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Cassidy Pham

Writing 39C

Professor Broadbent

4 May 2018

The Idolization of White Skin: How Colorism in China is Normalized

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In 2016, a advertisement run in China for Qiaobi laundry detergent sparked controversy

worldwide. The advertisement featured a Asian woman doing laundry as a black male (covered

in paint) approaches her; the advertisement then depicts her tossing detergent in his mouth and

putting him head first into the washer, only to come out as a light-skinned Asian male

(Bromwich). Qiaobi’s advertisement had people worldwide challenging the thoughts and ideals

that were expressed through this advert: that lighter skin is more preferable than darker skin in

China. Many people took to notice the different connotations each male character played in the

advert, as it portrayed the black male as ‘dirty’ or ‘unclean,’ and the light-skinned Asian male as

‘clean’ or ‘untarnished.’

“ China’s obsession of ‘milk-white skin’ affects more than just the

discriminated dark-skinned, as most Chinese believe in the

phrase “one white covers up three uglinesses (Li).””

History of White Skin Adoration in China

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Dating back centuries ago, the connotation of light skin in Asia first revealed itself years before

Western cultural influences could take place. Elysia Pan, “Beautiful White: An Illumination of

Asian Skin-Whitening Culture,” talks of how China was mainly an agrarian society until the most

recent century; the social classes of the Chinese were determined by their job, either conducting

business inside or doing manual labor outside, which correlated to the skin color they would

then take on. A significant power figure in Chinese culture and the only female to take the

throne, Empress Wu, was glorified in paintings with

white paint the painter described would be so that the

“...illustration of her beauty and status would stand the

test of time (Pan).” The artist, knowing that the medium

they painted on would brown over time, took the

measure to paint Empress Wu’s face white: to ensure

that her prestige was known, even in the future.

Although some believe the tensions of skin color were

only influenced by the vast background of agrarian

China, other scholars believe that the influences of

Fig 1. Portrait of Empress Wu from 690-705 A.D. Westernization also put pressure on the ‘moon-white

skin’ ideals. As Western influences began to flow into China in the 19th and 20th centuries,

according to Eric Li, “Skin Lightening and Beauty in Four Asian Cultures,” it brought along

strong notions of Western beauty standards and fashion, changing the perceptions of white skin

in China to a beauty ideal. Through movies and propaganda, it strengthened the ‘differences’

between light skinned and dark skinned people, creating a rift that categorized their person

based on their skin color. Pan makes the argument, however, that Western influences of beauty

and fashion standards didn’t change Chinese perceptions, rather their “fascination with

whiteness” and the many light-skinned conquerors they faced throughout the years reinforced
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their ideals. Through the influences of both Westerners, and their own culture, Western women

donned white-lead powder makeup to give them that ‘deathly pallor’ they wanted to achieve and

Chinese women “swallowed crushed pearls in their pursuit of a milk-white complexion (Naidoo).”

Culturally and Biologically Chinese, But Skin Color Still Matters

Skin color in Chinese culture has many underlying connotations, as people with light skin are

more likely to be seen as, stated by Levashni Naidoo, “A Fairer Face, a Fairer Tomorrow? A

Review of Skin Lighteners,” ‘good,’ ‘pure,’ and

‘virtuous,’ whereas darker skinned people were

seen as ‘wrong,’ ‘unfair,’ or ‘dirty.’ The ideals set

forth by Chinese culture in regards to skin color

pushed many to try to achieve the ‘milk white

skin,’ mainly women as white skin became a

beauty standard, in order to “stand out in a

competitive job and marriage market (Pan).”

