Chinese and American ideals of Beauty and Skin美與皮膚

There are many differences in ideals of beauty between cultures. In fact they even change in cultures over time. One of the biggest differences in beauty I have seen is related to skin.

Americans and Western Europeans like to tan skin. A pale person is considered a sickly person. Tanning 曬太陽has long been considered a sign of health and beauty. The fashion now is for as much skin to hang out as possible which means that people are getting tanner than ever.

With Chinese, whiter skin is better. Some attribute this to lingering effects of colonialism 殖民主義 or Hollywood 好萊塢 or some other such nonsense, but there is no evidence to suggest that is true. Women will avoid going out in the sun and go out of their way to lighten their skin. My wife regularly rubs watermelon 西瓜 on her face which she believes will whiten it. That part is fine. I believe that too much exposure to the sun is definitely bad and that Chinese women have nicer looking skin because they avoid it.

However, even freckles 雀斑 are considered bad. I told my wife that freckles are considered a sign of beauty in some places, but she just does not believe me.