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I remember the time when my late grandma told me, “you and your oldest sister have darker skin than your other siblings but know that you’re just as beautiful”. Didn’t really understand how important those words were until I got older.

I appreciate that you're tackling this uncomfortable topic.

I'm Southeast Asian, aka Jungle Asian, so I have darker skin. But it's true, lighter skinned or half white Asians in that part of world are being held in high standards than us mortal Asians. In Thailand for example, many of their celebrities are either light skinned or half Caucasians.

I can't count the times my grandparents told me to avoid the sun because otherwise, I would look like a peasant from the rice fields.

We as Afro-centric and Latino people do the same thing in our families Big Time. Even my wife (Filipina) & Sister were said to have " Unggoy tails"( Monkey tails) because of their brown skin when they were young by lighter skinned relatives.

Very courageous of you to touch this topic...Asia is obsessed with white skin, your color decides if you get media representation, power position or attention from opposite sex.

I’ve been told multiple times that in some parts of East Asia like Korea, people call people “Filipino” as an insult… I think it’s partially because of being viewed as “the help” but definitely also because of colorism.

If you look at Bollywood.. you hardly see any top actors/actresses that are dark skinned

you guys are very informative on Asian topics. Literally one of the best channels in the sphere

It’s pretty common among Chinese to tell their kids to not play outside, or else they will get too dark and “look Phillipino.”

Thank you for covering this topic; much needed. ✌

Their faces when they talked about hot import nights LOL had me cracking out loud But yes agree about colorism!!! My siblings are all fair skin and I’m more medium tan!!! Heard it all my life!

Dark skin is beautiful

Absolutely that is a thing, and people who say otherwise are lying.

Im Thai but have fair skin. When I lived in Thailand, I was considered attractive because my skin was so light but back in Hawaii, I had to get a tan cause that’s considered sexier and my light skin too pale looking 😂

Here's something that I believe many people outside the Afro-Centric experience may not know. Many African Americans used to go thru the "Paper bag" test. If you were lighter than a brown paper bag, you were more accepted than those darker than a paper bag. Look it up.

Yeah East Asians more specifically before Western European Colonialism prefered people with light skin tones but with typical East Asiatic features, featurettes, appearances, or looks as the beauty standard in there societies anybody without those outward shows were not seen as good mating partners nor people to spend the rest of there lives with nowadays though and ever since West Euro take overs now they want to look West European with Pale skin and either blonde, golden, brown, red, orange, amber, ginger, strawberry, or auburn hair colors with blue or green eyes yeah.

Colorism is alive and well in all minority communities around the world 🌎. Some Asians do want to be white!

also yes this is true. even with black ppl, it was desired to be light-skinned as a kid. light skinneds were generally considered to be better looking. At least light skinned black women tend to look better. But dark skinned blackk women are fine too

There's colorism in every race.

Bleaching products are a billion-dollar industry in S.E. Asia, especially in the Philippines. I saw bleaching agents even in some foods while living there LOL.

Interesting... As someone who is half white half Asian, but more on the light to medium skin tone, I have experienced colorism, but mainly be older Asian people, like grandparents. For example, I have been told, "wow you have beautiful Eurasian features, you could model, too bad you are so tan!"

