Why do asians use skin lightening creams??

i'm asian myself and i think it looks awful!!! my skin is olive and once this moisturiser somehow turned my skin lighter into this sickening greenish-sallow colour. i like the bronzed look much better!!! so why the hell would asians lighten their skin???

Why do asians use skin lightening creams??
I'm third generation Japanese American.





My grandmother told me that it has to do with classification of beauty by social class identification. Porcelain skin was thought to be of the upper crust society, which is why you see all these rice powders, geisha makeup, and whiteish foundation products. Sloughing with azuki beans to 'erase' the darker skin was a ritual as those who were darker toned were thought to be 'worker bees' of the peasant nature, having to work out in the hot sun in the rice fields, thus, thought to be of lower class society. Those with lighter skin, were thought to be well-to-do, not working outside.





However, when my grandmother came to America, she saw that it didn't matter where you came from, everyone became a 'peasant' status here - Chinese with the railroads, Japanese workers with the farms.





My mother (born here) had to work in the farms, and of course, got darker and darker as did her siblings. Her mother (my grandmother) kept telling her to 'scrub away' the dark, but it didn't work obviously.





Personally, I agree with you, I prefer the bronzed look much better - that leaning more toward a Hawaiian/Polynesian look.
Reply:Personal preference. But yes, if i were asian i would not lighten my skin. it looks like michael jackson!
Reply:my wife is japanese...she often tells me this is because some ppl wish to have more of a "western" appearance, and the supposed "yellow skin" will go away....and somehow look normal...


i guess we are born like we are....love it!!
Reply:well sometimes people want something they dont have like dark coloured wanted light colored skin, brunettes wanna be blondes, short people wanna be taller and so on......
Reply:It's the different values system and what is considered beautiful in a different cultures.





Asians - especially those in the far east.. Japan and China, considered white skin to be beautiful. People with darker skin are usually manual labourers or those who work outside and their skin are generally more olive or darker. Woman with whiter skin are therefore considered delicate and "pure"





Chillout! It's just a different view on things.
Reply:Who does that? I've never heard of that before lol my mom's side of the family is all Chinese and I've never seen anyone of them use skin lightening cream, sounds crazy and stupid lol
Reply:I have no idea but I want to know too! I work in a pharmacy and the other day this young asian lady came in and asked for Skin Doctor's Skin lightening cream and asked if it would make her as white as me. I'm porcelain pale and I was like, "ah, do you really want see-through skin?????" and she was obsessed with her wrinkles (there were no wrinkles anywhere on her face) and the dark circles under her eyes (ah... huh???). It was so weird.
Reply:same as why some people become racists.
Reply:Hi. I'm Asian too and my skin color falls between the range of caramel-tan. Though its nowhere near white, i love it! however, i think other people are still stuck with the notion that white (and only white) is beautiful..too bad but there... ;p