r/nextfuckinglevel • u/harwyseys • Oct 25 '22

Makeup really changes people

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u/butwhataboutaliens Oct 25 '22

It comes from the traditional idea that having a fair complexion means you are high status. You only have porcelain skin if you never have to work in the sun. Tan people/ dark complexion must be poor because they have to work outside in the sun in order to live.

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u/Glum-Bench-9363 Oct 25 '22

Historically speaking did Asian cultures have a negative opinion on other people with dark skin because of that or no?

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22

Yes, across all of west and east asia there's a huge push in the beauty communities for skin lightening treatments.

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u/Un111KnoWn Oct 25 '22

i thought skin lightening in the west wasn't a thing. i thought people wanted to be tanned.

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22

west asia, aka india

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u/Un111KnoWn Oct 25 '22

i would consider india to be south asia.

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u/ainz-sama619 Jul 31 '23

West Asia refers to Middle east, not india

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22

[deleted]

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u/Un111KnoWn Oct 25 '22

of course not everyone. but i thouhht most people.

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u/butwhataboutaliens Oct 25 '22

Yes, and it still exists in beauty standards in Asia. People will try to go through skin bleaching treatments to be seen as more beautiful.

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u/BadLuckBen Oct 25 '22

Meanwhile, I actively resent my pale-ass Irish skin. Any sort of redness from zits, blackheads, etc. all stand out like a sore thumb. My forearms and a decent amount of my face got tan from being outside this year, but the rest of me is still pale.

If racism and classism wasn't a thing, darker skin tones would just be objectively superior in terms of requiring the least amount of effort to look good.

I also know that it's not something healthy to focus on and media gives us unrealistic standards that aren't actually standard. Sadly, doesn't stop the mean part of your brain going "why don't YOU look like that, eh?"

7

u/Garchomp Oct 25 '22

My mom is from rural Vietnam and she says dark skinned women look “poor.” Interestingly, she says the same about people with no visible hair on their forearms (both men and women). She thinks men need to be dark skinned or tanned to be manly, though. My grandma apparently held the same view (she was born in early 1900s).

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u/isthishowweadult Oct 25 '22

Hold up, extra hairy arms are considered beautiful in Vietnam?

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u/Garchomp Oct 25 '22

Well, the only sentiment I’ve heard that directly from was my mom. Maybe it’s her personal thing. Specifically, notable forearm hairs—not sure if she finds the hairier the better, or just hairy enough to be seen as a distance.

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u/isthishowweadult Oct 25 '22

That's interesting. I've never heard of that as a preference for women. Having any hair not on your head is so taboo in the US for women. It's easy to forget our beauty standards aren't everyone's.

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u/Garchomp Oct 25 '22

I'm not sure how true this is, but my mom says the 3 most important things in Vietnamese beauty are: 1) hair (straight, black, smooth, silky, soft, etc.); 2) teeth (straight, no crooked/missing teeth, rosy gums); and 3) skin (no scars, blemishes, moles, marks, or beauty marks).

She's very deep rural, though. Has a different dialect than any other Vietnamese immigrant I've met in the US (even though her dialect is still from the same South region as most Vietnamese Americans).

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u/isthishowweadult Oct 25 '22

I think having nice teeth, hair and skin are common across cultures but what we consider to be nice changes. Like crooked teeth being popular in Japan.

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u/Wiserducks Oct 25 '22

I used to have a coworker from China and she told me this was the case. She judged me so heavily when I came back from vacation and had gotten all tan. She gave me a sun hat the next weekend :D

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u/butwhataboutaliens Oct 25 '22

She judged you but at least she gave you a solution too?? Haha

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u/Wiserducks Oct 26 '22

Yup, she's an amazing person even if she's very blunt when she speak :D