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Mylinh Pham

Writing 39C

Professor Broadbent

23 May 2018

Eurocentric Beauty Standards: Are You Pretty Enough for It?

I. Introduction
People labeled it the “most racist commercial,” anger and backlash came from all around

the world, China eventually pulled it from the media; what exactly happened to evoke such a

strong reaction? In 2016, China released a controversial advertisement for a new laundry

detergent that proved the cleaning strength of it by pushing a black man into a washing machine

only to have him come out as a clean Asian man. This commercial re-dug up the issues of
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Eurocentric beauty standards and the effect it has on how society perceives one’s “beauty.”

Although people all over the world are hit with this beauty standard, Asians, specifically Asian

and Asian American women is a group hit one of the hardest. The laundry commercial was just a

start- advertisements and sales from products perpetuating this beauty standard continues to

steadily increase.

II. History of the Problem

Beauty standards go back hundreds of years ago during the times of European

colonization when Europeans came up with a their own standard of beauty. This societal and

cultural standard consisted of characteristics such as white skin, big eyes, and a slim physique,

and the members of society who had all these characteristics would be considered more desirable

than others. Because this beauty standard revolved around body shape and skin tone, those who

had a larger frame and darker skin would be considered less than the socially acceptable. All

around the world, different cultures have adopted this Eurocentric standard of beauty, resulting

in different perspective of beauty within the culture. One culture that has had major influence

from Eurocentric beauty standards is Asia. In an article ​Skin Lightening and Beauty in Four

Asian Cultures, ​professors from Canada and Utah stated that “Asian countries have long histories

of utilizing white skin as a key criterion of personal beauty (p. 444)” which ties in with the Asian

beauty standards being influenced by Eurocentric ideologies. If the Asian women doesn’t reach

this standard can be seen as not socially accepted and tend to have a “negative association (p.

445)” because of it.

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III. What Is The Problem

The unrealistic goal of attaining white skin for Asian and Asian American women was

just the beginning; the larger influence of Eurocentric beauty standards in Asian beauty

ideologies and the domino effect that has gotten bigger and bigger with the help of advanced

technology and underrepresentation in the beauty and entertainment industry. Not until recently,

there has been more light shed on the issues of Eurocentric beauty standards and the effect that it

has on Asian and Asian American women. From socially acceptable skin tones and products that

induce this to cosmetic procedures that erases monolids to create a double eyelid- researchers

and medical professionals have reported staggering reports of mental and physical insecurities,

putting Asian and Asian American women’s mental, emotional, and physical health at risk. With

the world that we live in today, filled with advertisements and people telling us what we are and

what we aren’t, it isn’t hard to become a victim to these standards. And because of this, the

negative effect that Eurocentric beauty standards continues to prevail through society.

“Asians are more likely than any other ethnic group to

pursue cosmetic plastic surgery….. over 40% of the patients

ask for eyelid surgery.”

- Evan and McConnell (2003) ​Do Racial Minorities Respond in the Same Way to Mainstream

Beauty Standards? Social Comparison Processes in Asian, Black, and White Women.
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IV. Why It Is A Problem

The problem stems from the negative effects of the Eurocentric beauty standards which

are concerning and skyrocketing at an alarming pace. According to the statistics from the

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the number of plastic surgeries from

Asian Americans have gone up by 290% from the year 2000 and it is still rising. The procedure

that has been steadily increasing is the eyelid procedure; aimed to fix the appearance of eyelids

to make them seem larger. This method is typically used by Asian women to change the Asian

monolid to a double eyelid; creating the nickname the “Asian Crease.” Along with the popularity

of these surgeries have gotten higher is the use of skin whitening products. These products are

readily available and accessible to girls all over the

world and the fact that it is so easily accessible makes

it a bigger issue. In a recent study on Asian women and

the use of skin whitening products, over 50% of the

interviewees admitted to this (​Peltzer). It is the fact that

these items are so accessible the reason why they are. It

is because ​ of “mass-marketing of contemporary

images of white beauty” (Hunter 2005) - it contributes to the practice of skin bleaching;

encouraging and promoting the practice and production of products for this. Therefore,

contributing to the phenomenon of white skin specifically in Asia. These superficial aspects only

show how one person changes on the outside, but the beauty standards can also have a

detrimental effect on the inside-to the victim’s mental health, and emotional stability.
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V. Possibilities

