Erasing Ethnicity - Has the craze for a more Westernized look sparked a global ident

[kimmy]

Quote:

White (American) culture has influenced every other culture it has touched.

it is american culture...not white culture. i say that only because stick straight hair, large lips and smooth noses are rare in caucasions.

i think that american culture influencing other cultures around the world to embrace such things as straight hair (which is predominent in asians), large lips (prominent in most middle eastern areas) and smooth noses (also predominent in asian countries) is a testament to the diversity of our nation.

of course it's sad that our beauty icons have driven women to such great lengths as leg lengthening and calf reduction, but that's inevitable. no matter what, there will always be millions that will go to the ends of the earth to "improve" their appearance.

interesting article though.

 

[sophistichic]

I'm Asian (half Chinese, half Vietnamese) and I've known a lot of people to do eyelid surgery or have their nose done. I have natural double eyelids and probably won't ever do plastic surgery but I understand how the "American culture" is affecting Asia. There's a huge pressure to "fit in" to America especially if you're immigrating from another country and also Asia is modernizing and a lot of white business people are starting to invest in China. Plus, a lot of American superstars are extremely popular in Asia and people might feel the pressure to look more like them.

That's just my take on the whole article (don't hate!), it's really interesting!

 

[aziajs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimmy it is american culture...not white culture. i say that only because stick straight hair, large lips and smooth noses are rare in caucasions. i think that american culture influencing other cultures around the world to embrace such things as straight hair (which is predominent in asians), large lips (prominent in most middle eastern areas) and smooth noses (also predominent in asian countries) is a testament to the diversity of our nation.

But it is White American culture. How long have Black Americans had darker, more tanned skin and full lips? It has never been something to admire or desire until White Americans deemed these features to be beautiful and around the 70s you started seeing white people getting tans religiously. It's only in the last 10 years or so that "fuller" lips have been desired. Now, you constantly hear about the latest innovation in lip plumping whether it's surgery or cosmetics. The reality is that white america sets the standard of beauty and a great number of people (not ALL people) all over the world follow suit. It's not always the case that the features orginate within people who are white it's more so that they adopt them and set them as a standard of beauty for themselves and everyone else.

Also, Nox, I agree 100% with everything you said. Well put.

 

[kimmy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aziajs But it is White American culture. How long have Black Americans had darker, more tanned skin and full lips? It has never been something to admire or desire until White Americans deemed these features to be beautiful and around the 70s you started seeing white people getting tans religiously. It's only in the last 10 years or so that "fuller" lips have been desired. Now, you constantly hear about the latest innovation in lip plumping whether it's surgery or cosmetics. The reality is that white america sets the standard of beauty and a great number of people (not ALL people) all over the world follow suit. It's not always the case that the features orginate within people who are white it's more so that they adopt them and set them as a standard of beauty for themselves and everyone else. Also, Nox, I agree 100% with everything you said. Well put.

you have a point.

i just don't feel like it's fair to blame all the world's image issues on white america.

 

[MadchenRogue]

yeah I am not surprised at all with the article. On youtube I saw this asian girl with a kit ( and this girl mind you is around 16-17 ) and it was a kit to GLUE her lids to make them appear as if she had eyelids. This whole culture of self-absorption is really affecting the young and impressionable teens. I even seen pictures of Katherine Zeta Jones BEFORE ALL her "upgrades". Let me tell you that girl would not even had a chance if she did not fix her teeth and face. Victoria Beckam...same thing. Beauty in this world is everything. But there is a difference for using those means to improve ones self confidence or trying to be a hollywood starlet. But TV and their executives does not make that distinction.

 

[flowerhead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aziajs But it is White American culture. How long have Black Americans had darker, more tanned skin and full lips? It has never been something to admire or desire until White Americans deemed these features to be beautiful and around the 70s you started seeing white people getting tans religiously. It's only in the last 10 years or so that "fuller" lips have been desired. Now, you constantly hear about the latest innovation in lip plumping whether it's surgery or cosmetics. The reality is that white america sets the standard of beauty and a great number of people (not ALL people) all over the world follow suit. It's not always the case that the features orginate within people who are white it's more so that they adopt them and set them as a standard of beauty for themselves and everyone else. Also, Nox, I agree 100% with everything you said. Well put.

okay....white america didn't start the tanning craze, it started universally amongst white people [my grandmother had very bad sun damage, she was a russian immigrant] as it was thought of as glam to be able to afford foreign holidays, the luxury/leisure thing in st.tropez.
full lips have always been desired in an idea of classic beauty, just look at alot of portraits of women over the centuies, it's just only recently that they became practically a working requirement for most models & actresses.
you can't blame white america on the mainsream cookie-cutter idea of beauty, roman women bleached their hair thousands of years ago as it was a symbol of youth...america hasn't really set an original 'standard' anywhere if you look at beauty through history and how it's influenced today...

