Nowadays, you can find a tanning salon within a five block radius of New York. The media tells us that tan is beautiful. I personally look forward to the summers when I can soak in the sun & get a little color. With my experiences in the Philippines, it is the complete opposite outlook. Filipinos all want to be porcelain white. In fact, if you have a light complexion you are assumed to be rich or they may ask you if you are an actor or actress.
Whenever I visit the Philippines, I always hear it from my grandma and family that I am too dark. From their standards I'm dark but in America, I am completely average. In the Philippines, they even sell products that bleach your skin. They are constantly shipping over the latest soaps and lotions that will whiten my skin. Personally, I think this mindset is so ancient. Having fair skin doesnt make you prettier and having dark skin shouldn't mean you are poor or ugly.
HAHA! Your post is truly entertaining. Me, being half Filipino and a frequent visitor to the Philippines, know's exactly what you mean. I believe the whole skin coloration aspect in culture belongs with the idea that people want the opposite skin tone that their weather projects. For instance, I know that it is easy to get a tan in Philippines, and the majority of the people are in fact dark. Thus, being "white" sticks out and is considered a cultural beauty.
ReplyDeleteThis can be displayed in every country. In China, where temperatures are equivalent to Philippines, the locals walk out with umbrellas since getting dark is not beautiful.
My visit in India also portrayed the same thing. Skin bleaching products were everywhere. Those who were light, were classified as belonging in the upper class system, and those that were dark were labeled as average.
In America, tanning season is available only about 4 months of the year, which is why people take advantage of getting them as much as they could, even if has to be done in a tanning salon.
True. The taste of color is varied among different race. However, the preference of color can actually affected by the image of superiority. For example, Chinese used to not bother to worry about the whiteness of their skin but under the influence of whitened models and cream brushing in front of TV screen, things happened...People are bring umbrella when there is actually a bright sun on the sky, cursing that another sunny day, and so on...While the US wanted the exact opposite--more sun please! I want to be the brownest!
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