Disturbing Trend

I was watching Oprah’s interview with Jessica Simpson and was really bothered by what I saw. It had nothing to do with Jessica, but rather with the Western influence being inflicted on the rest of the world.

This is something I experiences first hand when I was in the Philippines. I was so disappointed to find that the mall was full of American stores and restaurants, and almost everywhere I went women were asking me how they could dress like me and get blonde hair like me. One young woman who was 25 told me that she hated her skin color and that it was ugly and pale skin was the most beautiful skin in the world. She said she wished she was as tall as me and could have blonde hair. (Mind you this woman was beautiful with perfect skin and hair!) I told her that women in the US pay a lot of good money to tan (and risk cancer) to get skin her color because “we” think it is beautiful but she didn’t believe me. She said she had dreamed about going to the US and being able to shop and party like we do.

I can’t tell you how much it bothered me that the majority of the people I had conversations with felt the same was as this young woman. It broke my heart that they thought they were not pretty because there were not pale and tall. It made me sick that the things they admire about our culture such as shopping, partying, and yes even smoking are so superficial and in some cases unhealthy.

I noticed that in downtown Manila the “pretty shinny” shops and attractions were all very American. To find anything authentic we had to travel into the “slums” and the less appealing parts of town. I felt like as a country they hid the authentic things about their culture away in the back alleys and drew people to the more American parts of the city. (Granted at the time it was not safe for Americans to travel outside the city, so I didn’t have the opportunity to see the beautiful country-side and see how people outside the city live).

Watching Oprah last night reminded me of my trip and how sad our influence on the Philippines made me. I find it very disturbing that people in China are having the bones in their legs broken and stretched so that they can gain a couple of inches in height. (Just as I find the majority of plastic surgery in the US disturbing!) It bothered me to see that in the Barbie store in China little girls don’t like the way Asian Barbie’s look and only want the white ones.

I understand that for some it represents a perception of freedom and/or opportunity that we have and maybe if they look like us they will also be treated like us and have the great job, 2.5 kids, 2 cars, handsome husband, and white picket fence.

There are so many beautiful things to be found in every culture and country around the world. It bothers me that that “our” biggest influence seems to be around looks, having a good time, money, labels, and McDonalds.