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A girlfriend of mine went to the Philippines for three months for something school related (her family was originally from there). At the completion of the clas
by adventured 6y ago
A girlfriend of mine went to the Philippines for three months for something school related (her family was originally from there). At the completion of the classes, they took graduation photos for each student. When she received the photos, they had transformed her appearance by intentionally lightening her skin tone (dramatically so) in the photos to make her look more white (her skin tone is such that she naturally looks like she always has a dark brown tan). They didn't ask her before they did that, they just assumed it would be desirable. She then informed me of the incredible popularity of whitening in some Asian nations (she said that in the Philippines being whiter might indicate you don't work outside as a farmer or laborer, implying higher social status).
- mysterydip 6y agoDefinitely true, having a Filipino father-in-law and traveled there for a couple weeks.
- tiew9Vii 6y agoIt's the same for Caucasian people. There's a big market of tanning products and people generally tanning as some people believe a tan makes you look more healthy / shows you have wealth as able to travel somewhere hot and sit in the sun, not working indoors in some factory. Likewise, in poorer SE Asian countries, having a tan means you have likely been working in a field all day, a lot of SE Asian people believe a tan makes you look poor. They are both the same thing. People don't want to look poor and want to look higher up on the class system.