Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > Asia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-15-2012, 08:16 AM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,677,694 times
Reputation: 7872

Advertisements

Like Tiger Beer said, it is not a fad, but a culture dating back to God knowns when. The Chinese always considered paler skin to be more beautiful and of higher class, based on their classical literature. This has nothing to do with the white people. China had this culture way before they even knew Europe existed.

There is no point of saying "you look beautiful even though you are dark skinned." They wouldn't listen. Most of them would still prefer to be whiter. There is even an old Chinese saying "being whiter hides 100 other unattractive features".

People of different cultures do different things which are hard to understand to others. For example, in America, women plump their lips making them look unnaturally fat and inject stuff to enhance cheekbones, something Asians women seldem do.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-15-2012, 09:13 AM
 
Location: World
4,204 posts, read 4,673,882 times
Reputation: 2841
In India too. girls as well as boys go for skin bleach-facial to look more white. Ladies walk with umbrella while sun is there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Texas
9,189 posts, read 7,577,391 times
Reputation: 7801
I read that some of them do some type of surgery with their eyes too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 10:50 AM
 
5,238 posts, read 7,968,813 times
Reputation: 11402
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer View Post
Actually, it's the same with white/caucasian and paying money to sit in a tanning salon.

It doesn't seem odd to us, as it's our culture, but it really is an odd and strange thing to do to yourself when you think about it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think tanning salons are as big as they once were here in the states. More people are concerned about skin cancer and don't want to end up looking wrinkled as a prune. It is very hard on ones skin. I don't think its an ingrained cultural thing (in the states) like whitening is in Asia and India. Of course some people do go in for tanning. I find it funny when people put down other races and then there they are out trying to be a nice brown color themselves. As a kid I once had 3rd degree burns from 2 sunny days at the pool, I've been very careful ever since.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 11:18 AM
 
Location: San Francisco, California
1,949 posts, read 6,449,053 times
Reputation: 2294
Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
Like Tiger Beer said, it is not a fad, but a culture dating back to God knowns when. The Chinese always considered paler skin to be more beautiful and of higher class, based on their classical literature. This has nothing to do with the white people. China had this culture way before they even knew Europe existed.

There is no point of saying "you look beautiful even though you are dark skinned." They wouldn't listen. Most of them would still prefer to be whiter. There is even an old Chinese saying "being whiter hides 100 other unattractive features".

People of different cultures do different things which are hard to understand to others. For example, in America, women plump their lips making them look unnaturally fat and inject stuff to enhance cheekbones, something Asians women seldem do.
the Chinese view dark skin as a sign of a uncivillized savage, dark complexion is not considered very attractive
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Kūkiʻo, HI & Manhattan Beach, CA
2,624 posts, read 7,242,250 times
Reputation: 2416
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr bolo View Post
the Chinese view dark skin as a sign of a uncivillized savage, dark complexion is not considered very attractive
The proprietors and patrons of tanning salons in Beijing and Shanghai don't appear to possess that opinion...
BBC NEWS -- China's changing skin colour
Xinhuanet.com -- Back to the Bronze Age
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 12:45 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, California
1,949 posts, read 6,449,053 times
Reputation: 2294
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonah K View Post
The proprietors and patrons of tanning salons in Beijing and Shanghai don't appear to possess that opinion...
BBC NEWS -- China's changing skin colour
Xinhuanet.com -- Back to the Bronze Age
culturally & historically are not the same as modern trends / fads

thats mainly for the young trendy crowd, same with tattoos
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 02:05 PM
 
Location: Kūkiʻo, HI & Manhattan Beach, CA
2,624 posts, read 7,242,250 times
Reputation: 2416
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr bolo View Post
culturally & historically are not the same as modern trends / fads

thats mainly for the young trendy crowd, same with tattoos
As others in this thread have mentioned, the historical desire for pale skin is based on classism. In the past, possessing dark skin was associated with being a peasant, since they usually labored outdoors and got tans. Nowadays, the paradigm has been altered -- while many peasants still get tans, many upper-class folks acquire tans as well from vacationing in tropical environs or at the beach. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell middle-aged Chinese women that the fad of wearing a mask to the beach isn't going to prevent one's arms and legs from getting dark.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/wo...mask.html?_r=0
No, we're not going to rob a bank... we're just off to the beach! Chinese women wear nylon face masks to keep off blazing sun | Mail Online
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 03:14 PM
 
5,238 posts, read 7,968,813 times
Reputation: 11402
Wow that mask is awful looking. lol

It shows people will buy anything if marketed well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2012, 03:30 PM
 
570 posts, read 1,727,264 times
Reputation: 356
this is no different than people who want to get darker skin. Don't judge what other people want.
some people want darker skin, some people want whiter skin. deal with it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > Asia

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:18 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top