One of the reasons that people can tell that I am not from around here beside from the fact that I am definitely fatter than all the local girls is that I seem to enjoy being in the sun more than everyone else though fact is that I don't.
To be fair, I don't hate the sun, I only hate all the ridiculous tan lines after I'm outside. I mean, come on, a band-aid tan line? Who's down for that? SO if I'm gonna get a tan, I'm gonna go all out and wear as little clothes as possible (skank alert lol). Rolling up my sleeves and everything to avoid that farmer's tan while soaking in that vitamin D, which is pretty much what I do here in Saigon. And which is why I stand out because girls here pretty much cover themselves from head to toes when they are outside.
Underneath all that gears is my cute cousin
Porcelain white skins is seen as beautiful here because mahogany or deep dark brown tans are way too common here. On top of it being a tropical country, for centuries, people have been working as farmers in fruit orchard or rice paddies spending days in and days out under the sun, so the dark tan represents a life of laboring hardship. People who don't have this color are often rich or well off people who were fortunate enough to have enough to eat without ever have to spend times in the blazing sun.
I think that this association of pale skin = life of fortune is now ingrained in these people's mentality, and now in modern time, they have the ability to achieve it so they do. Locals wear all kind of protective gears to keep themselves from getting dark. I remember my mom used to wear a long pair of elbow gloves and a wide rimmed hat when she used to go outside, but that was ten years ago since the method today are way more extreme. Beside the mandatory helmet, people also wear face mask to avoid the dust, then girls would wear gloves on their hands, then thin socks or thick stocking on their feet and a hoodie with the hood up regardless of the style of the outfit because they can all be taken off once they reach their destination. It's pretty much their travel gears. Even girls who wear short-shorts still wear long over the knee/thigh-high beige color stockings so I guess sluts here don't get cold, but they get hot hah!
Guy in the far left admiring my awesome hand-behind-back picture taking skill, girl in the upper right corner is a ninja. Check out how men aren't donning the same ensemble as women
(Women) Ninjas on the street!
In addition, the tropical heat here could get so unbearable and the increasing awareness for skin cancer could also be reasons for which why people want to cover up. However, we don't see men following the same suit, and it doesn't explain for the abundance amount of commercial and infomercial on skin whitening products as well as having skin whitening chemical in almost every beauty products on the shelves. I recall on the top of my head seeing house hold brands in America such as Dove or Olay also having whitening ingredients in their products. Good thing I brought my own body wash and face wash.
Picture courtesy of onlyok.net. This blogger has a similar/interest discussion about this whitening trend.
Funny how this whole concept is opposite in America, where people prefer to have darker tone. And of course you wouldn't find products like this back in the states, as you wouldn't find something that promotes tanning here.
Not in this land
I have been asked several times "I thought you'd be paler since you're from America" or "How are you so dark and short living in America?" and would have to explain to people that tanned skin is a popular preference in the states, and being short is genetic, there's nothing I could do. Still, in additional to pale skin, people are also actively pursuing methods to get themselves taller. You can find milk commercials emphasizes on how their products will help kids grow taller or infomercials for shoes that add height while at the same time lengthen your legs.
For this trend, I don't get it, and I can't find any of these commercial on Youtube, so I'll just let Skee Lo take over while I go outside in my shorts.
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