
This is kind of an understandable complaint, there does seem to be a narrow, awkward middle ground between these competing ideas sometimes. I guess one thing to think about is why we need to participate in these aesthetics in the first place, obviously we all like to go with trends but I feel like a lot of this can be avoided by sidestepping aesthetics and doing what you like while being welcoming and normal towards women of color in either space and having genuine connections with women of color. I think embracing that happy medium of authenticity over having to completely embrace one aesthetic can be a good response to these ideas. Being a part of whatever aesthetic is trending is okay and realistic as the author pointed out, but just being cognizant of potential downfalls and cultural forces behind the aesthetics while having friendships with a diverse group of normal women can be super helpful. Kind of just spitballing here but I hope this gives stuff to think on!!
Such a great question re: why we need to participate in the aesthetics at all. IMO, the short answer is: power.
Definitely something I've been thinking about in my own life:
https://weaponofassdestruction.substack.com/p/divesting-from-beauty-culture?r=zfg54
Excellent piece (omg I'm only being served this two years later...). Towards your conclusion, I can't help but think about Anti-Influence and how the rise of gendered/racialized/colonized trends often force folks out of enjoying what they enjoy because they don't want to be associated with the invading force. Like how no one can wear red hats anymore. Like the Black woman who just wanted to do pilates in peace and now that could be read as some imperial endorsing commentary. It's so exhausting.
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.
This gave me so much to think about! Thx for this :)
I gotta print this one out—it’s so good!
If anyone earned those corn rows it’s Kim K
sincerely hope you're being sarcastic cause yikes
I sincerely hope you stub your toe
Tbf, hard boiled ballerina core or some shit is quite catchy
This was well writ!
Oh brother, will be reading this tonight
thought-provoking