(TW: Discussion about class, race, diversity, and inclusion – not at all like the title and the thirst-trap-y hoy-boy-summer photo suggests)
I could hear my mom scoff as she tells me to go put some clothes on and this whole Canadian suntanning thing is not for us Vietnamese people. Growing up, she will chase us around the house to put on sunscreen, a hat, and a mask so we won’t get dark. There were times when I bought into the whole concept of fairer and brighter skin (The global market for skin lighteners was worth $8.6 billion last year, and is forecasted demand reaching $12.3 billion by 2027). I gave up that silly idea (because usually, it takes me 6 months indoors in the winter to go up one shade, and about an hour for me to turn crispy, like a spring roll, in the sun.
I often tell my friends, the US (and Eurocentric) media did a really good job exporting their capitalistic ideas, and at the same time, their racism to us. But beyond that, beyond race, the darker, browner skin in Asia is an indication of class. In my years studying in Singapore, I was often mistaken for a construction worker. The word Bangla is often implied (derogatorily) as construction workers. Folks with darker skin is often associated with laborer or domestic helper.
So as you can tell, a dark skin Vietnamese boy who grew up falling in love with the ocean, swims outdoors in Singapore, and loves the outdoors, is definitely going to have a hard time in that world.
Dating in North America as a crispy brown immigrant is fraught as well. Obviously, the number of people who ignore you or reject you for being darker is part of the daily. On the other side of it, the fetishism of darker tanned skin is something a little more subtle, a little more annoying, and just as dark and damaging. “Shouldn’t it be a good thing if we positively select you because of your skin? You’d rather to be rejected or beaten up” – I’ve been told. So many things are wrong with that sentiment. First, people assume that they are superior, and by them obsessing and “favoring” the darker skin, it’s a favor, it’s a privilege, it’s something to be grateful for. Second, it’s still assuming a WHOLE race (of potentially 2-3 billion people) are the same. Of course people are attracted to what they are, but can we pause and question why certain assumptions or notions (e.g. “Gingers are hot”, “Asians are meek in the street and wild in the sheet”, etc.)
Speaking of, the benefit of dating and marrying a white person in North America, is this. White people will tell you “If you think we are so racist, why do you insist on dating and marrying one of us?” Brown people just assume you are white chasers anyways and give you a wink.
Repeat after me, you are still a decent individual living in a systemic problematic world.
And so, as I lie in the sun and read my book, thinking to myself, “Why do I make everything into a soap box discussion of class, race, and belonging?”
And then I realize the only people who manage to get on with their life without these stupid haunting thoughts are those who were born with the privilege to do so.
I dedicated these tan lines to the haters. Happy Summer!
Pace Fine Arts 