 

[faifai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flowerhead you can't blame white america on the mainstream cookie-cutter idea of beauty, roman women bleached their hair thousands of years ago as it was a symbol of youth...america hasn't really set an original 'standard' anywhere if you look at beauty through history and how it's influenced today...

I agree. There aren't really any standards of beauty that are around now that didn't pop up somewhere in history before - what's "beautiful" at one point in time may go out of style for a while, but eventually it will come back.

I think if you look at it in terms of centuries instead of mere decades, you can see that beauty trends generally do gravitate towards certain things (lush lips, healthy figure, youthful appearance, etc). What defines "youthful" or "healthy" might change, but there are certain things that most people tend to be drawn towards.

As for the article itself, I don't know what to think. I know that in Indian culture, having "fair" light skin is the ideal. Light eyes are also regarded as extremely beautiful, but they're so rare that there's not as much pressure to have light eyes - especially since having light eyes is basically random and out of your control unless you want to wear fake-looking contacts, whereas "there's still hope" if you have the misfortune of being pretty but just a tad too dark (like members of my extended family have said to me, ugh). India sells more skin-lightening/skin brightening products than any other country in the world. But I also know that that ideal has been around for far longer than "the West" has been around - they're not trying to make themselves lighter skinned because they want to look Caucasian, but because it's related to old ideas of "light = wealthy." If you're light, it meant you didn't have to go out of the house to work and could afford to pay others to do it for you. In Europe it was the same way a few centuries ago.

Nowadays, the trend is actually moving away from "light = better" towards tanning/embracing one's natural skincolor. The rise of "dark" Bollywood actresses like Bipasha Basu and Malaika Arora seems to indicate that the whole Western tanning-is-beautiful idea is finally influencing Indian beauty. I mean, look at Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2! She's actually darker than she is normally, probably via spray tan.

I guess this whole Westernized look for Indians is actually a good thing though as far as skin color goes, since we don't have to make an effort to be tan - we're already that color naturally. It's kind of a "reverse" identity crisis : instead of trying to make themselves lighter and bleaching their skin trying to be something they're not, they're finally learning to accept their skin color as it is.

 

[Kuuipo]

Thanks Sparkling Waves! Here in Hawaii we call thick calves "daikon legs" ! People ofAsian descent comparison shop for skin whitening agents-mostly because tan is a class issue-and people do not want to look like a tourist, gardener, farmer, etc Everyone -practically-dyes their hair the color of an acorn and has it razor cut in layers. Blephoroplasty posters are all over the bus, phone books, etc. People want to look "Hollywood", not less Asian. We are all bombarded by media-advertising and merchandising is so universal.

This year I bleached my hair blonde and put on blue contact lenses and someone called me haole.....I'ts not like I tried to pass as entirely white, I just was bored and wanted to try a different look. We all want to look different sometimes.

 

[chocolategoddes]

its all true. white is the new black. actually, as it has been said before its not a caucasian thing. There have been studies made about what is considered beautiful. big and bright eyes, full lips, full hair, and cute little noses all go back to "youth=health" representing beauty not being white.

 

[Babylard]

Ah yes, very interesting article. thanks for sharing.

I'm Asian and it really makes me sick when certain people will automatically label me as wanting to be "white." I have a fetish for dying my hair and I am considering coloured contacts in the future. Sure, there are Asians who really are aspiring to look more Westernized, but then there are others who just want to change their looks up. I have blonde hair at the moment and I really despise ignorant people who immediately judge me. I don't only dye my hair blonde. In fact, I've gone up and down between black, blonde, red, brown, and back to black. Give me a break people. It makes my blood boil when some ignorant people say that Asian folks "lighten" their features to look "white".