For this particular problem, there is no concrete solution. Because this is a societal and

cultural issue, there are no laws or limitations to the topic of Eurocentric beauty standards and

the effect that it has. Beauty changes from culture to culture and each one has their own version

of what they deem as beautiful. But there are some certain actions that could possibly help fight

this standard of beauty. Solutions that can be used to combat this issue are people/companies

using their large platform to shed light on this matter, movements for

self-love/self-empowerment movements such as the #bodypositive movement on Twitter,

cosmetic companies expanding their products to be more products for women of color, or for

entertainment industries to be more inclusive in their media productions. Although these are all

good solutions, they are also all temporary. These will solve an aspect of the issue for a certain

time but will never completely dissolve the problem at hand. But the best attempt we have at

solving this is the Dove Real Beauty Campaign.

“The mass-marketing of these images of white

beauty and a “white lifestyle” build on the long
standing European colonial ideologies that
valorize white beauty, European culture, and
white aesthetics.”
-Margaret Hunter (2005) Buying Racial Capital: Skin-Bleaching and Cosmetic Surgery in a
Globalized World
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VI. The Idea

To fight the negative effects of Eurocentric beauty standards, there are different methods

depending on which route you want to go- the health issues or entertainment industry that

surrounds us- but the one that best suits this situation is the Dove Company’s Campaign for Real

Beauty- which combines both. Dove, a company well known for their quality toiletries, launched

their campaign in early 2004 when they noticed

the negative effects that beauty standards had

on women. They created this campaign with

the help of parents, teachers, and health

professionals to help build self-esteem,

overcome body image issues, and create a

supportive network for women and men to

come to regardless of race or age. Not only

does the campaign promote self-love and helps

one reach their full potential, but it also offers

multiple resources such as: getting in touch

with a local Dove Campaign leader, learning

about the psychological effects that beauty standards can have on your brain, or talks revolving

around these issues. These resources aren’t limited to users in the United States either, the

campaign and its resources are launched worldwide so people in other countries can benefit from

it. Because of their mission of body positivity and self-love in combination of the resources

offered, using Dove’s large platform, the information can be efficient and effective in preventing
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the Eurocentric beauty standards in its tracks from effecting the generations to come; making this

the best solution.

VII. The Mission

Dove is universally known for its home and body products whose mission is to ensure the

best quality products for their customers to use not just on themselves but also on their loved

ones. Because of this concern for one’s well-being, Dove creates its name on being a reliable and

trustworthy brand to use, for all ages of life. With this reputation, the Dove company builds upon

it by establishing their campaign for real beauty and it makes sense for them to do so. Because

their mission is already to provide the beat products for oneself, caring for the external parts of

the consumer, they want to focus in more on the internal aspect of the user- making them feel

beautiful inside and out. They did a world-wide poll and found out that only “2% of all the

women that were surveyed considered themselves beautiful” and that “more than 70% of women

feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful (Dove).” Learning from this, they came up with

different propositions to challenge the beauty standard. With the campaign for real beauty, the

consumer can feel good about themselves, growing more self- confidence and body positivity,

realizing their own individualism and beauty despite what societal standards say. With this

reputation and their mission, there is no reason why Dove shouldn’t be the company to do it.

VIII. Costs

Cost might be an issue for the company but never the consumers, making this feasible for

their targeted audience. With Dove Company’s profit that they make with their variety of

products, the company uses their own money to fund the campaign's inclusive photoshoots,
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advertisements, models, and events. The company puts out their own money in order to spread

their message and when people are positively impacted because of this, will buy more of their

products. So while customers love their products and love the company’s mission of body

positivity, the company itself will also benefit from this by getting revenue from this positive

response. An example of this is the cosmetic brand Fenty Beauty by pop singer Rihanna. The

makeup brand was based off of inclusivity and since the launch has “made over $72 million

(Forbes)” Making this a win for the company but also for the women that it’ll effect. The

audience doesn’t have to purchase any products in order for them to hear about the real beauty

campaign or want to benefit from it. All of the available information and resources is located on

the company’s website for anyone and everyone to reach.

