Yuna the amazing Korean figure skater and endorsement cash machine is now telling you to Be White. Well, to be fair Smoothie King in Korea is putting out this impossible image for girls and even guys in Korea to live up to. Although, it is incredible just how light skinned some ladies and even men are in Korea. Not sure if it is just makeup of which there is always a section on making your skin as white as can be or maybe being absolutely vigilant about staying out of the sun is how these girls stay so fair skinned.
Well, no Yu-Na is giving you another way to look like you’re Caucasian. Get over to Smoothie King and get a Yuna Smoothie.
It’s as easy as selecting your favorite fruit and you too can look like our Be White model Kim Yuna.
Here’s a clip showing the photo shoot. I like all the makeup laid out to get this “natural” look everyone is after.
Well it’s hard to be mad at Yuna, I mean she is so darn cute and one heck of a champion skater for Korea, but she must wonder about the message she is sending or maybe not. It might be such a normal thing now for all Korean to accept and therefore tacilatly approve this rather ridiculous beauty standard of trying to look more western. We see this all the time with all the plastic surgery in Korea. It seems that not all of Asia is so accepting to this unrealistic standard.
What’s your 2₩ on this be white message?
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So…I found this site while Googling for Smoothie King’s “Be White” smoothie, because my first reaction upon seeing it on YouTube was “oh hell no, that can’t be what I think it is.” And while I do think that changing skin colour and plastic surgery are both sort of disturbing, I have mixed feelings about the rising opinion that Korean girls are trying to look more Caucasian. And here’s why:
It makes sense given that societal ideologies for centuries have been Eurocentric, and with globalization and immigration, everything is becoming more Westernized.
But on the other hand, it’s important to realize that the physical characteristics that some Korean youths are trying to attain artificially, which you and others identify as “Caucasian” (e.g. light skin tone, large eyes, double eyelids, pointy noses), exist in many, many East Asian girls naturally — as in, born with it. In fact, nearly all East Asians I’ve met in my life have natural double eyelids. I myself have very fair skin, large round eyes, double eyelids, prominent nose bridge — and in China, I’d be considered a “normal looking girl.” These are quite average features, not ridiculous standards. So I’m wondering why people are so eager to conclude that Koreans who modify their bodies are trying to aim for a “Caucasian” appearance. I think it is possible that they are simply trying to look more like East Asians who naturally have physical features that we’ve all been /conditioned/ to /preconceive/ as “Caucasian”.
I point this out because the notion of “Caucasian features” seems to be an increasingly popular mentality. Having grown up and still living in North America, I’ve had people wonder whether I was half-Caucasian because my “eyes are large”, or ask if I “had eye surgery done” or “wear circle lenses” — all of these questions illustrate the mentality that Caucasians hold a monopoly over particular physical features, and that these features are untypical and unnatural among East Asians. I believe this has a lot to do with media outlets in the America (i.e. the East Asian female actresses that Hollywood producers decide to cast — but that’s a whole other dilemma that I’d rather not get lost in right now). It makes sense that lots of Koreans assume that the recent upsurge in plastic surgery in Korea is attributed to the desire to appear Caucasian, because Korea is heavily influenced by Western mass media and ideologies.
So…yeah. This was not meant to be a rant or anything. Merely a curious rambling, and I would love to hear your thoughts or responses to the points I’ve laid down.
You certainly bring in some ideas that truthfully I never considered before. There certainly all shapes and sizes and facial features in Asia and generalizations are dangerous things indeed to make and that is what we are all guilty of sometimes. It is easy to say, but not accurate as you point out that all Korean girls are merely trying to look western as they could very well be going for a more east Asian look as you have described with the eyelids and all. I guess a bigger issue is how we let this kind of pursuit of beauty become the norm. I hear from girls who want to put filler in the foreheads to get a bit more of a rounded look b/c there’s is too flat and some wanting to cut the muscle in their calf muscle so it will become slimmer and the jaw reshaping and it goes on and on. I think that most of them are going for a look that is closer to the stars they see on the big screen. That big screen could be an east or west one, but it’s one that isn’t natural or realistic.
I’m from Australia and a big fan of Yuna Kim I regard her as one of our local super stars here like my idols: names you may not have heard of before: cricketers like Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting and Olympians like Kierin Perkins , Grant Hacket and recently Ian Thorpe. I love Olympic champions and great international athletes period regardless of backgrounds. Now before I talk about the ad I would like to say that I am Chinese Australian and my mother would always tell my sisters to stay out of the sun so they do not look too dark and ugly – so that their skin complexion would look very fair and make them prettier. But at no stage did my mum or aunties ever say to my sisters or cousin sisters to try and look like westerners. I Guess this is like the English expression that “gentlemen prefer blonds” and our Asian cultures may have probably demanded that our men should seek women with the lighter complexion. Because this line of thinking has been in existence in China since time began – like thousand of years ago. And since Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore for example is so close to China the influence may have initially derived from there – atleast I like to think so for Yuna’s sake. Otherwise it does not look good on her, it is like she is implying that her own race is inferior to others.
I mean the name “Yuna Kim” sells and she is tryng to sell the product(Be White Smoothie) to the female population in Korea but may be some of her obssessed male fans might have thought that it is cool to do what Yuna is doing without thinking too much about it. What makes is worse is that Smoothie King does not mind either – especially not about the extra cash they are generating from the male population- to them it is more money for them (isn’t that what is all about these days?) But yes it can easily be interpreted in the West that what Yuna is doing is portraying the image that Koreans love to make themselves look like westerners. May be the only way to find out is from the horses mouth – Yuna herself because I sure would love to know the truth.
Jay Lee
And in case anyone is wondering no my mum is not a racist. When she tells my sisters to keep their skin fair she simply wants them to be acceptable by men especially if they are Chinese (primitive thinking). As has been mentioned in my earlier email that traditionally Chinese men prefer their Chinese wives to have fairer skin complexion and that this ideology or shall I say idiotlogy will continue to exist and there is nothing I can do about it. I believe the Vietnamese women are safeguarding their skin complexion in Vietnam also just like a lot of their Asian cousins elsewhere in the world like sisters in Australia. What can I say ….. but one thing is for certain that I would like to think that Yuna is not sending the wrong message to the masses at large.
Hoping for someone’s reply.
Jay Lee
I hope you guys don’t think that I am attacking Yuna Kim because I am not. I adore her immensely just like all her other fans, I have jumped on her band wagon and I intent on stay seated enjoy the journey with her and I will always be there even if the wheels have fallen off the cart. What I am simply saying is that I do not want her to damage her own brand and instead of the old adage that a person that seeks opportunities must always look towards the West I would like to remind people that now is a case of looking everywhere and especially to the East and be always true to yourself and accept yourself for who you are. It is one thing to make oneself look prettier but quite another story altogether when one is doing it to look like another race.I did not read Wendy’s comments prior to my earlier emails but now that I have I agree with her completely. Contrary to what I said before in my earlier emails I believe the Japanese are denifitely doing it to look more like Europeans just take their cartoons for example none of the cartoon characters resemble any Asian features – all very Western looking and when I first look at the cartoons I saw people’s reaction like what the #2*&? Is this Japanese is it realistic? Now one can easily argue the motive for doing it is purely for commercial purposes but then again the Japanese did declare during World War II that they are not Asians they regard themselves as Whites which is beyond ridiculous to say the least. Now I do not mean any offence to the Japanese people but I am simply stating the facts and these facts can be traced back to history.
Jay Lee
When I wrote my earlier emails I did not read though what Wendy was pointing out what now that I have I completely agree with her.