IMAGES FROM SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Traveling through South Korea on our way to Dalian, China, we came across this interesting advertisement in the Seoul, South Korea international airport. As you can see for yourself, it advertises techniques and cremes to help "whiten" one's skin. We had to do a second take at this advertisement when we first saw it, but this is a norm it appears throughout some Asian cultures, including some Korean and Chinese; a desire to have the whitest skin possible. We also thought it interesting that the model depicted here is not Asian, but obviously Western, and obviously white (Caucasian).

While I was mildly offended when I first saw this, and remain somewhat puzzled by the obsession with "whiteness," I don't believe this has much to do with overt discrimination or racism. Basically, it's not personal (to me or African-Americans, or those with darker features).

It is a preference, no difference than the preference of others in the United States to "tan," naturally or unnaturally, until their skin is almost to the point of being irreparably damaged. And while I may scratch my head a little, as I look at individuals and cultures seemingly obsessed with changing their features, either darker or lighter, I don't have to judge it. That was the lesson for me this week. It wasn't about managing the purported prejudges of my South Korean friends, but my own. People have issues...and so do I.

Something to think about... Let me know what you think. Leave a comment. Pass it on.

Onward with HOPE

John Hope Bryant

Comments

[Dragon Horse]

Bro no offense but you are off on a few things, I have lived in Shanghai, China in 1999, and lived in Tokyo, Japan from 2001-2002...visited Taiwan and SOuth Korea.

South Koreans, like Japanese, and CHinese have had a white skin fetish for their women far longer than any Western European contact.

You can see it in Tang Dynasty China which was roughly the same time as the Roman EMpire...most Chinese had never saw a white person.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005742/tang%20-%20zhou%20fang%201.jpg

There are some East Asian women this pale (my sister in law is, the younger one) but most are not...but even Geisha pained their faces white as it was considered beautiful.

Geisha go back a long time before any Dutch or Protugese contact with Japan:

http://www.danhagerman.com/images/Pseudo%20Geisha.jpg

Korea...as well...

http://www.askasia.org/images/teachers/display/670.jpg

in Asia...what happened was the upperclasses did not physical labor and stayed in doors so they were lighter...many Asians are naturally pale but unlike whites do not burn they will tan darker, so being dark was the sign of being low class.

This goes back to at least the time of Confucius in China (over 2,000 years)...maybe longer, but that is the art I have seen.

So sorry, no it is not about white people.

As far as "big eyes"...

Koreans do this surgery a lot, Japanese don't and neitehr do Chinese.

Typical in East Asian before white people large eyed women were considered attractive (actually not in Japan, but in China and KOrea) there is a famous Chinese poem from hundreds of years ago about the "Grape Eyed Girl" and how beautiful her large black eyes were.

Before you project Western values and racial dynamics on people check out there history

the eye thing "big eyes" means actually double and single lid.

http://lreflection.wordpress.com/2006/08/22/double-eyelids-vs-single-eyelids/

As for average skin color:

Typical Japanese women are about this color:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/asia_pac_tokyo_views_on_masako_and_marriage/img/3.jpg

My wife is slightly lighter, but close enough...she has never used skin lightener.

Korean women are about like this:

http://kati.tiuhti.net/matkaraportti/pics/Koreans.jpg

Northern CHinese tend to be paler like GOng Li:

http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/emperorandassassin/stillsclips/scenes_001_2.jpg

Southern Chinese are more admixted with SOuth East Asia (if you read their history Vietnam was part of CHina for 1,000 years and there was gene flow back and forth) the people tend to be shorter, larger eyed, and darker.

http://www.pecunning.com/asialanddiaries/Resources/glitterwig1.jpeg

For men skin color doesn't matter much...as darker skin is often considered "manly" especially in Japan, where you can see the male actors are usually tan. Women are often very light like this:

http://english.kbs.co.kr/ICSFiles/artimage/2005/12/20/c_ent_nws/woo_l.jpg

That is not unusal at all...although it is a Japanese actor and I believe KOrean actress...the skin color difference is common on TV in East Asia.

[Asha Francis Kannookadan]

Dear John
I am glad that you decided to write about this topic.
In certain cultures people are being discriminated due to their skin color. Not because of race but because of their actual skin tone.
I am Indian and I grew up with the beauty concept of being light skinned is beautiful and the darker you are, the less attractive you are. It is a sad truth. If you look at Bollywood movies all the actresses are so light skinned. This is the beauty concept which is being projected all over the country.

It is not a secret that skin whitening products have been booming in Asian and African countries. Also some of my relatives have been using these products to look more "fair".

Lately, I have been noticing that also Hip Hop video models are being predominantly light skinned women, putting more and more pressure on darker skinned women nowadays.

This is not a question of race, being black or white. It is a preference found in some cultures and races since centuries.

I believe we would live in a much healthier society, if the media would stop promoting these kind of beauty images.

Your friend,
Asha