Another Vietnam invasion
HO CHI MINH CITY - Arriving here to begin my Fulbright research on "The Economic and Social Implications of Fashion in Vietnam," I thought I was prepared to encounter cultural and societal differences.
But during my first month of settling in, I have begun to notice an unexpectedly disturbing trend among print and television advertisements. At least half of the ads here feature Caucasian or Eurasian models. While I'm a big fan of Benetton's multiracial ads promoting a message of global harmony, I find it foolish at best and dangerous at worst that Western ad agencies are exporting a Barbie-doll image of beauty to this nation, which overflows with its own natural beauty. The constant prescence of non-Vietnamese models in Vietnamese commercials is psychologically damaging. The assumption is that whiteness equals beauty, and being Vietnamese doesn't.
In 1999, Seattle was a hotbed for protests against the World Trade Organization and its agenda of increasing globalization. At the time, I was admittedly unmoved by the protesters' cause because I didn't see how it related to me.
Living in Vietnam, however, I walk into pharmacies only to see that globalization has brought an array of whitening products to store shelves. At bus stops, Caucasian-looking models on billboards for shampoo look like they literally had their hair spray-painted black in a weak attempt to relate to the local market. Laser Beer runs TV ads featuring the obligatory beautiful people having fun together drinking. Of course, none of these beautiful people looks remotely Vietnamese.
Talking to my Vietnamese friends, I was shocked that most did not see a problem with companies using Eurasian models. They say that mixed-race people (assumed to be someone with one Caucasian parent and one Asian parent, as there are few blacks or Hispanics living here) are more attractive than the average Vietnamese anyway. When I asked if they thought that by saying Eurasians are more beautiful than Vietnamese meant they believed that whites are better-looking than Asians, my local friends flatly denied such a thing. In their opinion, mixed-race models embody a combination of the most flattering physical attributes from each group. Given that Eurasian children were often ostracized by Vietnamese society following what they call the American War here, the irony is incredible.
As an American living abroad, I am often asked for my opinion of the United States. My usual response is that I am grateful to live in a country that allows all of its citizens the freedom to pursue their dreams. That said, I am beginning to see how Vietnam's importation of American culture may be more harmful than helpful. Breast implants and nose jobs, for example, are de rigueur among Hollywood celebrities, but do people around the world really need collagen lips?
It is my hope that Vietnam will soon discover the importance of creating its own definitions of beauty.
By Tony O. Pham - The Seattle Times - March 23, 2004
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