2/23/2024 0 Comments Ellie choi glass kin![]() When I would visit Asia or see my Asian relatives, my darker skin was the first thing that anybody would ever point out whenever they saw me. strived for but something that gave me shame at home, in my Asian American suburb of Diamond Bar, California. ![]() America's standards for having tan skin and Asia's standards of desiring light skin made me feel conflicted - it was something many people in the U.S. According to Gizmodo, approximately 30 million people in the United States use a tanning device each year. Americans spend millions of dollars on tanning products. By contrast, in modern Western culture, having a tan is perceived as trendy, healthy, and sporty. Darker skin was associated with being in a lower class, because it usually meant that they spent more time outside working, while those of higher class had lighter skin. For centuries, skin tone preferences have been linked to and used to identify social class across Asia. This is a depressing but unsurprising reality for me as an Asian American. As someone who grew up as a darker-skinned Asian girl, I knew I did not fall into that category. ![]() What was I supposed to say? "Actually I chose a lighter foundation shade because my insecurities stem from my personal experiences in colorism, a form of discrimination in which people are treated differently due to the social meanings attached to their skin color"?įor so long, I had believed the lie that a lighter complexion was more worthy and signified greater beauty for most of my adolescence. I knew that this friend, a non-Asian male who was completely unfamiliar with the cultural and beauty standards that Asian-American women subconsciously feel compelled to live up to, meant no harm when asking this question, but it incidentally provoked a lot thought and feelings from me nonetheless. ![]() ![]() I recall a recent instance where my friend noticed and asked me why my foundation shade was lighter than my natural skin tone. ![]()
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