ikuitenshi:

thisisnotkorea:

Okay I’ve seen this wave of people on tumblr editing photos to ~make idols look like their natural color~ and honestly while whitewashing is a serious issue, however what’s more gross to me right now is a bunch of international kpop fans taking photos of idols who have a lot of makeup and lighting focused on them all the time and could possibly actually look like that on stage and in the eye of the public and randomly assigning our skin color on us as if you know better about what we and our skin color looks like. If it’s a photo that’s been blatantly edited w photoshop to be whiter yeah there is a problem. But there is also a problem where intl kpop fans are literally talking over korean kpop fans and editing photos to make it look like what your image of we look like onto us.

That is gross beyond imagination to me. Issues of colorism and shadeism should be discussed within our community. It is not gonna be solved by a bunch of non Koreans telling us that they know what we “really” look like. That they know better about our skin tone than the actual people who have them.

Honestly? There’s also a lot more variation to our skin tones than the standard, oh let’s make them darker and especially yellower, stance y'all seem to be adapting. Are there Koreans who do have darker, yellower skin tones? Yeah. Are there people who don’t? Also yeah.

Stop fucking pulling this shit. It’s super anti-Asian and racist.

-admin J

(NOTE: This is an incredibly personal perspective and I am not trying to speak for anyone else. Just for myself because again, I’ve found that writing posts like these help relieve stress.)

I’ve honestly been trying to put into words how I feel about what intl fandom is doing nowadays with restoration edits, and I admit, I have incredibly mixed (and unsurprisingly disorganized) feelings. It’s something that comes with being bicultural I realize, being split between “Westernized” and “East Asian” values (yes I know these terms could not be any broader and vague but it’s the best I can come up with atm). I do agree that colourism is an issue (like it is in many countries) and should be addressed, but at the same time, this attempt at change (if it can be called that) by projecting Western values and their unresolved issues on East Asian culture – I don’t feel this approach is in the least bit productive or helpful at all.

I’m not going to rehash the huge argument I’ve made here but I feel like I need to apply it to this issue. Once again, I feel like restoration edits have fallen into that area where intl fandom feels they know what the right answer is, and are acting as the inherent moral superiors to k-fandom. Furthermore, in their move to impose their values on k-fandom, intl fandom has overridden the voices of the very community they should involve. Instead of opening a discussion and trying to understand and then even negotiate with k-fandom’s point of view, these restoration editors have immediately rushed in basically saying, Korean fansites are wrong and we are right so I’m going to correct your mistakes by showing you what your skin colour should look like.

Perhaps this is raw and incredibly subjective, but this way of thinking is completely frightening to me. (Honestly dare I say it, it is a little triggering because based on anecdotal experience, I’ve had North Americans physically wrangle me and tell me I’m not Chinese enough because my skin isn’t tan enough – but I don’t want to get further into that.) This however, is where my mixed feelings come in, because I know many many MANY races and people are subjected to this kind of treatment on the daily, by people who are not part of their cultural or ethnic group, and it’s a pressuring reality with far more severe consequences than I have ever experienced. Accordingly, I do not want to invalidate the experiences of those who are using restoration as a form of empowerment and recognition for the beauty of darker skin tones. That is a beautiful thing. However, I guess as I am typing this, I am realizing that again, this is a very contextual thing that has arisen in Western cultures – it’s a more passive issue in East Asia.

At least through talking with my parents and relatives about this issue (from a Hong Kong perspective! Can’t speak for all East Asians and wouldn’t think of it), they have responded in a similar fashion: “It’s the Americans stirring drama again.” They have further told me that the whole pale skin issue mostly applies to celebrities and does not have a bearing on everyday people. Well I don’t entirely agree with the family members that I have spoken to – that colourism is a non-issue – I would say colourism in East Asia is not synonymous with colourism in North America; they both have different origins and consequently, different underlying effects. Therefore, as they are different issues involving different communities, the way they should be addressed is likely not going to be the same. Maybe (I’m still debating with myself mind you), the main reason I am so uncomfortable with restoration editors in intl fandom is because they are presumptively using a “Western” solution/movement to resolve a non-Western issue. (And yeah there are a lot of other reasons for being uncomfortable, such as what the post above says, and intl fans doing it just because they think it’s “a trend” – oh yes this is a direct quote – and can gain popularity from it. But hashing out every point will make this way longer than it already needs to be…)

I guess what frustrates me most is that say intl fandom’s intentions are truly to cause positive change, I feel like kpop restoration edits are incredibly unproductive and unhelpful. Again, the disrespect with how most restoration edits are produced by dismissing Koreans, does not open any opportunity for shifts in thinking – only resistance and distance from the issue, because once again “the foreigners are telling us how we should behave.” – And plenty of East Asian countries have had enough of a colonial history to loathe that. Furthermore, in a hypothetical situation (hypothetical because again I believe this movement won’t have any results), say those restorations did change the way some fansites edit their pics; it doesn’t cause any change in the grand scheme of things. All it changes is the bubble that intl fandom lives in, where they will see less edited pics. Koreans and other East Asians in EA will still have to live with the reality of makeup companies promoting pale complexions, advertisements with pale models, and wherever else it appears on the television, the streets, literature etc. Intl fandom doesn’t have to deal with that side, only their little (frankly sometimes fetishized) bubble. So again, restoration edits of kpop, at least from what I’ve been observing, will not solve anything except an egoistic self-satisfaction.

This will likely fall on deaf ears, but I feel like if intl fandom really wants to contribute productively, they should either support the voices who are already carrying messages against colourism or go after the larger players who have greater influence. For example, supporting artists such as Drunken Tiger or Yoon Mirae who have obviously been outspoken on the issue (and other relevant issues) on several occasions. Or how about contacting makeup companies and asking that they make foundations in the range of shades that Asians are – to show that there is a demand and need for change, as opposed to the recommendation of using whitening products. Or perhaps going after broadcasters who leave blatantly shadist remarks in their programming, making it seem like such a normalized thing. I just – all this energy could be used for something far more respectful and impactful.

Oh and a final note, not exactly related to my babbling, please don’t fall into the trap that some dismissive and manipulative posts have set, saying there are only two sides: being a shadist or not one. These people have been oversimplifying the issue to induce guilt and manipulate those who think even somewhat differently from them. Not to mention the outspoken one that clearly has deep insecurities rooted in her East Asian and American heritage – SORRY I took a jab but agh it’s been frustrating me.

ps: I wouldn’t be opposed to respectful input on the issue because if it wasn’t obvious enough – I still go back and forth somewhat with my position.