Like hello, we have naturally black hair. Is there any other way to go except lighter? And I do not believe that firey bright red fuscia hair (my fav) belongs to any ethnic group at all. As for contact, geez. Just cuz a gal has blue contacts doesn't mean anything. I like blue, green.. and also many unatural colours, don't you?

Anyways, I don't feel like looks belong to any ethnic group. One chick of an ethnic is doing something to look a certain way; maybe like that chick over there. However, that chick over there is aspiring to look like some other chick... etc etc... everybody is trying to look like somebody else... *shrugs* what a goofy world we live in. colour is fun. it exists for us to play with!

 

[ginger9]

I think the tendency is for people to desire what they do not have. Whether it's the single vs double eyelid, straight vs curly hair, dark vs light skin, slender vs athletic, small vs big breast and the list goes on. I think nowadays to assign popularity of certain physical attributes to trying to be a certain race is somewhat discriminating. I was surprised that the article attributed long straight hair to Caucasians because most asians have naturally straight hair to begin with. Also slender legs = being white? The average america women is a size 12 or 14. The "slender leg" is from photoshopped images of size 2s models on the cover of magazines and TV. I think the unrealistic ideal of beauty should be blamed on the media - internationally, across the globe.

There are asians with all shapes of eyes, big, small, double, single eyelid but in Asia, the media sells the image of the Asian with the big round double eyelid eyes!

 

[AmberLilith]

Sorry to be a little slow on the uptake, i only just saw this post...

Thanks so much for posting this SparklingWaves, very interesting article...

Just wanted to point out though: Ziyi Zhang was wearing blue contacts in 'Memoirs of a Geisha' because the role demanded it -the character in the book was said to be particularly striking because of her watery blue eyes.
But apart from that, i don't know anything about whether she's worn them more often or since the film.

 

[S.S.BlackOrchid]

From what I see, Aishwaria Rai is way more overblown and popular in America than in India. There are many actresses who are just as popular in India who have dark eyes. The Ash craze is more of an western thing.

I am glad more Indians are embracing their natural tan though. Hopefully we can end the "fair & lovely" obsession.

 

[jmj2k]

Thank you for the information...

 

[chocodcocoa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadchenRogue yeah I am not surprised at all with the article. On youtube I saw this asian girl with a kit ( and this girl mind you is around 16-17 ) and it was a kit to GLUE her lids to make them appear as if she had eyelids. This whole culture of self-absorption is really affecting the young and impressionable teens. I even seen pictures of Katherine Zeta Jones BEFORE ALL her "upgrades". Let me tell you that girl would not even had a chance if she did not fix her teeth and face. Victoria Beckam...same thing. Beauty in this world is everything. But there is a difference for using those means to improve ones self confidence or trying to be a hollywood starlet. But TV and their executives does not make that distinction.

Zeta Jones had UPGRADES?

I think it's unfair to say that Asian women are seeking white features... they want universally flattering features... and it just so happens that more white women have them.

This pisses me off sometimes because although I'm a full Asian (Taiwanese + 1/4 Korean), I'm a brunette, I have lighter colored eyes with tanned looking skin, double eyelids and cheekbones and everything... other Asian girls would look at me and immediately consider me one of those girls who are trying to look more white.

Not all Asians are born looking like they've been dropped on their face when they were little, and some of those who have very Asian features are strikingful beautiful as well.

 

[blazeno.8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chocodcocoa Zeta Jones had UPGRADES? I think it's unfair to say that Asian women are seeking white features... they want universally flattering features... and it just so happens that more white women have them. This pisses me off sometimes because although I'm a full Asian (Taiwanese + 1/4 Korean), I'm a brunette, I have lighter colored eyes with tanned looking skin, double eyelids and cheekbones and everything... other Asian girls would look at me and immediately consider me one of those girls who are trying to look more white. Not all Asians are born looking like they've been dropped on their face when they were little, and some of those who have very Asian features are strikingful beautiful as well.

It's not to say that these features aren't universally flattering or unavailable in other groups of people. I think personally what the article is trying to get at but is missing is that these features only become highly desirable and popularized as desirable once a certain group which is based in a subset of western culture embraces it as beautiful. I think over all it's harder to define now what those features are because where I'm from in the US what's considered beautiful is having features that aren't stereotypically associated with your race/ethnicity.