Through her comparisons of African-Americans

and Asians, Trina Jones, “The Significance of

Skin Color in Asian and Asian-American

Communities: Initial Reflections,” strengthens

her thoughts and ideas about how strong the

bond between an Asian person’s social standing

and their skin color is, due to the many

Fig 2: Chart of a simplistic version of the white/black system similarities Asians and African-Americans have

with one another on this topic. She relates the tensions both Asians and African-Americans feel:

that skin tone matters, and how that affects even light-skinned people. China’s obsession of
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‘milk-white skin’ affects more than just the discriminated dark-skinned, as most Chinese believe

in the phrase “one white covers up three uglinesses (Li).”

White Skin And The Ordeal To Achieve It

As white skin ideals continue to present itself in Asia, the market for skin whitening products

increases in size every year, with its main consumer base in

China. The issue of the adoration of white skin is that it puts

pressure on both light skinned and dark skinned people, where

light skinned people want to retain their light complexion and

darker skin wanting to obtain a lighter complexion. The skin

whitening industry is growing hugely in the past 20 years,

signaling the strongly apparent issues that China has with

colorism.

Bringing in cultural cues such as milk, since many Chinese are

unable to break down lactose, the skin whitening industry finds

Fig 3: Chart of China’s skin care market many ways to advertise to the insecurities of their consumers. As

Naidoo compares the connotations brought upon by the skin whitening advertisements, with

good connotations referring to light skin and bad connotations referring to dark skin, it brings

forth the insecurities consumers have: to be ‘dirty’ or ‘poor’ like the dark skinned. Models used for

ads by international companies either refer to the ideal white skin of ‘Westerners,’ such as

successful light skinned actresses or celebrities, or actually is a Westerner, portraying the deep

roots of history that China today has yet to diminish (Li). The use and abundance of the skin

whitening culture is a sign of colorism, pushing forwards the ideals that light skin is better than

dark skin, and that should not be an issue in today’s politically-forward world.
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Annotated Bibliography

Bromwich, Jonah. “Chinese Detergent Ad Draws Charges of Racism.” The New York

Times, 27 May 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/world/asia/chinese-

detergent-ad-race-qiaobi.html.

Bromwich talks of the very controversial advertisement made by Qiaobi laundry

detergent, which takes a very drastic and racially controversial approach to advertise
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their product. Through the very apparent racial discrimination in the ad, of a black male

pushed into a washer to reveal a light skinned Asian male afterwards, many people

stood up against Qiaobi. People took to social media to explain the colorism that affects

China to the present-day, that has spanned centuries from when China was mainly an

agrarian society.

Naidoo, Levashni, et al. “A Fairer Face, a Fairer Tomorrow? A Review of Skin

Lighteners.” Cosmetics, vol. 3, iss. 3, Sep 2016, http://www.mdpi.com/2079-

9284/3/3/33/htm.

Naidoo talks of their research regarding skin whitening, through the background,

politicalization, and the advertisement of it. They bring about the issues of skin

whitening, as they believe it’s a form of colorism and empowers white privilege. Through

their descriptions of white skin adoration stemming from either cultural, religious, or

outside influences, Naidoo brings a full picture as to why Asia is so enamored with white

skin. As they continue, they expand their topic to cover how it is advertised, and

politicized, stemming the issue back to colorism.

Fuller, Thomas. “A Vision of Pale Beauty Carries Risks for Asia’s Women.” The New

York Times, 14 May 2016,

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/world/asia/14thailand.html.

Fuller talks of the effects skin whitening can have on many people who can’t afford

proper treatments, or don’t know what types of skin whitening products are bad for them.

He talked of the background of skin whitening, stemming from the cultural backgrounds

of Asian countries, but also the colonialism of Western countries. Skin whitening is such

a big thing in Asia that people are ridiculed for having dark skin, “ [with] one common

insult is tua dam, or black body. Less common but more evocative is dam tap pet, or

black like a duck's liver.” Since ‘whiteness’ is one of the main physical features Asian

women want to change about themselves, many women resort to ‘bootleg creams’ that
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damage their faces and skin, just to fit the expectations of whiteness. Fuller tells of a

story where a woman, who unknowingly used a bootleg cream, developed leukoderma,

eventually losing her job from her being ‘unsightly.’ The reason the story is significant is

when she went on television to tell her story: they advertised a skin whitening cream

right before she talked of her unfortunate experience with skin whitening.