"Oh wow. So proud of him, he's very educated, good looking, with personality, successful... he's got everything but.......... just a little too dark." (Heard this at 29 years old from my uncle.) "Oh, what!? THIS is your son? Really? Can't be your son. Oh.... but why is he so dark?" (I heard that at 7 years old from my mom's cousin she hadn't seen after many years.) My mom = fair skinned aristocratic-type mestiza heavy Spanish blooded Filipina with an intact upper class nuclear family. Super sheltered. Pageant queen. My dad = darker skinned mixed Hakka broken Chinese family and grew up in the Philippines. Sold peanuts and pan de sal on the streets as a child. Totally from opposite sides of the railroad tracks. Somehow, some way pops swung the longoniza-lapxiong energy and they fell in love. Goes without saying much colorism and lookism still exists in my fam, albeit in the older generations. I suppose old habits die hard. How to overcome negative stereotypes that can bring you down??? ***Get good at stuff*** Uplift yourself in any way...many ways. Increase opportunities for compliments and accolades. Naturally, your self esteem increases. Eventually, the negative tones get drowned out and imbalanced. Like the homie Andrew said, you might have to get away. If you can afford it, travel! Move. Get in where you fit in!!! BUT DEFINITELY DO NOT HATE. Or harbor the hate from those negative ideas you may have internalized growing up. That just makes you turn into an ass that nobody likes. Don't continue the negative cycle. Drop the weight from the baggage and you really lift-off to higher heights of increased success! REMEMBER: For guys, the secret to bigger balls is success. 👊😎 Although, you can also be well loved and liked by looking mestizo like my bros 🤣 Yo, people would literally "offer" their daughters to my parents for them. It was kind of hilarious. Straight up trying to work out arrange marriages. No joke. I'm pretty sure others with similar backgrounds understand.

You guys are on the money. Colorism happens in black families in the U.S I love my family, my family of variety ❤ of beautiful shades of flowers. A bit of this and a bit of that from our Great creator God.

Your video was very informative and respectful with a neutral perspective. It will reach many communities in a positive way. Hopefully we can collaborate on some projects in the future.

There’s definitely a lot of misconception about asian aesthetics being about being “white” in the way Americans think of the word. Asians don’t call white people “white” they call them “foreign.” When they say “white” they are refrring to skin tone. Having light skin, tall nose, and big eyes as a desirable aesthetic in chinese literature predates the european colonial era. The notion that these have to do with wanting to look like white people is just a coincidence. It’s like saying white women wanting “tall, dark and handsome” is because they like black guys. Or white people wanting to look younger is them trying to look asian.

Brings back memories of seeing all the aunties in the 626 sporting the welding mask/ visors.

Only too real. Indian's (and Pakistanis - who are the same people) will often include shades of skin color in their dating/marriage profiles! Hahah.

I mean, this happens even in black families. There's a reason so many people tend to idolize having mixed kids.

This is real. Not only that but in the Philippines you’re more favoured when you have the “chinito” features with the eyes 😂

I born in Taiwan, and I have the light skins because my dad looks like a Caucasian. I always got praised by neighbors or relatives such as “ you are so cute and white” etc

I grew up most of my life in the US but when I was working in Japan I saw posters for eye rounding surgery and skin bleaching. I also remember watching blonde blue eyed anime growing up like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon…seems like that’s gotta be influenced in part by wanting to be more European.

I am a Southeast Asian (Cambodian) and have mixed background from grandparents who came from Mainland China, South Asia(maybe India) and native Khmer. My mother is light-skinned and my father is dark-skinned. I came out the darkest-skinned, more than my brothers. My mother only care about my skin colour because it is not perceived well socially, so she pushed me to care for my skin more as in make it lighter and hide from the sun. When I went out with her, she was asked if I was a kid she picked up from the countryside 😂 So, growing up I was never comfortable in my ‘skin’ and it’s hard on women, especially. Typical life of a dark kid in SEA. It’s better now, skin tones are not considered anymore. Why Asian women like western men? In my experience, i get bashed/made fun of by Asian men a lot because of my skin colour (perceived as poor and ugly) when westerners don’t and told me how they love my skin colour (both from men and women). I don’t mind those opinions anymore and I respect everyone’s preferences.

Growing up in NYC with very diversesurroundings, I learned to appreciate my dark skin. One of my earlier girlfriends who was a Russian-Jew got mad that I told myself I look too dark in our photos, she got offended because I said it as I was ugly. She wouldn’t go out with someone ugly, that was her argument, 🤷‍♂️. Plus, I look like Latino half a time so I call myself “International man”, 😁.