Ps... That last paragraph could have been worded better. I understand what you're trying to say but you could have said it differently. Just because I don't look like most other African American women, doesn't mean that I am going to say that ones that don't look like me look like "x tragedy" has happened to them, but "ethnic" ones can be pretty too. <-- definitely not what you're trying to say, but how it can come off.

 

[blazeno.8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flowerhead okay....white america didn't start the tanning craze, it started universally amongst white people [my grandmother had very bad sun damage, she was a russian immigrant] as it was thought of as glam to be able to afford foreign holidays, the luxury/leisure thing in st.tropez. full lips have always been desired in an idea of classic beauty, just look at alot of portraits of women over the centuies, it's just only recently that they became practically a working requirement for most models & actresses. you can't blame white america on the mainsream cookie-cutter idea of beauty, roman women bleached their hair thousands of years ago as it was a symbol of youth...america hasn't really set an original 'standard' anywhere if you look at beauty through history and how it's influenced today...

I agree with most of what you said about this.

I think that it's not white america's fault per se that there are these cookie cutter ideas of beauty. I think however that certain social groups of white america and certain social groups of white europe are responsible for the global popularization of these ideas of beauty. That is not to say that every idea of beauty that they popularize comes exclusively from what you might call "their culture".

I do think that in America there is a cultural difference that allows for certain kinds of beauty to be accepted into these circles that for the most part hasn't caught on in certain parts of Europe (well... keeping in mind that I've lived in Spain and Germany, I can't talk for Europe as a whole).

Also, I think that in the cases of most cultures that you find that openly accept these "white American" and "European" views of beauty, and attempt to emulate it with the goal of "being more white" and not just for a change of pace, already have some preconditioning factor that makes them so susceptible to that particular popularized view of beauty.

 

[ginger9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chocodcocoa Zeta Jones had UPGRADES? I think it's unfair to say that Asian women are seeking white features... they want universally flattering features... and it just so happens that more white women have them. This pisses me off sometimes because although I'm a full Asian (Taiwanese + 1/4 Korean), I'm a brunette, I have lighter colored eyes with tanned looking skin, double eyelids and cheekbones and everything... other Asian girls would look at me and immediately consider me one of those girls who are trying to look more white. Not all Asians are born looking like they've been dropped on their face when they were little, and some of those who have very Asian features are strikingful beautiful as well.

I hope you didn't intentionally want to come off this way but you just reinforce the whole "western" feature as ideal by saying you resembled those qualities (which is a neutral statement) but then you used "dropped on your face" to describe how you view some Asians. I gotta say that is very derogatory because in your eyes this Asian feature is so undesireable that you have to used those words to describe it. I don't have a problem if in your opinion white features are universally flattering. That is your opinion but I do have a problem with you calling other Asians looking like they got "dropped on (their) face". I hope you realize there are a lot of other Asian women on this forum that's reading this.

 

[Iffath]

Yup, I read a similar report before, and it is true, but there are some things missing:

1. In India and Pakistan, women want to look Caucasian by coloring their naturally black hair into blondes and light browns

2. In India and Pakistan, women who are dark complexion are VERY UNDESIRED, and rejects in arranged matrimonials. I ain't lying, they are considered "too dark" to be suitable for marriage.

3. The number one cosmetic product in India is a skin bleacher to bleach skin white, called "Fair and Lovely". Even the bloody product has a stupid connotation that "fair is lovely". Kiss my A** fair and lovely, I love my NC 40 look, and my caffe mocha skin.

But I am ashamed to say half of my 400 relatives in India have used "fair and lovely" at least once in their lifetimes. My sister in laws use it like everyday like a moisturizere. They used to be as dark as coffee, but now they are as white as snowflake. I don't hate light skin, but all artificially done? Sickens me. Where's the vomit Emoticon when you need it?

4. And in almost every bollywood movie, you'll notice that all the heroines are wearing contact lenses. I think celina jaitley is beautiful, but one thing that bothers me is that Celina Jaitley looks like she has zombie eyed stare, she never stops wearing her blue-contacts. urgh.

 

[Mizz.Coppertone]

I don't understand the obession with lightening ur skin to look more ''Western'' when all the ''Western'' women who are considered beautiful (aka Hollywood Celebs) have spray tans and tanning beds right in their homes! I'm not saying either is more beautiful, I just don't get where the lighter skin thing is coming from in this day of age when tons & tons of natural lighter skinned girls darken their skin, and we all call them the most beautiful.