SO WHITE = SO BEAUTIFUL (?) - COLORISM IN THAILAND
Traveling to (Southeast) Asia, some of you might have noticed the abundance of bleaching products in commercials, on store shelves, and on people’s skin. Almost every cosmetic product correlates with a whitening effect (there are even deodorants available to whiten your armpits).When I talk to Thai people, most of them (dominantly young women) prefer to have bright, pristine skin. According to their view, having pale skin is more beautiful than a dark skin tone. Thailand is a tropical country and the sun can be very scorching, thus, getting tanned is inevitable. To prevent this, Thais cover themselves with long sleeves, a broad hat, clinging to an umbrella to avoid the sun.
Since I grew up in the West, I didn’t care much if I got tanned (different kind of tans on my back obvs) or not. However, in Thailand you are confronted with the local beauty ideology from both the media and society. Eventually, you believe that being ‘white’ is more popular, pretty, socially accepted, hence, BETTER in every aspect. Furthermore, this beauty idea is also pursued by people in the entertainment industry whose skin has almost the same color tone as chalk. People with bright skin would also gain individual and institutional privileges. In addition, people with eurocentric features are fancied by Thais whereas people with dark skin tone are systematically labeled as ‘uncivilized’ .
This form of discrimination is called Colorism which involves the skin tone of the same ethnic group (which is also a phenomenon in South America, Africa, etc.). It could derive from the colonial impact of Western imperialism in Southeast Asia, but skin whitening has its historical roots in ancient China and Japan where a light skin tone is associated with nobility and high education. Not only Thai with fair skin color are associated with status, but also light-skinned (caucasian) ‘farangs’ are treated differently in Thailand due to Colorism i.a.
Each summer, my mom tells me to avoid the sun. Otherwise, my skin will turn dark and ugly, and each time I look at her and say, sorry, not your decision.
Sources:
Chye-Ling Huang, Embodying Power: Perceptions of whiteness in Thailand,
Marianne Bray, Skin Deep: Dying to be White,
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/13/asia.whitening/