Fueled by a plentiful supply of Chinatown bubble tea, discussion on the cultural causes and implications of society’s perception of beauty circulated through the Arch Lobby Thursday night.
As part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, Sangam, a social, political and cultural group, hosted a discussion centered on a video project created by College junior Justin Ching. In the video, entitled “Another Shade,” Ching presents a sample of 30 kindergarten and first graders from the Chinatown area with two dolls — one white, and one Asian — and observes their responses.
The children featured in the study overwhelmingly favored the white doll. Those who showed that preference — the doll had “better hair” and “prettier eyes” — nevertheless did not hesitate to identify with the Asian doll.
While such studies among African-American youth have proved a similar discrepancy, Ching claimed that not enough attention was given to the consequences of societal norms of beauty in the Asian-American community. The film also illustrated pressures on Asian women to conform to a Caucasian standard of beauty and emphasized that the societal norms of beauty affect all cultures, not just black and white.
The viewing sparked a discussion of social hierarchies, both in terms of beauty and race.
Many participants voiced the opinion that the lack of Asian representation in the media, particularly in film and television, suggests a cultural bias. Additionally, the prevalence of a “eurocentric” ideal of beauty, evidenced through such phenomena as eyelid surgery, implies that cultural perceptions of beauty stem from the presence of a racial hierarchy in society.
“By asking a child to compare two dolls of obviously different races, you are essentially implying that one is better or more beautiful than the other,” remarked College freshman Viktoria Tsukanov. “Such a test verifies the existence of a hierarchy of physical and racial beauty, which is wrong.”
Ching emphasized that, despite the push for equal representation in advertising and media, a cultural preference for a certain norm of beauty exists. He stressed the necessity of comparing statements of equality with cultural realities.
“I would encourage people to question things with a critical eye, regardless of what you believe or not,” said Ching. “We need to re-examine how we can unite our beliefs and our judgements.”
*This article was updated at 10:10 p.m. on 11/1/2009 to reflect the fact that the event was hosted by Sangam, not the Asian Pacific Student Coalition.
