Week 9

Mary Qin
ASA 141
Week 9

 Katherine Toland Frith, Hong Cheng, and Ping Shaw's "Race and Beauty: A Comparison of Asian and Western Models in Women's Magazine Advertisements" discusses a study on similarities and differences in western and Asian beauty advertisements of women. The study examines magazines from the USA, Taiwan, and Singapore. Western models are found to often be seen and portrayed as more sensual and sexual than Asian models. This implies that Western women are more sexually liberated. Taiwan and Singapore models often also have a "cute" look similar to Japanese models. All of them share the same gaze with eye contact with the camera. I have definitely heard of the stereotype that Asian women are more sexually repressed than Western women.However, stereotypes like the dragon lady, which hyper-sexualizes Asian women, go against that. Why is it that there are such conflicting stereotypes? Why are Asian women sometimes seen as submissive, shy, and conservative, while other times seen as seductive, dangerous, and sexual? How are these roles given to them and how are they formed by Western notions? Does it vary based on ethnic origin? What is it about the eye contact that makes it visually appealing as a beauty standard across all cultures?