The Basis of East Asian Beauty Standards
What makes up the East Asian beauty standard?
“Pan-Asian” beauty standards for women has been further established with the rise of the Korean wave and practices like skin lightening and plastic surgery. Pan-Asian beauty is one that affirms the “transnational face” as most desirable. Yip, Answorth, and Hugh’s understanding of the Pan-Asian standard is one that intertwines Eurocentric beauty standards with Asian features. One example Yip et al. explores is the popularity of Daniel Henny. Henney, who is half-white and half-Korean, is often seen as the paragon of Asian beauty because of his Asian and Eurocentric identities (Yip et al., 2019, p. 73–82).
The economic acceleration of East Asian nations has spearheaded the advancement of Japan, South Korea, and China in dominating Asian beauty conversations (Yip et al., 2019, p. 73–82). The South Korean economic growth, as Park highlights, is considered a “miracle” example in how quickly their economy was able to be developed. It often credits the Kpop and the Korean wave as main factors in how quickly South Korea was able to expand (Park, 2016, p. 73). East Asian beauty standards derive from Japan as a result of its colonization of South Korea and China. Japan’s understandings of beauty and conceptualization of “white skin” dates to before Euro American and Japanese cultural exchanges. In Japan, those in positions of authority would paint their skin with white lead as a symbol of power. When Japan began adopting certain aspects of Eurocentric cultural norms, they capitalized on Eurocentrism’s dominance to emphasize the white skin ideal. East Asian typically are of lighter skin tones than Southeast Asians.
As a result, the white skin tone standard “privileges” those of East Asian origins over Southeast Asian origins. Yip et al. found that nearly every skincare brand in Asia had specialized products purporting the ability to whiten skin. Marketing often depicts women to be undesirable without pale skin, and deems it as an irreplaceable necessity to be considered “beautiful.” Cosmetics are sold in a limited skin tone range, and many Asian women often paint their faces with foundation a few shades lighter in order to achieve a “brighter” look. Vietnamese women pointed to Korean celebrities when asked who they considered the ideal of beauty. The celebrities they pointed to had the same “even-toned” pale skin that many cosmetic companies use to advertise their products (Yip et al., 2019, p. 73–82). As a result, many of Vietnamese celebrities have been pushing towards the East Asian look, using plastic surgery to achieve this East Asian appearance.