Jones, Trina. “The Significance of Skin Color in Asian and Asian-American

Communities: Initial Reflections.” UC Irvine Law Review, 2013,

https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1108&context=ucilr.

Jones argues in her research that skin color discrimination affects more than just African

Americans. With the main focus on the how Asians and Asian Americans are also

affected by the colorism, she tries to bring light to an expansion of research as she

states, “... by understanding and discussing the ways in which race, language, national

origin, and skin color are used to divide people of color—both in this country and

elsewhere—we can thwart these outcomes and preserve the possibility of building

coalitions across communities of color….” She explains how having a lighter skin

complexion is deemed as better, as it makes your socioeconomic status seem higher,

whereas if you were a darker complexion, you were seen as a laborer or poor. She also

touches on the topic of ‘honorary white’ Asians, and ‘collectively black’ Asians, that stem

from her argument that skin color changes the way people are treated.

Li, Eric, et al. “Skin Lightening and Beauty in Four Asian Cultures.” Association for

Consumer Research, Jan 2008,

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283857701_Skin_lightening_and_beauty_in_fo

ur_Asian_cultures.
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Li addresses the problem of skin whitening as a form of racism, or racialization, in

today’s culture, but also explains of the history of it before the ideas of ‘white privilege’

reached the the ears and minds of Asian societies. He talks of how many Asian

communities treat ‘whiteness’ as a form of beauty in their women, sometimes affecting

their “...marital prospects, job prospects, social status, and earning potential.” Li then

begins to describe the impact of Westernization on each of the Asian cultures of

‘whiteness:’ from when Western culture (fashion, movies, etc.) first came to each country

(Japan, China, Korea), and how it affected the way they reacted to skin color and skin

care. Through his research of skin whitening ads, most, if not all, portrayed good skin to

be white, clear, with small pores, whereas bad skin was portrayed as dark, wrinkles, and

ashy. The discrepancies between skin color stem further than locally, as global ads

focused their ads on ‘attaining Western beauty’ with Caucasian models, or global ‘local’

stars. Li concludes his argument with the statement that skin whitening products both

empower and disempower Asian women, allowing them to separate themselves from the

harsh patriarchal society they live in, but also to succumb to the social norms in order to

be accepted.

Pan, Elysia. “Beautiful White: An Illumination of Asian Skin-Whitening Culture.” Duke

University, Apr 2013,

https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/7559/Elysia%20Pan%2C

%20Beautiful%20White.pdf?sequence=1.

Pan talks of the strong background of the skin-whitening culture that China has, from the

agrarian society which first stemmed the socioeconomic rift between skin colors, to the

interest the Chinese had on the white skinned Westerners that would try to overtake the

Middle Kingdom. She develops her argument about how skin-whitening is a form of

classism and colorism, through the discriminations held against those that are darker
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skinned, like lower job and marriage prospects. She also talks of how skin-whitening, the

consumer-driven business, was first started, and how they appealed to their consumers;

Pan brings up many different issues on how the skin-whitening economy utilized the

ideals of the Chinese, and formulated new ways to stay on top of the game, in order to

continue to grow its basis.

Pictures found from:

Empress Wu, Source: National Museum of Chinese History, comp., A Journey into

China's Antiquity, vol. 3 (Beijing: Morning Glory Publishers, 1997), 50.

Chinese Skin Care Market Chart, Source: Xi, Zhang. “Chinese Consumers Obsessed

With White Skin Bring Profits for Cosmetic Companies.” The Economic Times, Nov

2011, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/chinese-consumers-

obsessed-with-white-skin-bring-profits-for-cosmetics-

companies/articleshow/10796591.cms.