Before I ask this question I should give some background. When I moved to Asia from the United States, I was shocked to see all the skin whitening products and treatments that are on the market. I had no idea such a thing existed. In the U.S. the common standard of beauty is dark/tan skin, and the products there are the exact opposite in that they contain self-tanner. People spend crazy amounts of money on sunbeds, spray tans, etc. in a quest for dark skin.
The mentality in the U.S. (and many other Western countries) equates tanned skin with health — as in, the person spends lots of time outdoors in the sun doing sports or other healthy activities. Pale skin is called “sickly” or “pasty” or “ghostly” and people are mocked if their skin is very white. Also, being tan would convey that a person is fortunate enough to take a beach vacation or spend lots of time at the beach.
I realize that it’s human nature to want what you don’t have, or to want what is difficult for most people to achieve (as in, super skinny or super tall). Therefore it doesn’t surprise me anymore than skin whitening is so popular in Asia, but I am curious:
1. In your country, what are the cultural reasons for wanting white skin?
2. If you have naturally tan or dark skin, what do you think of it? If you think white skin is more beautiful than yours, why?
3. If you were to move to a country where tan skin is considered desirable, would you be more willing to embrace your skin tone? Would you ever try and make your skin darker (by spending lots of time in sunlight or buying special products)?
4. If you dislike your dark skin, does it change your opinion to know how many people out there are paying lots of money to get their skin to look like yours?
very interesting and intelligent question & observation. Having travelled to many countries, be white, married to black, & both her family and mine being mixed slightly I do have some observations that may be pertinent. I have noticed that the european/western/white ideal WAS paler is better when workers were in fields and pale meant rich shelterd life whereas now it is opposite as you suggest. I have also noticed in dark skin areas outside usa that billboards, mag ads, and tv tend to show whites and lighter skin is considered better although most people are not so sensitive to blatantly be what would be considered racists if they were white. Often I sadly notice that dark skinned people have been kinda brainwashed by rich white people and white controlled advertising. In USA slavery caused an extreme sensitivity to white control and so the ads are typically with dark skinned people if that is the audience or target. My father inlaw used to brag to his children how they were special because they had brown skin instead of the black skin like africans. yeah, wow! There was a time when in USA dark skinned people would do anything for straight hair (i.e. more white). It typically comes down to the whites having the money (in general & for many unjust reasons). Sooo, in some countries, look more white = look more rich. A twist to this and interesting note is how blacks in usa (most not all & again “in general”) will do anything to explain or deny any genetic traits that are white or european. Almost all I have ever communicated with claim they have native american mixed in & yet the fact is only about 1/2% do while about 30% of usa blacks have white european genes. This is not unlike whites denying black dna in usa which is large % also. Most will say italian or spanish or just deny altogether. So usa is opposite of rest of world due to unpleasant slavery history, otherwise we as humans will try to “look” whatever we “think” is the look of wealth even if that means trying to look a different race and even if we do not realize it. I actually witnessed my cousin (who is black) making fun of and badly teasing his best friend about him being so dark skinned. In the country he lives everyone assumes anyone who is white is rich which is partly due to most tourists being white. Crazy crazy world!!
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
dark skin is better.
1. In your country, what are the cultural reasons for wanting white skin?
My country likes tan skin, but my ethnic culture likes white skin , reason is it is considered as the upper class no need to work as labourers, and it is considered to be 1/3 of beauty.
2. If you have naturally tan or dark skin, what do you think of it? If you think white skin is more beautiful than yours, why?
I am very white I wouldn’t want my skin to be any whiter even though there are whiter people, the blondes!
3. If you were to move to a country where tan skin is considered desirable, would you be more willing to embrace your skin tone? Would you ever try and make your skin darker (by spending lots of time in sunlight or buying special products)?
In my country it is considered desirable to have tan skin, but I like white skin better.
4. If you dislike your dark skin, does it change your opinion to know how many people out there are paying lots of money to get their skin to look like yours?
I don’t have dark skin and I don’t have problem with people with dark skin, but personally I like white skin better and I don’t care what other people buy or think!