Colorism in the Asian Community by Renee Harris
Growing up, I was praised for being half-White, never for being half-Asian. From the time my sister and I were little kids, it had already been deeply ingrained in our minds by the comments of family, friends, and strangers, that our appearance was to be desired, simply because we were one step closer to the Eurocentric standard of beauty, which is pervasive in Taiwan and the Philippines. It seemed like everywhere our parents took us, we were constantly being praised and fetishized for being mixed. I could be picking out a snack for the day in a 7-11 convenience store, and strangers would come to pet my head and exclaim: “Oh My God, it's a mixed girl, she's so cute! I want one so bad! I want to touch her for a second!”. The point of the conversation was always about how lucky I was that I had pale skin instead of dark skin, double eyelids instead of mono-lids, or brown hair instead of black hair. Looking back on this now, I can’t help but feel ashamed, because I started to believe the same narrative, that Whiter features are simply more attractive. I think I will always feel guilty for feeding into a narrative that leads 40 percent of women to bleach and whiten their skin in countries like China, the Philippines, Malaysia, and South Korea (CNN), and many women with mono-lids to get the Asian blepharoplasty surgery.
Despite benefiting tremendously from being part White in societies that desire certain elements of Whiteness, being biracial also meant I felt the need to be as White as possible to continue to fit the standard of beauty. Being mixed meant constantly being compared to other mixed kids, and whoever looked the Whitest, was the most beautiful. People would often compare me to my mixed friends, who had lighter hair and even lighter skin or who had hazel eyes instead of brown eyes. It meant people constantly telling me, “It’s a shame you didn’t get your Dad’s blue eyes”.
Being mixed to me now means feeling a pit in my stomach whenever I see interracial couples (one being white), fearing their child will go through what many mixed children go through: the criticism of not being White enough. I remember I had a Taiwanese teacher in an interracial relationship with a White man, change her lock-screen to a White baby with blonde hair and blue eyes while she was pregnant, saying that is what she wanted her baby to look like. It means people constantly questioning your race, and telling you they don’t believe that you are part White or Asian because of how you look. Being mixed while having more Asian features, means that people, including your own family members, are often disappointed. Disappointed in the fact that you weren’t born looking more white.
When you go into any store in the Philippines and in Taiwan, you will realize that most of the personal care items like soap, lotion, shaving cream, all have skin whitening agents. You are constantly flooded with ads that feature already pale-skinned models with photoshopped skin to look even paler, and the same narrative of White beauty is reinforced again, and again.
However, I found by attending college in the States, to my shock, this standard of beauty doesn't just exist in Taiwan and the Philippines. They are also still prevalent in the minds of White Americans. At first, seeing the orange fake tan made me believe Americans preferred tan skin over pale skin. But I quickly came to realize that White features are still the beauty standard, or the features of POC placed on white people are the standard of beauty. One day, a White student told me that I looked more attractive one day, and it wasn’t because of my make up, or what I was wearing. His answer was, “because you look more White today”. I remember my ex-boyfriend from our college used to beg me to wear blue colored contacts. In fact, because the White standard of beauty is so prevalent, certain White students on our campus are infamous among Asian students for having Asian fetishes. My friends often tell me about incidences, where a White student will tell them that they want to go to Asia, because when they go there “they get any girl they want”, just because they are white.
While being biracial with fair skin will undoubtedly provide you with privileges, it can also harm you negatively, as you still often face racial prejudice and discrimination. We, as biracial individuals, need to recognize that we are used as a prop that continues to fuel the White supremacist ideology – that White is more beautiful. The history of colonization clearly documents the advantages that mixed people benefited from during the Spanish Caste system. Recognizing these privileges is important for us to be a part of the solution, as well as it is necessary to stand up against colorism and featurism when we see it or experience it. We need to be allies and stand up for our friends who have darker complexions, and to listen to their experiences. Too often people's experiences are brushed off and not listened to by the privileged group. Most importantly, I believe we all need to do better at speaking out. I know that I will be forever haunted for not speaking in defense of my darker-skinned friends while I was being praised for being pale and they were being criticized for staying out in the sun too much. I know as Asians, we are culturally told to not speak out, especially against older members of the community, but we need to speak out against racism and colorism. Maybe then, our following generation won’t have to grow up feeling the need to be White enough.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/02/health/skin-whitening-lightening-asia-intl/index.html
https://www.hierarchystructure.com/racial-hierarchy-in-philippines/
