WP3: It’s In Our Blood
It’s in our blood. The truth behind East Asian beauty standards has faded over the years. We blame the media, but in reality the ones hurting us are our own families. These sly comments and criticism about our looks and bodies have destroyed us. The line between fiction and reality have become a blur for us all. The unrealistic ideals have taken over East Asia. Society has become brainwashed to believe that these standards are acceptable and that we can continue to pressure them for generations to come.
Ideals like pale skin, big eyes, and slim body have stemmed from the hegemonic class. They have been passed down through generations, leading to the hands of families in these situations. They pushed these values on us throughout time, which allowed these standards to be seen as normal and acceptable.
East Asian standards are related to the beauty myth. The idea that Wolf brings up that beauty “is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance” (Wolf 14). We see this among our families. The beauty standards pressure us to be put into a box. It makes us try to fit the impossible, but the ones enforcing it on us are our own family. We see how families’ comment and belittle their own children for not looking “beautiful.” They are the ones pushing the standards onto us and we are accepting of it. From a young age, they tell us what to change about ourselves. They tell us we are “too dark”, “too fat” and “open your eyes more”. They were the ones influencing us. They want us to be this way, leading us to develop and conform to the same ideals. The pressure grows overwhelming, since it comes from those close to us. The people that love us are the ones telling us to change ourselves to fit these beauty standards.
Society has normalized this behavior among our families through the concept of “banking.” Freire speaks about the idea of banking and how it affects society as a whole in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He states that “knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (Freire 72). Hegemony is behind this. Those with power have constantly made people feel that these standards are correct. They are behind peoples’ worth and can even help them climb the ladder in society. A study states that “beautiful appearance creates a competitive advantage that helps the individual acquire limited social resources such as an easier job search, the selection of a spouse, and higher income levels” (Kim and Lee). When I was in Korea, my tour guide told us how it was common for workplaces to choose those that are better looking than a more qualified applicant. She said “Looks matter here and it is very important to take care of the way you look.” One of the participants in the WP2 survey also stated about their family that “they treated me worse when I fit the standards less. They changed their treatment towards me when I fit the standards more. They acted more kind and friendly.” It’s horrible how people associate these ideals to daily treatment. Society has created this image of self-worth in relation to our appearance.
The worship of pale skin stems from the past hierarchy. It was the most common and wanted beauty standard in the past and still is now. The East Asian nations during the early dynasties, eras, and periods “believed that the color of one’s skin was reflective of their social status” (Hyun). It was seen in the past that those of royalty and noble blood had pale skin. Those with pale skin were considered beautiful. It was achieved by those who were usually not working under the sun. They stayed inside, since those of high status didn’t need to do chores outside or work. Pale skin became associated with power, which led to the current problem of the beauty standard. Tan skin was associated with the working class like farmers and servants. It continues to be labeled unattractive under the East Asian beauty standard. People still carry this idea with them.
There is an old Chinese saying that is still used today that states “‘White skin can help conceal 100 other defects in your appearance’” (Hyun). This reveals how just having a pale skin complexion can increase your attractiveness completely. Pale skin is said to hide the things wrong with you. It overshadows everything. East Asian countries have similar sayings and follow this line of thinking.
Pale skin is placed on a pedestal to this day, especially with East Asian culture. The idea of pale skin being better and seen as more superior has been passed down generations. Families pressure the pale skin standard on their children or family members, especially on women and young girls. In the survey conducted in WP2, a participant’s “parents provided whitening soap from a young age.” The insanity of telling your own child to whiten their skin tone is commonly seen in East Asia. They believe it is completely normal and acceptable to give their children products like this. That’s how deeply rooted the idea of having pale skin is in this culture.
There’s this common back and forth between the comments about skin tone, that reveal the desire for light and pale skin. One participant in the survey stated “I have been praised for having a lighter skin tone many times.” They had family members compliment their skin tone. It was seen as a good feature and attractive. The installment of how pale is better shows, since another participant mentioned how their family says they “look like a farmer.” This demonstrates the idea that being tan is associated with the poor is still relevant to this day. Someone’s own family member is referring to tan being bad and using their comment as an insult to that person’s skin tone.
Big, round eyes have become a known feature of the beauty standard as well. To East Asian culture, it represents friendliness. Women and girls are heavily influenced by this idea of looking young and innocent. This feature of having large eyes is related to double eyelids. It is said to make people feel more comfortable and attracted to them. The common judgment of looks focuses on having larger eyes, because it causes people to assume you are nicer. People want to talk to you and be around you. The experiment conducted on large eyes “results revealed that faces with iris-enlarged faces were perceived as attractive as eye-enlarged faces, but were perceived as more attractive than natural faces (Kuraguchi et al.). This reveals that East Asians do prefer larger eyes and there is evidence to support it. They share the idea that surrounds them. Double eyelids are most commonly known as attractive and sought for. The experiment also “found a significant correlation between attractiveness and friendliness: attractive faces were perceived as friendlier” (Kuraguchi et al.). This increased attractiveness can change their lives, since being beautiful makes people think differently about you.
