Why do Asians dye their hair blonde

[frozenmyth]

Can some people tell me why some Asians try to look more like Caucasians?

Do Caucasians see Asians with blonde as more familiar, appropriate, acceptable, or whatever?

Personally I think when a Caucasian woman, cus I am male, who is naturally blonde can be beautiful. However, when an Asian woman with Asian facial sturcture / countenance dye the hair blonde........

I have difficulty trying to convince myself that looks appropriate, but that's just opinion and I know that people are free to express themselves.

Some most beautiful Asian women in my mind are still all black haired.

I do not know the meaning of changing biological factors, mental adjustment to more global orientation is healthy though.

Then maybe that's why plastic surgeries are so popular even when many women don't have mis-shaped physical aspects.

I certainly have no right to impose my thinking onto others though.

Just curious.

[Jizzosh]

For some people, it fits, for others it's a square peg in a round hole.

I personally like girls who dye their hair strange colors, but I also like natural looks. It just has to fit their personality. But get me a girl with Coca-cola red or Dark green or Purple highlights with dark hair and I'm in heaven. I think it's the cyber-punk thing or something, but it's definately hot.

[Quest]

Can some people tell me why some Asians try to look more like Caucasians?

They don't. Your perception is very eurocentric. (a sign of the US minority syndrome? -- everything the minorities do, they do it to blend in with the majority-whites)

They are not trying to look like caucasians, it's just a fashion trend to decorate one's hair.

The dye can be pink green or blue or any other color, but those colors seem too out of the line, so most just stay with brown and some blonde.

I find it disturbing when people make assumptions like that, like when asians try to keep away from the sun to maintain a light skin tone, they would be accused by some of trying to look white. That's entirely untrue and eurocentric.

[pazu]

Quite agree with Quest, I have a few Chinese friends who dyed their hair blonde and one even green (arrrhh...), they still act very Chinese, they just thought it's interesting to change the hair color.

But to be frankly, I found it very ugly.

[PollyWaffle]

if i came from a place where everyone had the same coloured hair, i'd want to change it too

[frozenmyth]

Yeah, actually I hope it's only my personal mis-conception or something similar. Cus I have also notices that many Orientals in Asia like to dye their hair blonde.

If they were in Asia then does that mean they are just trying to make a more vivacious expression? Caucasians are considered minority in Asia, not Asians.

It's indeed persoal choice and people think differently.

Pink, green, red, purple, silver, blue, or else. Modish trends or just make life less boring. However, I have only thought more about the underlying mentality of dying hair to make it un-naturally blonde. I have come to realize that some Caucasian women also dye their hair black.

However, in comparison with Asians who dye their hair blondes that seems to be much lesser of a proportion.

I can think of several reasons why some Asians in the West dye their hair blonde, but those reasons do not apply to the Asians in Asia though.

Hum, I can already pic some people thinking what's the ....with this guy.

Thanks for you all's input anyway.

This is an interesting way to communicate and for me to learn a bit more about different thinking. More input welcomed.

[Quest]

However, I have only thought more about the underlying mentality of dying hair to make it un-naturally blonde. I have come to realize that some Caucasian women also dye their hair black.

However, in comparison with Asians who dye their hair blondes that seems to be much lesser of a proportion.

You thought too much...

Get in tune with the trends!

[website]

I personally think dyed and/or permed hair on a woman looks terrible. I think most Chinese women would be hot if they didn't ruin their hair by putting all those chemicals on it. What's wrong with long, black, silky, beautiful hair? I never get tired of seeing it.

[umber]

um from black to blue would be kinda strange no?

but anyhow the trend now is to be blond because of the Japanese singing sensation Ayumi Hamasaki is blond so what she does they all follow .

what makes me wonder are those who go through extensive csmetic surgery to look more western , higher nose bridge, double eyelids, collagen on lips etc......

[Quest]

what makes me wonder are those who go through extensive csmetic surgery to look more western , higher nose bridge, double eyelids, collagen on lips etc......

again, they are not trying to look western. Maybe your predisposition that all asians should have flat noses, single eyelids etc. made you think that. Only 1/3 of asians are born with single eyelids, and in fact many asian noses are high. It just happens that the Asian beauty standards coincide with some of the facial features of the Westerners. They are just trying to look more beautiful as an Asian, it's wrong to say they try to look like Westerners.

Westerners and asians judge asian beauty differently, that's why the asian girls with all the "supposed" asian features, who westerners think are hot, we often find them dead ugly. Next time when you praise all the "supposed" asian features, just keep in mind that that is stereotyping, and the Chinese guy next to you might have a very different evaluation standard than yours.

