In Japan, pale, clear, freckle-free skin is admired and is thought to be beautiful. This is communicated through mass media & general culture.
When it comes to freckles, I grew up thinking that freckles are only "cute" on non-Japanese women. I have not met many Japanese girls with freckles either. When I lived in Japan, I got numerous comments on my Japanese freckles; never positive. Usually something like: "Oh, wow, you're Japanese and you have freckles?". Being young, I took such comments negatively. Additionally, being influenced by the Japanese media beautifying clear spot-free skin, I had learnt to hide my freckles as much as I can using concealer, foundation, powder and blush. Now after moving to the US, things have changed. All I have heard are positive comments (Thank you!), not a single negative remark or feeling. Once upon a time, a young man walking towards me on Valencia Street in the Mission (San Francisco), walked up to me and complimented my freckles. My friends and I giggled, but my initial reaction was "What? You can notice these freckles from that far away? Yikes...." I recently have been seeing articles where girls draw "Faux Freckles" using Freckle Pencils to look younger, haha! So maybe it's not such a horrible thing? It's hard to switch to liking something when you are born and raised in a culture where it is thought to be "not beautiful", but I hope slowly & surely, that I will learn to accept it - not hide it. Masking freckles is too difficult anyway! 日本人のそばかすって 珍しいっていっつも言われる。 日本に住んでいた頃は 嫌で仕方なかった。 だって 日本では透き通って透明肌が一番美しいと思われている。 でもアメリカきてから 褒め言葉をよく聞くように... ありがたいです。
2 Comments
ZD
7/26/2022 08:04:30 pm
somehing opposite of this happens to me. in my country, a specific region i live people are known for big noses with bump. it may not look as pretty on a female, but in that region it was common so it was okay! come to america, and you see a lot of people making fun of it. americans are kinder than many countries, so it was rather rare but i must say give you a hard time with relationships (not that i was looking for! so even if you didnt say anything, you would get stared at you big nose haha. anyways, i dont care! and i live with my nose, so i have to get used to it. if you want to not feel bad then just dont think bad!!
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