Erasing Ethnicity

[Lady Dragonfly]

@Loki

Are you a US citizen or live elsewhere?

I am a US citizen.

@Denethorn

I'm unclear on topic of debate in this topic... are we criticising the desire to improve oneself taken to extremes, or the dominance of Western concepts of beauty?

To answer this question, you should determine whether leg lengthening, double-eyelid surgery and skin whitening constitutes an improvement.
Apparently, thousands of women, including very young girls, think it does. Desire to look good is natural. However, today, “Looking good” is often equated with “Looking Western”. And “Looking Western” is often equated with “Looking upper class”. Is it natural as well?

Driving along the Metro Manila highway I was shocked to see the advertisement boards telling the good-looking and beautiful brown-skinned Filipinos to use skin bleaching cream and “get 99% Whiter, Better”. Simply put, it says that white skin is most beautiful and desirable and other skin colours are less than better, that can only mean worse. Newspapers and beauty shops all over Asia carry the same message – dark skin is inferior, white is right and it is might too.
…..
The promotion of the white Caucasian model of beauty as superior to all others is not confined to skin colour and facial complexion but goes to the extent of promoting cosmetic surgery to change the shape of the face, nose, ears and eyes. It is a business that is worth US$160 Billion annually. The propaganda and brain bleaching techniques are working. Asians, thoroughly brainwashed by the ‘White is Right’ strategy of the marketing moguls are turning to cosmetic surgery as never before to slice up their natural features and give them that western or Caucasian look associated with power, superiority and success.

The Racist Quest for GlobalBbeauty (Full Version)

[imawindowlickr]

Why, thank you.

[imawindowlickr]

At what point in time will our concept of beauty change. Every view is in a pendulum. Over drastic amounts of time the swing of change happens. From the Greek/Roman concept of what a woman should look like, to now, our striving need for perfection. Barbie doesn't look like she used to because she was deemed to be an unhealthy role model for our daughters to look to. Will we as a society reach a point when we accept our physical faults and appreciate the natural beauty we all have? Will our childrens children look at our super modified bodies that still failed the test of time with contempt or shame?

I have had massive facial reconstructive surgery. I was shot once stabbed 27 times and had my lower mandible shattered by a crowbar. I awoke from a come a year and a half later to a face that had no lips ( At least Darkman had charisma). My life was given back to me by a plastic surgeon who took pity on me. gave me a place to live and a reason to go in public. The indifference and ignorance we are capable of still astounds me. I was treated horribly by 99% of the people I met. As if I requested to look like that. The Dr. who ( HA Dr. Who) gave me my life back did so because of the attitude of people who got altered because they were too short, to dark, to vain in general sickened him. Thank God for him. The same people who had a nosejob treated me like garbage, for the way I looked. How is that okay. Your a lemming who is not happy with you so you get to treat me like trash? I think not. I have absolute contempt for those who do not appreciate they way they were intended to look. But then again i'm heavily biased against those people based on my expirences. In all fairness, maybe am too harsh.

For the record. Skin is okay.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

imawindowlickr

From the Greek/Roman concept of what a woman should look like, to now, our striving need for perfection.

For the record its Greco-Roman.

Lady Dragonfly

Is it natural as well?

That is definetely not natural. But it is still auguable that it is society's perception of things. Who knows, one day in the not so distant future, every one would crave a short, stubby and dark skinned body.

Again, that could only happen if society's perception is changed, drastically. The greater evil here is society and the movie industry. Both are equally to blame for people who want to achieve bodily perfection.

[Maharlika]

A significant number of South East Asian women view fair skin as superior since it reflects on the idea that they don't do hardwork under the sun... dark skin are for the masses who toil outside while the elite are under the comforts of shade and cool air...

...as for Westerners, I think having bronze skin is associated with being able to travel... to exotic beaches... hence associated with their idea of the upper class... then again I could be wrong. *shrugs*

[Loki[D.d.G]]

A significant number of South East Asian women view fair skin as superior since it reflects on the idea that they don't do hardwork under the sun... dark skin are for the masses who toil outside while the elite are under the comforts of shade and cool air...

...as for Westerners, I think having bronze skin is associated with being able to travel... to exotic beaches... hence associated with their idea of the upper class... then again I could be wrong. *shrugs*

Again, all of these are society's take on things. If for some inexplicable reason, SEA women think that skin with a darker shade would make them look nice, do you really think they would strive to obtain fairer skin?

By the way, Maharlika, where are you from?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Everything you could possibly wish to know about our resident kender can be found here.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Everything you could possibly wish to know about our resident kender can be found here.

Aha! Thanks dude. I had a pretty strong hunch he was an Asian, or more specifically a SEA resident. I'm a Chinese that lives in Malaysia, also in SEA. Though I will be leaving for the US next year to further my studies.

[Vicsun]

Originally Posted by Loki

For the record its Greco-Roman.

For the record it's "it's"

Originally Posted by imawindowlickr

ARE NOT SEXY OR PRETTY: clothes (I'll explain this soon), skinny, fat, muscles, your car, your job, how much money you make or have.

Extraordinary claims like these require extraordinary evidence. You mention Rita Hayworth and Elizabeth Taylor, but neither of them were particularly fat nor bad dressers. As for money, while less important than popular culture makes it out to be, it's certainly a factor, as demonstrated by this study on dating preferences. What's more interesting is the very significant role height plays for males' attractiveness to females (the opposite holds true as well, though to a lesser extent). Your claim that sexiness is solely determined by behavior - while certainly idealistic - is not the whole truth. If we're going by personal experiences, I've seen women turn heads just by virtue of sitting quietly in a corner; while posture might play a part, it's hard to imagine that anything other than looks - be they God-given or accentuated by clothing - is playing a significant role. Of course, I can't consistently turn heads or have any woman I want like you can, so what do I know?

In case I wasn't clear: I agree that behavior is a tremendously important part of sexiness, but you can't simply discount money, looks, and sense of style. Life isn't fair, and not everyone has an equal opportunity, but there's still no excuse to be a slob