You Chinese If You Like White Skin

You Chinese if you like white skin.

Chinese people are obsessed with white skin; the whiter, the better. In Asia, there are over 273 brands of skin-whitening products. Actually, I made that number up, but there are more than a dozen that's for sure!

Chinese people with beautiful bronze skin are called, "healthy," almost as a put-down... even though the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Michelin Man also have very white skin.

But, why do Chinese people love white skin so much? Why are babies judged on their skin whiteness as soon as they're born?! Why is there a saying in Chinese that goes, "No matter how butt-ugly a girl is, as long as her skin is white, she's beautiful."? It's all about the money, sir.

This will be an extra-long entry, because I want to clear up the issues here.

Chinese love money first and foremost. More than life and more than white skin. Now, what were indicators of moneyed families in Chinese history? Fatness and un-tanned (white) skin. Fatness meant that you had a lot to eat (Chinese presently don't like fat girls, but they do like fat boys or boys with fat earlobes) - and white skin meant that you could stay indoors all day, because your family was rich enough that you didn't have to work (sorta like bound feet, but less grotesque).

I currently live in Taiwan, and I see this "cult of white skin" everywhere, everyday! Aside from "skin whitening" products... ladies are always carrying around parasols (nothing to do with skin cancer), they wear these "sleeves" that go on your arms to block the tanning effects of the sun, they were frickin' sunglass-type visors (like a tinted car windshield) that cover their entire face, and bleach is one of the best-selling household cleaning products here. Well, just kidding about that last one.

What is even more stupefying is that the older ladies who actually are poor and work outdoors - and thus shouldn't have white skin - cover themselves up so much that they keep their skin white. Now, who are they trying to fool?

Moreover, if white skin is beautiful - covering up yourself like a mummy is the opposite of beautiful. So, they look like retarded mummies everyday, so that their skin can be beautiful? This is some kind of paradoxical conundrum.

Thankfully, however, younger females aren't being retarded and are embracing delicious bronze skin and Vitamin D.