Japanese Beautiful Model

Why does Western standard of East Asian beauty differ from Western standard of Caucasian beauty?

Here's what I've consistently experienced for the past 22 years of my life: In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese mass media, the idealism of female beauty includes fair skin and large, round dark eyes. E.g. Song Hye Gyo, Hyori Lee, Han Ga. In Western mass media, nearly all actresses and female celebs of East Asian descent look very far from the East Asian ideal. The "slanted eyes" and/or epicanthic fold stereotypically associated with East Asian faces make up the mass majority of East Asians in Western Media. Common examples: Sandra Oh, Lucy Liu. Recent examples: Jenna Ushkowitz from the show Glee, and Jennifer An from ANTM (http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/gen-gallery-antm13-models/6/6). Very often, an East Asian girl will complain that "These girls are ugly! Actresses/models in China/Korea/Japan are so much prettier than this!" A Caucasian person will often respond with "Well, your standard is different from ours, and we prefer the Western standard of East Asian beauty." Here's where the problem lies: the latter people are the SAME people who then say things like "The East Asian ideal of beauty is heavily Westernized, and girls in Korea are getting eye surgery in order to look more Caucasian." (Personally, I disagree strongly with this view, since round, double-lidded eyes 1) are not exclusively a Western or Caucasian trait, and 2) are actually very common among East Asians, e.g. my entire family. So...basically...what Westerners are saying is that they do not prefer the East Asian standard of East Asian beauty, because it is too Westernized and close to the Western standard of Caucasian beauty. Hmmm, I think I spot a contradiction, don't you? Why does (and why SHOULD) the Western standard of East Asian beauty differ from the Western standard of Caucasian beauty? It seems like people in the Western media WANT to 1) Stereotype the East Asian look negatively, 2) fabricate a low standard of East Asian beauty, 3) increase the apparent contrast between Caucasian faces and East Asian faces (which is pretty segregating). Answers like "Wahh, you're ignorant!" will not be taken seriously. People who ask questions and seek knowledge are not ignorant. Thanks very much for the lengthy and thoughtful answers so far. Keep 'em coming. :) Jezebel: Some East Asian girls with the epicanthic get the eye surgery to look more like the East Asian girls who naturally have round eyes, because that conforms to golden ratio of the face (which has been mathematically determined and neutral to ethnicity). Source: http://www.femininebeauty.info/ethnic-comparisons/beauty-elements Your mention of "exotic looking" features is a good and sad example of Orientalism that has been an oppressive and shallow Euro-centric mindset for centuries. neet: Everything you said is true. However, your points are a perfect reflection of exoticism. It may allow deviated looks to be considered "unconventionally beautiful", but it's also a breeding ground for hurtful/oppressive stereotypes and "Asian fetish". If East Asians truly are perceived as beautiful, then why are they fetishized as sexual objects by Caucasian men? Beautiful. Really?? And from what I've experienced, cultural exoticism is strictly a Western attitude. When I lived in China, the Caucasian celebs conformed to the universal golden ratio of attractiveness. The Chinese media doesn't contrive some sort of overly Caucasian aesthetic. marv: I'm reading too much into it because I'm studying postcolonial feminism. I think the differences in preference are due to the fact that wide, round eyes are common in the west and not as common in the east. Both cultures' ideal is what's exotic and unique in their part of the worl ^ignore that last paragraph.

Public Comments

1. Well, I think I got the jist of what you are saying. I cannot control what the media does, however, when I heard about Asian women getting eyelid surgery to open their eyes wider, it felt weird to me. I have seen a lot of gorgeous Asian women, and never even given a second thought about their eyelids. As a matter of fact, I always found their features to be exotic is and what sets them apart from other women.....a trait that is all theirs. I did not understand why they would want to change that when the eyes were so exotic looking (at least to me). All types of women have their good traits and I wish that people could just embrace what they are and be OK with it.....but even more, I wish others would not try to influence the masses as to what they "should" find attractive.
2. east asians see light to white skin as the better looking and more desired looks because to them, if you have light skin, then you must have an upscale job, because most high caliber jobs have to deal with technology and other stuff, it means they are mostly working inside all the time, so by working inside, a person would not recieive that much sunlight and there fore have lighter skin showing they have that kind of job as for darker skin they see them as having poor jobs such as working in the fields, and that kind of thing means working outside, so recieving all that sunlight shows you have that kind of job making others think you arent so upscale but as for black people, they arent gonna say that they are looked down on just because the have the dark skin, but they understand that it is a natural thing and thats just their skin color, so its just for determining the asians mostly and as for caucasian standard of beauty, they see themselves as having the perfect and "normal" features because they think lighter skin is more beautiful because it looks more delicate, and they like lighter hair color for the same reason, they think their hair is the best because its straigts, and they think their bodies are normal too but thats them, to me, beauty ranges in all forms and can look like anything, some might say beauty is having a straight pointy nose, i could say, "that nose is too pointy or narrow or long", some might say straight hair is the best, but i could say "but you have to wash it all the time and it cant do many styles", some may say having a big butt is bad, but i could say "they add curves", some could say having no prognathism is great, but i could say "it also means you have no lips" and some could say slanted/no eye lid eyes are weird, but i could say "they are the natural sexyness. many people are trying to get that look when they put on all that make up" so thats just how it is for beauty seen among those two cultures and my sight, but understand that everyone is different
3. I don't agree with you. I don't believe they want to stereotype the East Asian look negatively by promoting the "western standard" of Asian beauty for these reasons: 1. The Eastern standard of Asian beauty is common in the west, therefore it's nothing special. The exaggerated features are seen as exotic and most people find the exotic, beautiful. 2. MANY white men have Asian fetishes, so there is no "low standard" of Asian beauty in the west - if anything it's the opposite. Overall, the Asian look is considered beautiful. I think the differences in preference are due to the fact that wide, round eyes are common in the west and not as common in the east. Both cultures' ideal is what's exotic and unique in their part of the world. ETA - You're right, and I understand what you're saying but white women are fetishized in Asia too. At least i know they are in Japan. I have white friends who made a ton of money modeling over there. These girls were pretty, but they recieved more attention over there because of their light hair and "caucasian" features than they ever would have gotten over here. It's true, white women are fetishized over there as much as Asian women are over here. It's like that everywhere - what's exotic is considered beautiful.
4. I think you're reading too much into it. Just because an Asian actress gets roles doesn't make her beautiful. Hot is hot - Hsu Chi is the perfect example.