Thais are beauty fascists - part 1

the event that makes me so angry and bitter is the following. remember the lost teddy? it was the guy from my class that suddenly fell in love with me and became my stalker. I got word from a (girl) classmate today that apparently he was publicly (in class) bitching about my boyfriend's looks. he said something like: "ewwwwwww, he is not even handsome, he should choose someone much more handsome". that really pissed me off.


Ok, he's entitled to think that. My bf isnt 190cm tall, doesnt have wide shoulders and no manly, "handsome" face. But what the f**k? That in no way justifies someone publicly bitching about it so everyone else can hear it (I wasnt there of course).


then, my classmate (the girl) said something that wasnt less offensive, only she didnt know it. She tried to somehow explain me that thais dont think that a wide face and small eyes are beautiful. Now lets think about this again. Wonderful, she in a way justified his bitching by reciting thai beauty ideals.


Now I know all about Thai beauty ideals and I also have thought a lot about them but this now prompts me to write about them. If you want to be beautiful in Thailand you have to be tall, slim, have fair skin, have big eyes, have a slim face, have straight hair and a faultless appearance in general. If any of the above-mentioned criteria are not met you will struggle to be beautiful in a thai person's eyes. For foreigners, slightly different standards apply but nevertheless, I was told several times: "xxx you are not handsome...but you are cute". or: "xxx, when did you get fat?" I just wanna let you know, I am not fat. If I go to farangland I am pretty much in the average...


Maybe the things that are the most interesting is the shape of the face and the skin colour. In terms of shape of the face, a slim face is essential. If the face is บาน (baan, wide) that is not good at all. A square face (e.g. Thaksin Shinawatra) is not good either. Cheekbones are not very advantagous either.

no beautiful, his face is too wide and square.

In terms of skin colour, we all know that in Asia in general, the whiter the skin, the better. It's the other way around as in Europe, where a tanned, brown skin is considered attractive and sexy. Here, dark skin is associated with country-side people who have to work on the farm, hence they get dark by working outdoors all day long. The association goes: the darker, the poorer. I personally had the experience many many times that guys I met actually excused themselves for their dark skin.

Now, I want you to think about this: WHY is it that Thais, who are normally very accepting of other people's lifestyles and choices (e.g. are "tolerant") can be such fascists in terms of beauty (only one beauty ideal counts)? My boyfriend noticed that the people that feature in Thai ads are nowhere to be seen on the street. That is quite true.....and additionally, no one in ads is dark and Thai-thai (as opposed to chinese-thai) (except on these fertiliser ads during muay thai on Channel 3 maybe). I know about the connection between skin-colour and income - thai chinese are richer and whiter. But how come thais can be so extreme in this, otherwise being quite accomodating and tolerant?

Actually, fellow blogger bkkdreamer has already blogged here, here and here on the "honey-coloured" beauties and explained us a little bit about skin-colour and beauty ideals. You would notice that these "honey-coloured" beauties are by no means dark, even though it is something like a taboo in thai society to even like someone who doesnt have pale skin.

Now even though I notice that some of these beauty ideals have crept into my mind too (im too immersed in Thai culture), I really want you to stick to what you think is beautiful. Skinny, tall, chubby, wide-faced, dark, white, curly hair, blue eyes, whatever.....stick to it!!!

p.s. I promise you. I will provide you with some picture-examples of what I mean next time:)