Lol damn heres my 3rd comment i just wanna say as a south east asian brother of tai-lao descent ive met and seen Asians with almost every known skin tone from lightskin pale light brown reddish tone to black almost and i just wanna say to all you asian brothers and sisters that you guys are still handsome and beautiful and in terms of looks I don’t think we are that selective when it came down to mating and breeding eachother out over the centuries and thats how we came to be 🌭🍩🥹💛 theres an old saying “TWO ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE DONT ALWAYS MAKE THE PERFECT SOUL” 😉☺️

Economic, colonialism & class are factors. In Japan, according to my friend Masato, darker skin can signify that you’re a poor fisherman or come from Okinawa. In Latin America, where people lost their native tongues to colonization, it’s worse. As a FilAm, I experienced it from my moms side of the family a lot. My dad’s dark skinned, but my mom has that light East Asian skin tone. I remember my Chinese aunt describing my skin tone as a “beautiful golden brown.” That’s something that impacted me in a very positive way.

WS took its toll on all of us. Other counties and cultures view dark skin to be dirty. I guess they never heard of melanin and pigmentation. I heard this in many Asian cultures. Not everybody feels this way....but still.

Great and fun topic! It's quite a classic in Philippine entertainment & media to see fair-skinned folks taking center stage! 😄

To all the Asian Bros & Sis here, here's a movie you may want to check out in my African American Community involving Colorism. Now it's just a movie but a lot of Truth in its context. Spike Lee's 'School Daze'. With all the dynamics that go along with our experience with Colorism which in cludes hair texture. Just like you the dynamics of levels of Social acceptance and status in conjunction with skin tone. We also have a saying in our community. If you're White, you're right. If you're Brown, you stick around. If you're Black, you're back. Sad indeed.

This is definitely self-evident, don't need an academic study for people to realize this. There's a reason products like skin whitening creams are so prevalent in both East Asia and South Asian countries. Lighter complexion is considered beautiful and more desirable, but I suspect this type of judgement disproportionately affects women more than men because guys that are overly pale are deemed effeminate and may appear more sickly.

Hawaii prefer darker skin …. Does not matter if you are asian!

The Germans in WW2 basically considered Japanese "as good as whites" so I can see how that mentality carried into the US back in the day in terms of discrimination of Chinese vs. Japanese vs. Korean, etc.

honestly with this topic, probably another good topic to cover is stuff like mixed asians and the experience in different places if you're like, half or something.

This is DEFINITELY an issue with Cambodian families. Anybody feel me on that one?

And THIS is why I’m hopeless in finding an Asian bf. I’m genuinely attracted to them but I don’t think I’ll receive the same energy back. Such beautiful people smh. 😢 it’s like the only “Asian” thing I have going for me is my eye shape and my style. ButI think I’ll get turned down bc I’m “dark skinned”.

Lol, happens all the time in American black families. We were 11kids DNA , African, Native American and Irish. One sister has straight up African features, course hair facial features, body types you couldplace her in the middle of AFRICA and you wouldn't able to tell the difference . One brother had Native features, the skin of southwest Natives American but in summer his body hair turned blonde .Another sister features were European especially her face. I'm what was called back in the day" light,bright not quite white" often asked if I'm hispanic. We all picked on each other for certain traits especially by relatives who would call out the difference.

I’m Filipino and most my family is light skin but some are more tan naturally or cause they go outside more and it’s so weird how different you get treated.

Skin color prejudice is very common in Thailand.

Colorism existed in my family. An ABC with natural olive skin and scolded by family for being tanned every summer. Constantly confused for being from the Philippines - from Latinos, blacks and my Chinese peeps.

Keeping it #FungTrue

It’s nothing about American things which is about white and black peoples,nothing about colonialism because East Asian have never been colonized by any western country. It’s all about Asian culture. The standard of beauty is young and cute looking. All the Asian women just want to be themselves when they are 5 which skin look clean, bright,pale and smooth, with no wrinkles, pimples, freckles and moles. Actually, Asian women prefer light skinned but not like white people.