VIIII. Effect

Because this is a world wide project,

women from all over the world have been

exposed to this project and could have been

influenced by it, whether they noticed it noticed

it or not. Since this project launched in 2004,

there has been a small but steady increase in the

number of women who thought they were beautiful. From the resources available to users on

their website, there are personal stories from Dove users to explain how this positively impacted

them. An Asian American woman, Maromi, shared her story of how her struggles growing up

with Asian and Eurocentric beauty standards affect the way that she saw herself. The toxic

influence of Japanese society made her hate her freckled complexion until the Dove Real Beauty
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Campaign allowed her to “see the beauty in my individualism (Dove)”. One resource that Dove

also offers is the ability to learn about the psychological aspect of Eurocentric beauty standards

by clicking on the “psychology” button. Many young women deal with body dysmorphia which

can turn into eating disorders. A report done by the National Eating Disorder Association

(NEDA) on teen magazines, stated that 74% of the participants stated they exercise to “become

more attractive.” With the accessibility to this knowledge, the users can educate themselves and

others about this problem, and know that they aren’t the only ones going through it.

X. Personal Experience

Growing up as an Asian American woman who has

been constantly surrounded by Asian beauty standards ever

since I was a kid, the standards and images of what beautiful

women should look like has been ingrained in my head and as

a result from this, I have always struggled with body

dysmorphia while growing up. A specific example I

remember was when I was in the eighth grade and asked my

mother for a traditional Vietnamese dress, Ao Dai, to wear to

the upcoming Lunar New Year festival. Her immediate

response was “No, you’re too fat. You won’t look nice in the

dress because you’re too big.” I was hurt. I knew that my

mother was just being honest with her opinion towards me, but the message goes deeper than

that. In my mother’s eyes, I didn’t fit the Asian beauty standard of being slim enough to be

considered “beautiful” if I were to wear the dress. I couldn’t blame my mom for thinking this
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way, because it was how she was brought up- this was the way she was forced to think. But it

doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less. Since this incident, I’ve learned more about beauty

standards and self-love. When I found out about the Dove campaign, it made me feel better

knowing that this is a real issue and that I’m not the only person struggling with this. It took me a

long time, but I’ve come to learn how to accept myself for the person I am and I couldn’t have

done it without Dove.

IX. Rebuttal

Although the Dove Campaign is one of the most efficient ways to combat the Eurocentric

Beauty standards and the effect that it has, this is as much as we can do. There is no current

legislation, laws, or rules by the government that advocates for inclusiveness or representation in

the beauty or entertainment industries. The only law around the cosmetic industry is how they’re

made, not how they’re marketed or distributed. And there is no forced learning about self-love or

acceptance; it is up to the people to learn and advocate for themselves. In addition to the lack of

legislation, different cultures have different societal views on beauty, so there isn’t and can’t be a

universal rule to say what beauty is. For example, Asian culture influenced by the Eurocentric

beauty standards, have the most similar opinions on what beauty is: the white skin, slim

physique, and big eyes. This culture of beauty then influences their society of what they consider

beauty. Constantly being surrounded by this, makes the person believe that what other people are

telling them is true; continuing the belief of beauty standards. It’s difficult to tell a person what

they think is or isn’t right, so it’s up to the individual themselves of what they think of it.
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IIX. Conclusion

Eurocentric beauty standards is a major issue all over the world. Girls of all ages are

affected by this, thinking that their beauty is the only thing that defines them and are constantly

being compared to those portrayed in the media. The mental and physical issues ranging from

eating disorders and body dysmorphia to skin whitening products and cosmetic surgeries, raise

the issue that this is indeed a societal and cultural issue that needs to be addressed; and Dove

does that. With the reputation of their company, the resources offered, feasibility of accessing the

information, and no cost for the customer, the Dove Real Beauty Campaign is the best choice to

be the first step towards combating this overdue issue. With time, the campaign can growth and

with it, the confidence and self-love of girls and women from all around the world.
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