I don't understand that, personally, because there are gorgeous people everywhere, regardless of race or religion. You just can't hold everyone to the same standards, because obviously we're all going to look different, but if we were all identical no one would be beautiful.

The same reason why Westerners are obsessed with Asians - the grass is always greener on the other side.

I never understood that either.

well im asian, and like i like to be either pale. or tanned. i mean like some asians, their skin is like neither. and they just dont want to be tanned. LOL

i have "suan yan pi" hehehe. (:

I tan VERY easily, when i went to hk everyone there was "how are you ever going to find a guy if you're so dark?" and that was when I was 11 or 12. When I'm home in Canada, I get stopped all the time by people asking me if I used a tanner and that they love my skin. But to me I love the way I look, even though I wish some of my features were different but either way this is me and there's not much I can change about it as I believe in natural beauty. I'm tan from running, so what if I can't find an asian guy? I like white guys better anyways. Call me whitewashed but I don't care.

you always want what you can't/don't have.

hmm... Make me feel guilty I love asians they are adorable but theres more to a women then looks. I wouldn't want a hot Asian with a bad really aditude or no mannors. I getting off topic but just felt like I had to say that.

oh and btw statistics show that 50% of Asians are born with  double eye lids.

That's like saying Westerners want to look Asian because they want to be skinny, and Asians are naturally skinny. Or they want to have straight hair, and Asians usually have naturally straight hair. And white people also get plastic surgery, it's not something that's exclusive to Asian people.

That's not Asians wanting to look Western.

Your post makes me a little angry. 

=[ I wish it would stop! In vietnam people would wear turtle necks so their bodies would be light skin ahhhh *cringes* 

I don't see how the surgeries in the quoted paragraph attribute to the idea that Asian women are obsessed with western beauty:

"Next in popularity are surgeries to improve your skin. They can get rid of your freckles, bags under your eyes, acne scarring, etc. And then there are other operations, like ones to unwrinkle your skin, change your nose/lips, get rid of bunions, and so on."

I think these things are undesirable almost everywhere.  Having them removed and stuff doesn't give you a more western look.

Also, having light skin is NOT always about wanting to look Caucasian.  A long time ago, light skin was an indicator of your social status.  If you had people to slave outside in the sun for you, obviously you had to be at least somewhat wealthy.  If you were tan, you worked outdoors and couldn't afford to hire servants/slaves.  This perception of beauty was evident in Asia (e.g. China and Japan) and in the west.

You can google this topic and find a lot of information about it, but here's one that I just found about just Japanese people.

http://uniorb.com/ATREND/asianwhite.html

Queen Elizabeth I was also really pale for the same reason.  I think this has actually been around in Europe for at least a few centuries.

See this link: http://www.elizabethi.org/uk/profile/appearance.html

One movie (besides the movies about Elizabeth) that I recall where they also demonstrated this notion of beauty was Titanic.  Kate Winslet's character, Rose, came from a rich family and if you've seen the movie, she is really pale.  I think they mentioned this and all she had to do to avoid tanning in the making of the movie or something.  Forgot what channel I saw it on (it was also back in like 1998).

On a related note, being kinda fat also indicated wealth because you had the money to eat all that food.

It's funny how much the standards have changed.  It was only decades ago it was beautiful to be a full-figured and curvy woman, like Marilyn Monroe.

For anyone who wants to read, this is an interesting article about colorism.  It states that European imperialists are blamed for bringing the idea that "lighter skin is righter" to Asia and North Africa, but some people claim that this idea may have already existed in these areas.  I haven't read through it all yet and I don't know who's right, but it's interesting so far.

http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=2002&x=colorism

this is a system problem.  it started through history with colonization.  the ones that did the colonizing were always the superior ones whereas the locals who were being colonized were always the inferior.

though....that's not the only piece to the entire picture of course.

to understand a current problem, there are probably roots in history.....