Among “enlightened, progressive Asian Americans”, there’s a common pastime, which involves accusing other Asian women of self hate because they wear color contacts or lighten their hair to various shades of orange or yellow (I’m aware that I made some gross generalizations. Just go with it.). The reasoning is that these blond “self hating Asians sisters” are trying to look white instead of loving their own natural beauty.
While I do believe that there is something to be said about the pressures of conforming to Western Standards of Beauty, I think there’s something that needs to be pointed out. Having natural hair and eye color doesn’t mean that a woman is somehow more Asian American that their bleached counterparts. It’s not as if the only Asian Americans we see on TV are blond, blue-contacted, Asian Americans who look white. With the exception of Tila Tequila, the pattern is quite the opposite.
This season, two new shows feature Asian American women:
Maggie Q in the new Nikita
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and Grace Park in the new Hawaii Five-0
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Granted, I haven’t seen either show yet, but the previews both show slim, sexy Asian women who know how to fight. Let’s hope their more complicated that the average dragon lady.
Maybe the bleached/orange hair look is actually a uniquely Asian American look, a refusal to be stereotyped as an exotic, mysterious beauty. Maybe.
Movements and Moments 