Nuff respect for embracing this topic 👏

I realize this video is 1 year old but it's pretty funny to have an entire conversation about colorism in THE WORLD and left out any countries with the most color and sometimes the worst, physically damaging colorism... the Caribbeans and Africa. Overall you guys kinda dodge these conversations. An episode on Black and Asian relations would be interesting or even another Blasian conversation not sure if you have the references or friends for this though.

16:54 Nigeria shout out 🇳🇬👍🏾

I would agree that it's not about looking white but looking light, if they weren't getting eyelid surgery and wearing blue contacts and dying their hair blonde.

The hight cast Indian usually have a much lighter skin tone and white looking appear

So true.

Bruh. Stop capping. Two of the most popular, nose jobs (rhinoplasty) and eyelid lifts (blepharoplasty), are specially designed to make these features look more Caucasian. Asians generally have wider and flatter noses. Asian rhinoplasty narrows the nose and makes it project more, similar to a European look. Asians desire the Caucasian look

no, I disagree, what if someone with green or blue skin? or purple skin? will you treat them the same way?

First person here!!!

5:19 Andrew is Trying not to laugh at the accent david is using

A Vietnamese friend said their parents didn't want them to get dark like Cambodians. 😂

My cantonese mother criticized my summertime dark tan when I was a teenager.

same as latino families

10: Mexico 🇲🇽- class society along ethnic lines.

I moved from Indonesia where I struggled to find skin products without bleach to the UK where people get fake tans before going on night outs 😂 Sure, everyone has their own opinion or preference as to what they consider a beauty (beauty is in the eyes of the beholders right?) but I’ve never found another culture where people think it’s okay for total strangers to comment on someone’s physical attributes as candidly as in Asia. One example was I was accompanying my Mom to a traditional market and the tofu lady said “Oh, is that your daughter? Wowww she’s so beautiful, skin so white, so smooth, so healthy” 🙄 mmm and I was standing right there. And we were strangers! People would also leave public comments on FB photos “have you put on some weight?” Like, seriously? What about this amazing waterfall that I’ve just spent hours hiking to?

Has nothing to do with racism, has to do with classism. Back in the day, people who worked in the fields were obviously darker. The “thought” process was the lighter you are, the “higher class” you are.

Hi David and Andrew.. Hope all is well..I love you're channel always catch your videos...so ok I'm going to to get right to my point...You guys always talk about the Asian community of all kinds but what you NEVER talk about are the Afro-Asians... I'm not talking about blasians... I'm talking about REAL Afro-Asians... that still exists and are alive to date...I can't explain everything as well as this young man who is a youtuber...his channel is called "Straight Up"..he has SEVERAL VIDEOS on the subject of Afro-Eroupeans...Here is a very in-depth video that he has done...The title is called "Dark Skinned Asian People"..these are real people going as far back as one hundred and fifty years ago during the Qing Dynasty...and much much more...he has evident proof of Afro-Asians that exist...but Asians today either don't know or don't want to know they're real orgin...I encourage you guys to watch this man's video it is extremely enlightening and will teach something very valuable... I hope you guys watch the video made by the KZfaqr Straight Up...thank you.

It’s a big thing in Vietnamese communities.

People can claim "internalization" until everyone gets tired of it.

I think this version of Andrew's hair style is better.

Look at this !

My mom didn't care about the color of my skin so she let me just run around outside and get super tan every summer as a kid. I kind of wish she didn't since I feel like even though I'm relatively attractive in Western countries, I wouldn't be if I ever moved to Asia because I'm too dark I think for most people's preferences and not nearly as skinny as the average Asian woman :/

You're real brothers? like blood brothers? Who knew? @14:22 Haggis is Scottish...

