Willing to tan to look skinny? (Tanning is, btw, very expensive over here! Not that I have ever tried it -I'm completely against tanning studios-, but I've written about it for some magazines and it's quite expensive).Overheard conversation between 2 Chinese girls in the women’s changing room at the gym.
Girl 2: No, you’re not fat. (She Was NOT FAT! Geeez! I looked like a bulldozer next to her!). You’re just too white.
Girl 1: What do you mean? Too white?
Girl 2: Yes, look at your skin. It is too white. (Her skin was insanely white!) You need to get some sun. If your skin is too white it makes you look bigger than you are. Look at me. My skin is darker than yours. I look skinnier. Trust me. Try to get darker skin and you will look thin!
Girl 1: But I like white skin! I use a special lotion to get white skin!
Girl 2: White skin makes you look fat. Darker skin makes you look thin.
Girl 1: Oh… such a big problem. I don’t know what to do….
Yeah, what DO you do when two beauty ideals contradict themselves? I wonder what it most important to women over here: white skin or being thin? I would for some reason guess being thin, but then again, there’s a LOT of talk about white skin this and white skin that every time you hit a spa or a massage parlour so what do I know?
how about...
ReplyDeletewhite skin but wear darker clothes?
get the best of both worlds?
Although i must admit, girls in white, creamy, pink clothes are cute ;)
The word thin has a completely different meaning here. Only by the Chinese definition is there a "vs" problem. They are sticklike and they think they are fat ! Every girl on the road has a model like look and they think they need to lose weight. Shake Head, Shake Head !!
ReplyDeleteInteresting :D Here in Japan they are all about white skin. It's hard to find lotion without whitening stuff in it. In summer they wear huge hats sunglasses, gloves that go to their elbows, pants, etc. Everything to make sure they don't turn one shade darker! lol
ReplyDeleteWow, guess i must be pretty fat then :)
ReplyDeleteAnd what's with all the whitening lotions? It's like Twilight Central. I mean, sure, gleaming, moon-white skin is pretty, but so is dark skin. Also, I'm worried that the whitener in the lotions can't be healthy to use day after day the way some of these girls do.
ReplyDeleteI've heard watermelon rind makes a good "natural" alternative, but I don't know if it's true.
I've also wondered about the whole white skin thing. Whitening products are pretty popular in the Philippines as well. It seems wrong to me. Dark skin is just as beautiful as white skin, to me anyways. In fact, I wish my wife would get a darker tan. I've seen photos of her when she was very brown from being in the sun and she looks hot hot hot!
ReplyDeleteSingapore on the other hand doesn't seem to be so hell bent on skin whitening. The Chinese girls here are usually olive or a bit darker. They love to bare their legs and get sun. It looks very attractive!
I never really thought about it before, the fact that white skin makes you look bigger, but I suppose it's true. When skin is too white you look fatty and bloated no matter what you do. Skin isn't supposed to be so white. Healthy skin has a natural tan to it.
Also, I agree with flyingfish. All of those lotions can't be healthy to use over and over.
There's something wrong with us women... not just Chinese, but American or whatever other culture too... we always want to be thinner... doesn't matter how thin we are!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jo-anna, women around the world are never satisfied... always wanna be skinnier, more white, more tanned.. I find it so funny that there we are, tanning, rubbing tanning lotions into our skin and hoping to look healthy and then on the other side of earth people are doing everything they can to look more white...
ReplyDeleteAgree that whitening lotions/tanning lotions prob aren't that healthy... although at least whitening lotions don't stink as tanning lotions do!
Maybe she could just do the left side darker & see if that side gets more of a positive response to her being skinny than the right then she could do or not do the other side.....hehe.....what do you think Jonna? ;o)
ReplyDeleteTrying to look thinner is a craze .... in an attempt to do so, people tend to forget that staying healthy is much more important ...and the obsession with pale skin ...well that is a whole can of worms ....why is "white" the only color which is considered beautiful ...??
ReplyDeleteMichael Jackson whitened himself
ReplyDeleteand now hes dead
lesson learned?
in fact, i think it's hard to tell whether to be white or to be sun-tanned is better. i think the only difference is the culture. so, remember not rush to judge with your own cultural crition. it's not unfair. how are you guying feeling when we chinese criticize your foreigners are too fairy? i also think it's stupid too. so, just try to be considerate.
ReplyDeletein fact, i think it's hard to tell whether to be white or to be sun-tanned is better. i think the only difference is the culture. so, remember not rush to judge with your own cultural crition. it's not unfair. how are you guying feeling when we chinese criticize your foreigners are too fairy? i also think it's stupid too. so, just try to be considerate.
ReplyDeletePingu - Good idea with the white skin and dark clothes!
ReplyDeleteWhen I visited Shanghai the last time I just grabbed a Nivea skin lotion at Carrefour, thinking that Nivea can always be trusted. But when waiting for my turn at the cashier's desk, I found the word "whitening" in the text. I did NOT want whitening lotion...
I recognize this situation when two fashion ideals work against one another. A few years ago it was the new hot thing with brownish lipstick, remember? Everyone wore it but it maked your teeth look so yellow. So whitening toothpastes were sold very much as well.
*Click on my blog to donate at money (free for you) to Plan International's work with poor children in China!*
Just to chime in about pale skin being considered beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSome westerners mistakenly assume it has to do with the ideal of beauty in the East being distorted by western culture (this effect exists, just not in such a direct manner).
That's not the effect in play here. It's a cultural thing since ancient times: tanned people are farmers. Rich people stay indoors. I think the western world was like that as well until the industrial revolution.