::Dawn Yang II
(read earlier post 'Dawn Yang')
I think some people are missing the whole point altogether.
Some people simply dismiss it as a matter that isn't of much importance.
And some of the Dawn detractors are just as bad, going on and on about the 'she cheated us' thing, which isn't much of an issue unless you hired her to do an advertisement for natural beauty or something.
What's more disturbing are the deeper issues brought up by this incident. Frankly, this makes me think of The Bluest Eye.
A girl's chinese face changes into an eurasian one (let's not talk about whether plastic surgery was involved). Suddenly, everyone thinks she is beautiful and she even gets a contract to be a star.
Does this sound disturbing to you?
What's up with us Singaporean chinese people?
What is our standard of beauty like? Tall, fair skin, big eyes, double eyelids, high nose, well defined features. Sounds like angmohs, doesn't it? Unfortunately it's at odds with the chinese face and body. So what does it mean? Angmohs are beautiful and chinese aren't?
Is this a form of racial self-hatred caused by the influence of western culture?
Look at the models in magazines and you'll find that a large number of them are either eurasian or angmohs. Most little girls are given Barbie dolls to play with. Adverts on television frequently feature a happy angmoh family. Caucasian or eurasian children are frequently thought of as cuter than asian children, and it's even supposed to be a complement if someone tells you that your kid looks eurasian if he's actually not eurasian.
I mean, in America it's one thing, cause there are actually a lot of whites living there, but in Singapore? Aren't the majority of the people here Asians?
In The Bluest Eye, Pecola's goal of becoming beautiful by white standards is unattainable. For us chinese, it has now become attainable. Just look at Dawn Yang.
And that is not going to help matters any. Now with all this advancement in plastic surgery, people have the option of changing themselves to fit the western ideal rather than accepting a different standard of beauty for their own race.
Why can't we just love ourselves for what we are?
Why can't we see our own race as beautiful?
I think some people are missing the whole point altogether.
Some people simply dismiss it as a matter that isn't of much importance.
And some of the Dawn detractors are just as bad, going on and on about the 'she cheated us' thing, which isn't much of an issue unless you hired her to do an advertisement for natural beauty or something.
What's more disturbing are the deeper issues brought up by this incident. Frankly, this makes me think of The Bluest Eye.
A girl's chinese face changes into an eurasian one (let's not talk about whether plastic surgery was involved). Suddenly, everyone thinks she is beautiful and she even gets a contract to be a star.
Does this sound disturbing to you?
What's up with us Singaporean chinese people?
What is our standard of beauty like? Tall, fair skin, big eyes, double eyelids, high nose, well defined features. Sounds like angmohs, doesn't it? Unfortunately it's at odds with the chinese face and body. So what does it mean? Angmohs are beautiful and chinese aren't?
Is this a form of racial self-hatred caused by the influence of western culture?
Look at the models in magazines and you'll find that a large number of them are either eurasian or angmohs. Most little girls are given Barbie dolls to play with. Adverts on television frequently feature a happy angmoh family. Caucasian or eurasian children are frequently thought of as cuter than asian children, and it's even supposed to be a complement if someone tells you that your kid looks eurasian if he's actually not eurasian.
I mean, in America it's one thing, cause there are actually a lot of whites living there, but in Singapore? Aren't the majority of the people here Asians?
In The Bluest Eye, Pecola's goal of becoming beautiful by white standards is unattainable. For us chinese, it has now become attainable. Just look at Dawn Yang.
And that is not going to help matters any. Now with all this advancement in plastic surgery, people have the option of changing themselves to fit the western ideal rather than accepting a different standard of beauty for their own race.
Why can't we just love ourselves for what we are?
Why can't we see our own race as beautiful?
