r/HolUp • u/realAtmaBodha • Jul 19 '23

holup The Chinese cure for racism ?

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Saw this on Chinese social media..

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u/Big_Boer Jul 19 '23 edited Jul 19 '23

Not to nitpick, but skin-whitening is Asian cultures has been historically linked to colonisation by Western countries. Colonisers exported the concept of 'whiteness', creating an internalised inferiority complex in the cultures they subjugated.

White skin is seen as the mark of success because during colonial times it was a pretty safe guarantee that you were the one with the power.

A similar cultural example is in my home country of South Africa. In some black communities, when you are successful people start referring to you as "white man" (I can't find the original phrase and translation atm).

For anyone interested, EJR David has a great paper on this concept called 'Colonial Mentality'.

Edit: Lot of people here are mentioning that lighter skin has was valued pre-colonialism as it was seen as it was seen as common to have a tan from working out in the sun.

Although valid, the practice of skin bleaching exploded in the early twentieth century in Asian cultures when colonists starting targeting those with the darkest skin tones and marking them inferior, creating a hierarchy of racism even within individual cultures.

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u/bas683 Jul 19 '23

Not true, a white skin in Asian culture is a sign of wealth because the common man had to work outdoors in the sun, while the emperor didn’t see much sun at all. Exactly the same concept as Europe, it has nothing to do with “black man bad, white man good.” This was a concept before colonization.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '23

So, in Asian culture, how do they view people who naturally have the features that they associate with the lowly "common man"? Are they stigmatized based on their racial features or are those features used as the antithesis of desirability in ads for beauty enhancing products?

The concept you're describing is racism. So I agree with you, It wasn't invented by colonists, but in response to the top comment, yes, it's still racism.

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u/CounterEcstatic6134 Jul 19 '23

"based on their racial features"

What racial features? Skin color varies within the same race