This time, LINK-UP CAFE interviewed APU students from various countries to gather their respective values on beauty! We asked four questions as follows.
Q.1: What kind of person do you think of when you hear the word "beautiful"? Why do you think so?
Q.2: In your country, are there social norms regarding appearance? Do they differ depending on gender?
Q.3: In your country, is lighter skin still viewed as more beautiful?
Q.4: Do you think women should shave their body hair to look more beautiful?
Q.1: Generally, those who are physically attractive. Examples would be: straight nose, white skin. However, this can also be thought of as a shallow way to evaluate beauty.
Q.2: For women, having light skin, small noses, and shaved with less hairy eyebrows are important criteria. Trendy or modest clothing are preferred depending on how conservative you are.
It is less restrictive for men: if they look good, tan (masculine), they can dress however they want
Q.3: Skin whitening products are still widely sold. Due to colonialism, the influence of the West is very strong. In a more international circle, people are more aware of colourism.
Q.4: Shaving products are more expensive, so it's not compulsory. However, the hair on the legs is still considered to be unhygienic, and shaving gives a clean and neat image
Q.1: People whose skin is not too dark nor too light are considered to be more beautiful
Q.2: People whose skin is not too dark nor too light are considered to be more beautiful
Q.3: Lighter-skinned people are often viewed as more attractive and more popular in schools. Due to the influence of colonization, many of today's standards of beauty are influenced by what the West describes as beautiful.
Q.4: As long as hygiene is maintained. It's up to the person whether they want to shave or not. Body hair isn't a concern in my culture.
Q.1: People who have the golden face ratio, such as big eyes, small face, are the criteria that people to take into account when evaluating beauty
Japanese people often naturally aim to have long and skinny legs, as well as to be more stylish.
Q.2: Women should wear appropriate clothes and make-up to work or do job hunting. Men shouldn't wear heels, in-heels, platform shoes, etc. and should be taller than women
Q.3: There was light skin bias and fair skin bias as well. I didn't care much about it until everyone started to use sun cream in my middle school. In the 1990s, there was a trend called “gal” that considered dark skin to be cuter.
Freckles and moles are also considered high-fashion
Q.4: Women should shave their armpit hair. More men want to shave their body hair. More shaving hair products are being marketed, which is affecting people's behavior.
Q.1: Although back in the day, lighter skin was considered to be ideally beautiful, that thinking is now shifting more than ever towards how everyone has their own ideas of beauty.
Other than that, people often think that women should wear make-up and men should have six-packed abs and not be too thin
Q.2: Teenage girls should dress properly, appropriately and should not expose their skin too much.
Women should wear make-up, whereas men shouldn't.
Body piercing, or too flashy piercings, tattoos are generally not good.
Q.3: It's changing, but light skin is more preferred
For example, advertisements for clothes and cosmetics are often made by white-skinned Thai models.
Q.4: Women should have the habit of shaving off their body hair whereas men shouldn't. People couldn't care less about it, and it doesn't have any effect on your job hunting regardless of gender.
Q.1: Young, beautiful, long dark hair, big eyes, long eyelashes, tall, pretty makeup, and no glasses are considered to be ideally beauty
Q.2: Many children got their skin bleached when they were young, especially in the countryside.
Women are under high social etiquette pressure than men.
Q.3: Women are under more pressure to have light skin than men. Due to colonization, light skin bias is widely spread
Q.4: It doesn't matter whether you shave or not. Skin color is more of a concern
Q.1: Men who are taller than women.
Perfect skin without acne, as well as long hair are what people aim for.
Q.2: For women, it's best to be shy but not too bold. In urban areas, people generally wear jeans and shirts, but in the countryside, it is customary to wear Shalwar Kameez Women-style clothing on holidays, and besides that, make-up is not necessary.
For men, showing their legs or wearing makeup can make them get bullied.
Q.3: White skin is considered to be good; it doesn't matter if it is a little bit fair but not too much
There are creams that remove pigments from the skin, but not many people like to use them.
Q.4: It is said that shaving, even for men, is cleaner. (religious reason)
Q.1: People who are well-built: not too skinny but not too fat, slim waist; and have perfect skin without acne, and with a beautiful smile, is considered to be beautiful.
Q.2: There aren’t specific rules regarding beauty. Even for high schoolers, for example, it doesn’t matter if you dye your hair or not, etc.
Q.3: Lighter skin is preferred. There are many models with different skin colors and ethnicities
Q.4: Girls should shave their body hair, but boys shouldn't. I didn't care about that much when I was a student, but I shave now to go for dates.
We tend to think that there is only one ideal beauty, but from the results of this interview, we can see that beauty varies from country to country and culture to culture. What is considered beautiful is also related to the country's historical background, and we can see that beauty standards can change according to the flow of each era and place.
In order to have your own sense of beauty, it is important to know that there are different ways to see beauty. What kind of beauty is ideal for you?
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