Covering Up

Photo Credit: Sim Chi Yin


The photograph above, from a New York Times article, struck me as creepy. What on earth are those people wearing? I thought. It turns out that women in China are becoming more and more extreme in their efforts to keep their skin light. In the past, they used special skin lightening creams, stayed out of the sun, and wore protective clothing. Now middle-class women are donning protective sun masks, thanks to an industry which "caters to a culture that prizes a pallid complexion as a traditional sign of feminine beauty unscathed by the indignities of manual labor."

There are myriad health reasons why we should all stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen. In Santa Barbara, though, it seems a bit of color makes us all feel better, ironically, more "healthy." I still love a long day at the beach, soaking up the sun though I know I shouldn't. The Chinese face masks seem unimaginable here.