Why do people (white, black , asian, etc.) want to look like another race?

Question

No I'm not generalizing people, but I do notice that some white people want to look black (tanned skin, collogen lips, butt implants); black people want to look white (chemically straghten hair, nose jobs, bleaching their skin); asians want to look white (plastic surgery on their eyes to make their eye lids look heavier, to resemble a white persons eyes). What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

European standards of beauty have always and perhaps will always dominate American society. Though SOME minorities may not admit to it, or perhaps even realize it, their decisions to make CERTAIN drastic changes in their physical appearance (i.e. eyelid surgery, bleaching of the skin) are greatly influenced by these standards.

In regards to whites who choose to tan their skin, receive buttock implants, etc., I think they have just finally found the beauty in what a particular part of white society (especially, before and during the Civil Rights era) has historically frowned upon--"black" features.

(By the way, though I do feel that there are many hidden reasons behind such behaviors/choices, I don't believe that this supports your theory that many of these individuals want to change races.)

Answer 2

I'm proud to be an Indian. I have wonderful bronze skin, it stays tanned no matter what the weather is like. I like my features and how I look.

The people who want to look like another race are probably going through a phase, very much propelled by society. The media always influences a significant number of people with regards to physical appearance and fashion. I guess some people are made to feel inadequate because of this.

Ideally, everyone should be happy with themselves. But this isn't exactly an ideal world.

Answer 3

It's not about looking like another race. Some people just want to live up to the media's standard of beauty. Whites are supposed to be tan, blacks and asians are supposed to have light skin, everyone is supposed to be skinny etc etc. Those are things that the media shows so people feel like in order to be beautiful, they have to look like them.

As far as straightening hair, I personally like variety. I don't understand why if I decide to wear my hair straight I'm somehow trying to be white. There are whites and hispanics born with curly hair, but when they straighten it, it doesn't matter. It only matters when blacks do it which is stupid.

Answer 4

Cos of what we see and what we're told looks "beautiful". The models used for photographs are labeled as perfect, even though their flaws are airbrushed and shortcomings are computer enhanced graphics. We fail to realize that those photographs are art, not a moment of reality captured on film. Also, there is a lot of pressure to maintain one's youthful looks. The aged aren't held in high moral standards as they traditionally were. It's a shame, but what can we do. Hopefully we're strong enough with our self image to avoid all of that hype, which just makes you more neurotic cos you have to keep up with the new procedures to maintain what you've started. I want to relax and enjoy life. So what if I look like a million different nationalities, that makes my shelf life last much longer than a model's!

Answer 5

Some people are simply not happy with what they have. It's kind of like how some people with curly want straight hair and people with straight hair want curly hair.

There is also a degree of insecurity of the individual and a want to conform to society. However, it doesn' t always have to do with race. The reason some white people desire tanned skin is because American society now thinks it's a "healthier" look than pale skin. Blacks straighten their hair because it is more easy to manage than tightly curled hair.

Answer 6

You forgot to mention why some white women wear perms (and extensions) and have boob jobs so they can have large breasts like most black women do. How about asians bleaching their skins to look white (because most of them are brainwashed anyways), getting nose jobs so they look white?

When I perm my hair, I dont do so to look white, Maybe I do so to make it a little bit softer? I have never bleached my skin, and I have never had a nose job. I am a black woman and I DO NOT want to look like white women. Geez, I love my skin colour....it glows in the sun! It is beautiful, and I dont wish for any other skin colour but my own.

Some people on their hands have their own motives, and it usually has to do with internal insecurities they have about themselves, their families, their country and their race.

Answer 7

The media is structured for racial confusion. People are essentially overloaded with racial information and "ideals" that conflict, and as a result, they become highly confused. In some ways, it is promoted to be blonde and blue, in others it is promoted to be as mixed-race as possible, to date outside of your race, to adopt kids who you can't identify with racially, to have mixed children, so on. At the same time, blacks are told to be proud of what they are, they are also told that White features are what's beautiful--straight hair, thin noses, light eyes, but at the same time, they're told that Whites are evil--who wants to look like evil? But beyond all that--we're told that there is no race, just this weird set of noticeable differences amongst people who developed in different areas...

Some people just kill themselves when they get confused... other people tan until their skin is bark. People no longer have a positive racial identity without fighting to get and keep it. Whatever race you are, it's not good enough, because we're not supposed to be a race these days.

I'm White, I look White, and I'm fine with it.

Answer 8

i dont think all people feel like that but it most likely comes from low self esteem and low confidence to like who they are and accept there self for who they are and what they look like. Also the media sometimes manipulates some people into thinking the standard or beauty is to look a certain way so i think it can be alot of reasons why people want to look like another race

Answer 9

I NEVER want to look like any other race but my own.....I am very proud of my African-Nubian Heritage! We have unique attributes that other races of people admire! But each person is their own worst critic..when I was little I used to wish I had long thin straight hair like my white classmates but as I grew older and I learned to love my beautiful thick black curly hair because I realized how natural and beautiful it really is !

Answer 10

I am more attracted to black males - but that doesn't mean I'm not attracted to other races either.