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I have a young American friend in Urumqi who is studying Uyghur language and dance. Her teacher one day brought up the topic of beauty. She said that light skin is beautiful and dark skin is not. This is a common perception in Asia but my friend sharply disagreed. In fact she felt offended because she is black.
我的一个年轻美国朋友在乌鲁木齐学维吾尔语和舞蹈。一天,她的老师提起关于美丽的话题,说白皮肤好看而黑皮肤不好看。在亚洲这是比较普遍的看法,但我的朋友强烈反对,事实上,她感到被侮辱,因为她是个黑人。
Aesthetics can be objective but concepts of physical beauty are influenced by the development of human society. During the pinnacle of ancient Chinese culture plump women with light skin were considered more attractive than skinny ones with dark skin. The same is true of Renaissance Europe when lily white women with love handles were objects of desire. This notion of course has changed in the east and west in the 21st century where being overweight is no longer associated with wealth. Skin though is a different matter.
审美也许客观,但身体美丽的概念受到人类社会发展的影响。中国文化最高峰时期,肥胖些的白皮肤女人比瘦的黑皮肤女人被认为更有吸引力。同样在文艺复兴时期的欧洲,有腰间赘肉和百合花般皮肤的女孩儿是欲望的对象。在东西方这个以肥胖为富裕的概念在21世纪已改变了,不过皮肤是两回事。
Lily white skin is no longer considered beautiful in western countries anymore. White people consider a golden brown tan to be the most attractive hue for their skin. Most see this as objectively the most beautiful color even for Asians. However Chinese see light skin as the most attractive color too as if this were just as objective. Perhaps part of the reason for this discrepancy is that beauty is often tied to the notion of wealth. A nice tan in the west signifies a life of leisure and money. Dark skin in the east is associated with working in the fields the life of an impoverished farmer. Who wants to be perceived this way?
百合花般的皮肤在西方国家就不再被认为是美。白种人觉得晒成金棕色是最吸引人的色度。大多数人甚至亚洲人也认为这种颜色客观地说也是最美丽的。相反,中国人看白皮肤最有吸引力也是客观的看法。也许差异的根源与富裕的概念有关系。西方人把金棕的太阳色与休闲生活和金钱联想起来。黑皮肤在东方跟种地有关,也就是贫穷农民的生活。谁想要这样被人看待?
My black friend described the color of her skin to me as coffee with a bit of milk stirred in which is much darker than any Chinese farmer. It is a beautiful shade of brown but every time she sees a cosmetics commercial in China she is reminded that people here do not agree. People have even given her unsolicited advice on how to lighten her skin. She finds this quite frustrating because in America this would be considered a racist comment.
我的黑人朋友这样描述自己的皮肤:为咖啡掺进了一点牛奶的颜色,这比任何一个中国农民黑多了。这是挺漂亮的色度,但每次看中国的化妆品广告时她都被提醒当地人有不同的看法。人们甚至提供给她使皮肤更白的方法,尽管她没有这个要求。因为在美国这是种族歧视的评论,她有时感到困扰。
Perhaps the concept of “white Chinese” will change as the society develops just as being overweight has gone out of fashion. It is unfortunate that my friend is treated differently because of her skin color for her one year in Urumqi but she has a lot of self confidence and says it does not bother her much. However it is even more unfortunate that her teacher who has a dark complexion herself has grown up believing that her skin color needs to be changed to be beautiful.
随着社会的发展,也许中国“以白为美”的概念跟肥胖为福态的概念一样过时。不幸的是,在一年内人们对我的朋友“另眼相待”,好在她非常自信,说这不影响她。但是,更不幸的是,认为她的肤色有些暗的老师,开始渐渐相信她需要改变皮肤的颜色才算是美丽的。
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