So, what made you wonder, what you dont understand, we don't understand either.

[yonglan]

but anyhow the trend now is to be blond because of the Japanese singing sensation Ayumi Hamasaki is blond so what she does they all follow .

There have been no shortage of Japanese women dying their hair blond since Ayumi was in diapers.

As for the OP, while the percentage of Western women dying their hair black may be smaller than the precentage of Asian women dying their hair blond, if we were to look at the percentage of Western women dying their hair some color (blond being most popular by far, I'll guess), I'd bet an even higher percentage of Western women dye their hair than Asian women.

[Lu]

I agree with Polly Waffle on this. Plus, it often just looks good.

Btw, in Taiwan not just women paint their hair brown or blond (mostly brown, I don't see that many really blonde women), men also do so.

[davesgonechina]

I think, like previous posters, it would be jumping to conclusions to say they go blonde in order to look Western. There was a post on the forums a week ago, I think it got taken off but maybe it's still here. It was by a 20 something Chinese girl in the U.S. (at least, I'm pretty sure she was a mainlander studying there, not born there). Anyway, she was complaining about how Chinese people shouldn't "sell out", and cited hair dyeing as an example. So she jumped to the same conclusion, and I think some Chinese people think it's because of some feeling of inferiority that any Chinese (or other Asian for that matter) woman would do such a thing. The question is, who is it who feels inferior - the girl who does it or the person who thinks it is "selling out"? Maybe both, maybe neither, depending.

That said, I say an ad on a bus once in China advertising plastic surgery. One of the choices was to get blepharoplasty where they give you a crease in your upper eyelid, which many Asian people completely lack or it's not very pronounced. While some say this is because they develop a "tired, puffy" look and not to look western, who exactly are the people getting this operation?

Likewise, while on the subject of appearance, I've detected in China a strong, long held belief that the whiter your skin, the better - most of my students out here are shocked to hear westerners appreciate a tan. Blonde hair, white skin, eye creases - it makes me wonder when you put all those phenomena together.

P.S. I totally dig raver/skater/punk chicks, so I'm down for all sorts of color.

[bhchao]

Regarding Asians dyeing their hair blonde, it has nothing to do with "trying to look Caucasian". It is just a fad or trend among young people.

I have had friends who dyed their hair blonde, and a female friend who dyed her hair burgundy red. If you ask them "Are you trying to look Caucasian?", they will laugh in your face.

[Guest Nothingness]

May the mere fact that Caucasians love eating oriental food cause you to be curious to draw any similar conclusion?

A couple of years of living with an Asian woman will perhaps knock some sense into him..

[39degN]

first of all, hello, Quest, Pazu, (Skylee, Roddy if you see this thread)and everybody!

i hate to say this, but i m afraid 98% chinese would consider asians pursuing a western look freaks! its nothing to do with pursuing white looking, i have many friends--girls, even boys colored their hair, but no evidence showing that they consider the western look perfect, they are just looking for something interesting,different or fashionable, would you count ppl got tanned in persuing of black or indian looking?

as for the belief of the whiter your skin, the better, i believe it has a thousand-year history, at that time, they sertainly didnt know there s a race called white.

anyway, being carefully to make comments is always safe, because narow-minded stereotype always piss ppl off.

[skylee]

Hello, 39. Welcome back.

BTW, I used to have blond(ish) highlight. And it made me look more interesting than when I had plain really really unnaturally black hair.

[39degN]

thanks, Sky!

siding with you! :-)

[Jizzosh]

It's just like Blue Hair in Japanese Anime. When we had some of the top producers and Manga artists visit our university, they all said the same thing about why the characters had various hair colors and styles:

To be creative and express creativity. Not because Westerners have it, not to be like some random star... sure some want to be like their idols, but people are unique.

Some may want to look western..

Some may want to look like a pop-star..

Some may just have unique creativity..

Some may want to do it for status..

Some may just like the smell or something..

Trouble is, you can't generalize, you can just form your own opinion, so not knowing why people do it, what do you think about the appearance of dyed hair on Asians?

[Catdiseased]

btw blue hair ;) I would like to dye my hair blue or grayish silver, if ever -

But I think that people who want to try something different, esp. Chinese or Asians in general, and therefore dye their hair blond or dark-red, are not very different from the masses. Why? Because everyone dyes his hair blond or dark-red today ;) Thats not creativ at all, imho. It's just "want-to-be" creativ, but without ideas of one's own.