Beauty standards for women in Asia have converged onto a narrow ideal: white skin, large eyes, and faces that taper at the chin. Many women have pointed out how toxic these trends are as they treat European features as perfection.
- Light Skin
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Darker skin isn’t considered as beautiful as having white skin. When it comes to dating and marriage, the “fairer” woman is seen as having higher prospects. Skin-lightening through creams, bleaching products, or white makeup has been incorporated into many daily routines. This ideal comes from a history of Eurocentric dominance in much of the world. White colonist’s light skin represented a wealthy and privileged class, a status that many native inhabitants wished to have. Although many countries are now independent from Western empires, the idea that white skin equals beauty has been internalized over many generations.
- Big Eyes
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Another rampant trend is having double-lidded doll-like eyes. Monolids are quite common in Eastern Asia, but many young women have undergone eye surgery to achieve the eye crease. Unlike in Canada where plastic surgery is not as prevalent amongst youth, plastic surgery is a huge business in China and South Korea. Young girls, sometimes as a high school graduation gift, go under the knife to be “gifted” with a new look before they enter college/the adult world. Their new eyes evoke a youthful, wide-eyed innocence.
- Face
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Coinciding with plastic surgery on the eyes is sculpting the face so it is less round and the nose sharper. Again, this is a western feature; East Asians typically have rounder faces and broader noses. Being slim, which also allows for a less-round face, is a coveted body type by many Asian girls too.
Many women (and men) do feel pressured to achieve this look, having a successful career is sometimes determined by having the right look. Social media stars, actors, and K-pop idols are obligated to undergo surgery to fit into this narrow beauty standard, gaining popularity in part due to their appearance. Their image is then projected to millions of their fans, further fuelling the trends.
Moving Forward
In North America, Asian immigrants also feel pressured to follow these trends. When Chinese immigrants came in the 1900s, their arrival was deemed the Yellow Peril; their “exotic” looks were mocked and derided. It’s no surprise that many immigrants adopted a more western style of dress and appearance just so they wouldn’t be targeted.
All these beauty trends are entrenched in the archaic notion of colonialism. There is an undercurrent of hatred in features that aren’t European, in both the Western and Eastern world. An “Asian Look” is the before, the “European Look” the new and improved, the after. There is a growing trend where Asian women are pushing back from these standards. In Korea, #EscapeTheCorset trended as women destroyed their makeup products to fight the rigid expectations. It’s time to move on from these ideals and embrace our natural features.