The ideal of having larger eyes partly stems from the hegemonic part of society. There is a heavy influence of western ideals on East Asia, especially with the rise of Western power. The perception of East Asians in western culture has led to East Asians wanting to change the way their eyes are perceived. Eyes are a large topic in East Asia and they are usually associated with slanted eyes. Not only are women and young girls facing backlash from their own family about being seen as friendly and attractive, they are also combating the hegemonic pressure to fit these standards.
Double eyelid surgery is one of the most common plastic surgery procedures in East Asia. It is endorsed and pressured on people. Women and girls are usually insulted for having monolids, which makes them less attractive. Young girls are gifted this surgery at a young age by their own parents. They are telling girls who are only 12 or 13 that they should and will be supported in getting plastic surgery. A participant in the WP2 survey stated, “My mom tells me to get double eyelid surgery because she thinks it’ll look better.” This is common for family members to tell their own relatives. They would even say this to the face of children. That’s how important they view having double eyelids. They always want their eyes to be bigger and place this extreme influence on women and young girls, making them feel insecure. This leads to them taking action by turning to plastic surgery.
Thinness is seen as attractive in East Asia. Most people are thin and are afraid to gain weight. People look down on those larger in size. Diet culture is praised and endorsed by people close to you. Families easily and comfortably body shame their own family members. They do not care and openly mention it. Being fat is unacceptable in East Asia. In a study, it states that “culture is the main source of the common thought that a thinner body makes a person more beautiful” (Zhang et al.). Our society has developed this ideal over time. We follow this idea of thin being attractive. A study on body image of East Asians revealed that Korean females’ ideal BMI was 18.4, which belonged to the underweight category” (Noh et al.). Their ideal weight is completely unhealthy. They want to be underweight and believe that it’s the only way they can be considered beautiful. It shows the toxicity of the beauty standards. The unrealistic trying to be made reality.
Among families m, any noticeable weight gain or loss is easily spotted and commented on. They believe being thin is beautiful. Women and young girls are expected to be underweight to fit this ideal. I have felt experiences like this growing up. My own cousins made comments about me looking like a pig. I was even told by grandpa to stop eating. At this time I was at a healthy weight and still growing, which made me confused about my own body. I still remember these comments until this day. This occurs to many other women and girls. One participant in the WP2 survey mentioned that “most of the time my family comments on my weight saying that I weigh too much, my legs are too big etc.” Families target the weight of individuals and easily criticize us for it. Another participant said her family “Commented on my body and how I’m too big.” This shows how common these comments are made towards women and young girls. Their families will openly say things about their body and make them grow insecure. People end up remembering and taking this idea with them for the rest of their lives.
The realization of how family affects us the most about East Asian beauty standards is still shocking to many. We have grown so accustomed to our own family making comments on the way we look, that we don’t even realize how harmful it has become. When I think about it, the negative comments made by my own family members have stuck to me the most. Others in the WP2 survey agreed. 45.5% of the participants stated that their family pressured and affected them the most in beauty standards, while 77% of them have been criticized by family members for their looks as well. This reveals that the majority of participants faced similar backlash of East Asian beauty standards from their own families. Society has normalized the critique and comments about beauty ideals from our own family members. It created this toxic environment people can’t escape from.
Currently, society falls to the hegemonic pressure of beauty standards. It grows and worsens with each generation. Families have a heavy influence on all of it. The idea of attractiveness has become impossible to reach. Women and girls feel that their looks determine their whole life, which they aren’t entirely wrong about. Their appearance has become so important to society, that their lives are heavily dependent on it. The beauty standards toxicity has a significant hold on East Asian culture, spreading through everyone, even our own families.
Works Cited
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed Paulo Freire ; Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. Penguin Education, 1972.
Hyun, Jin. “Why Do East Asians Want Pale Skin? It Has Nothing to Do with Western Beauty Standards.” NextShark, 20 Dec. 2021, nextshark.com/east-asian-pale-skin-beauty-standard.
Karaguchi, Hana, et al. “Large Irides Enhance the Facial Attractiveness of Japanese and Chinese Women.” Acta Psychologica, North-Holland, 8 July 2022, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822001780.
Kim, Sunwoo, and Yuri Lee. “Why Do Women Want to Be Beautiful? A Qualitative Study Proposing a New ‘Human Beauty Values’ Concept.” PloS One, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 3 Aug. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6075765/.
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women. HarperCollins Publishers, 2002.
Zhang, Lei, et al. “To Be Thin but Not Healthy — the Body-Image Dilemma May Affect Health among Female University Students in China.” PloS One, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 10 Oct. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179281/.
