A few days ago, I walked into Sephora to look at perfumes, and of course, as one does at Sephora, I was drawn in by the foundations and the bronzers. The beauty expert suggested several items, including a tanning lotion to give my face a healthy, sun-kissed glow, especially for the upcoming season. I have never been suggested that I need to be tanner.
In fact, this was my first time. On many occasions, I was told I should stay out of the sun to protect my pale complexion. It made me look better, my relatives would say.
I think for the longest time, this was normal for me. I have always wanted whiter skin, but this desire seemed foreign to my American friends, leading to the whole talk on loving your self and your skin. Sometimes, I was challenged for being internalized and white-worshiping.
In Western countries, the trend is leaning towards achieving the ultimate sun-kissed look, as seen in various self-tanning products and desperate sessions at the beach, methods that all too often lead to red people.
Long gone are the days when pale skin indicated higher social class; now, a healthy tan shows that one has the money to go to a luxurious island and spend time relaxing at a picturesque beach. On the other hand, across the ocean, in Asia, the cosmetic industry thrives on skin-whitening products.
Why is it so different in other parts of the world? In the past, in many Asian cultures, pale skin was linked to higher social class. Has this ideal simply remained, unlike in Western countries? While this might be the foundation of the obsession with pale skin considering the strong perseverance of cultural traditions, a deeper look into the global role of pale skin tells a more complex story.
Although Korea has never been directly colonized by Western countries, it has been under strong influence and pressure from the West, both through colonial modernity and through its security alliance with the US after the Korean War. While Korea was colonized by Japan, the pressure to modernize was ultimately coming from Western colonialism.
Ever since the West became the benchmark for modernization, its influence has been very prominent globally and thus being «Western» and «white» has become necessarily associated with power.
However, we must also not forget how ingrained in the history this pale skin ideal has been. Unlike America, many Asian countries have existed for thousands of years. At least for Korea, this idealization of pale skin can be dated back hundreds of years ago.
On the other hand, in Bollywood, history shows the presence of lighter skin preferences in the caste system, but this was further entrenched and promoted to become associated with power during British colonialism. But if Western ideals have changed, why have the Asian standards remained still? Can we still attribute this ideal to the influence of Eurocentric beauty standards?
Despite tanned skin having become an appealing trait to people, looking more into what fair skin signifies reveals that its superior position still prevails globally. Light skin privilege is very much present in today’s society. Especially for women, where beauty acts as a resource in the labor market, the light skin beauty ideal continues to have social and economic implications.
The frequent controversy about the digital whitewashing of celebrities such as Rihanna and Beyonce when appearing in advertisements or magazines further shows the issues of skin preference. Furthermore, there is not only a bias towards white skin in terms of whitewashing in media but also makeup products like foundations have a serious lack of selection for darker skin tones.
Even supermodels like Jordan Dunn, Iman, and Leomie Anderson have complained they frequently encounter professional makeup artists who neither have the products nor skills to properly apply their makeup. There is also the issue of the contexts in which lighter skin is preferred.
Despite the tanning-trend, certain advertisements continue to prefer pale skin, whereas tanned skin tones tend to appear in more sexual contexts. This eroticization of darker skin can be linked to Western colonialism and its constant objectification of the Orientals. Scholars like bell hooks have shown the hyper-sexualized image black bodies have come to embody in white society. Fair skin, on the other hand, is often associated with purity and youthfulness.
This shows the problematic representations of black skin in contrast to white skin. While this sounds less problematic when considering someone who can choose whether or not to be tan, it has more serious implications for the numerous people in the world who naturally have darker skin.
Actress Lupita Nyong’o revealed in a speech at the Essence Black Women how she would pray for the lighter skin as a child with the constant portrayal of pale skin as beautiful in media. The numerous cases like this reveal the appeal of the industry that promises you whiter skin, sometimes by the means of harmful chemicals.
This is not to say the preference for paler skin in various cultures is only due to Eurocentric beauty standards, as these cultures have independent histories from that of the Western world. However, acknowledging its role in reinforcing and upholding this standard globally is important.
Indeed, questioning the root of such beauty ideals is necessary when there are several places in the world where lighter skin makes it easier for you to succeed in life.
And it is not about proving that everyone wants to be Caucasian because I believe people (at least I personally) have little desire for this. It is rather about deconstructing a system of skin preferences that is linked to power structures, and the implications of the continued perpetuation of these skin preferences.
Even if the ideal has existed for hundreds of years in various parts of the world, the consequences of perpetuating it changed after Western colonialism when lighter skin became linked to power.
Thus what may in the past have been simply a beauty ideal is now assisting a racist power structure we all would be better off without. While this is not an easily solved issue, wider acknowledgment of this reinforcing dynamic is perhaps the most important step of the process.