Lol 😂colorism is real among asians :For southeast asians Light-Pale skin is associated with chinese, east asians, or the other asian minorities that came from china with that skin tone such as myself Lao Tai-kadai being one of them. but overtime we already intermarried and assimilated with the native southeasterners and its true though if you talk to the native southeast asians who were there first such as the khmer burmese mon suay matryad etc before other asians arrived to SE asia they’ll tell you that too because light brown to dark brown and even black is their common standard. Hahahaha but yeah my dad is brown and my mom is very light tone and currently im caught a natural tan because i farm vegetables 😂🤙🤙

Ok... but you grew up as East Asian guys. Perhaps it would be different for East Asian girls. I don't think fair skin is as big of a deal for East Asian guys as it is for East Asian girls. The moms would probably tell their daughters to stay in the shade and not play in the sun...

whats wrong with liking fair skin? it looks nice. why do you have to have like every color equally? there will always be a main stream preferred color.

Not just darker skin tones. I have pale skin from my white side and still rejected by members in my Asian side. I know I am not “Asian” since I am mixed but damn, didn’t even want to get to know me at all lol. Think it is case by case.

Let's make east and south Asia different continents. This guy's Moto is how easy is good that south 😂.

👳🏾‍♂️We, were all' once people of the ☀️ sun until some started to hide 👷🏾‍♂️ from the work.

I think this issue is honestly overblown regarding East Asia. The narrative of colorism in the US comes from the perspective of racism and colorism that black people in America face. But you can't just transfer that same line of thinking to say that this is even similar. It's not. Young Koreans living in cities are diligent about skin care because our grandparents worked on farms and experienced sun damage. It's not usually from some internally racist feelings where we manifest the idea that "light skin aka white skin is genetically superior". Now that doesn't mean that racism doesn't exist. But it's a leap to think that this is the primary reason.

One of the most classic cases of colonialism in Asian families are Vietnamese Catholics

I'm black but I found this is very interesting to know I didn't know it was that deep I know. Colorism but I just didn't know it was that deep in the Asian community

Brainwashing, and go to attack.😅

7:45 interesting statement. Thought it was

You guys are still not being honest. It IS because you want to be white/european. Everything white/european in your culture is lifted up. You actually say european people are gorgeous in your advertisements, and in employment? The real question is why you don't love yourselves as you actually are.

I don't think I've ever met an Asian family that looks down on their own family member because of their darker skin complexion. If there is one, then they are one messed up family. I don't know where that British Research is going with it, but it sounds weird to say the least.

Italians are white.. Italy is next to Austria, France and Switzerland... lol

I can’t believe colorism is a thing. What next, heightism? Weightism?

In HK China or other Asian countries, I think it’s normal to look for not too dark Coz it means our colour originally is yellow (no matter it’s light or dark) We prefer lighter colour more due to in ancient, working class like farmers had to go under the sun which were less preferrable It’s not about the racist issue in the west (which were really sick)

Yeah, colorism plays a part but not as much as the facial features, esp the eyes, I guess. East Asians have the best skin tone for me - not too light nor too dark.

When I was growing up filipino girls were always open to dating white guys. It was thought that a half white half Asian baby was going to a home run looks wise for the children. Today I don’t think it’s as prominent.

But colorism in a positive manner amongs asians is koo though because it lets us know who are who came from where or what not and so on if you posses that natural quality to tan under the sun without ever having sunburns or skin problems it means you are outdoorsy and if you are light skinned and pale as hell and almost white adjacent You’re avoiding the sun for damn sure 😂 🌞🌞🌞😂🤣 Tai-Lao Tony 😆🤝🤝🤝

Oriental/Asian face just looks better in fair skins. with darker skin, they look more ancient/savage like. Caucasian face looks good with tan skin

Filipinos have papaya soap, which makes their skin whiter. My cousins from the motherland are always asking why Americans go tanning lmao

Can you do video on Chinitos, Mestizos, and Morenos. Those Filipinos who look like Chinese, mix, or very dark brown.

BIG COPE