The mummy Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Unlike young western girls that yearn for a summer tan, young Vietnamese girls want to stay pale and go to great lengths to do so. Here you see the young girl with hat, covered face, gloves that reach the entire length of her arms under her jacket long sleeves of course, and trousers, but also socks so her feet stay white, and all this in a humid 35 degrees, I felt hot just looking at her. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, or custom.

RGatward, sotirios, berek, ishai has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

RGatward (19751) 2005-10-07 4:55

So that's why they cover up, great, I thought it was something relgious :-) Interesting note, and good illustrative compo.

fkk (1806) 2005-10-07 5:14

Merhaba Elaine;
wonderful composition, nice shot bravooo

zamanlama ve düsünce cok güzel ilgi ceken bir görüntü

catman-fatih

sotirios (1685) 2005-10-07 7:08

Men there and fashion has a complete different taste from west, although lately white skin is becoming in fashion everywhere of what i hear.

ishai (4093) 2005-10-07 10:49

She must be sweating with this outfit, I hope its not there first date,
Did day not mind you taking there picture ?
Ist a funny capture, at first i thought it had to do with there religion but if it was then they would not sit like this.
interesting note

Ishai

DizzyMonk (0) 2006-03-29 2:32

Yes Vietnamese girls are scared of being a slight bit dark because it's a status symbol. Light skin girls come from "better" families and attract "better" suitors. Girls from poor families go to great lengths to keep themselves white to get a rich husband. It's her only ticket to a better life. They even bleach and peel their skin to get white. When this happens they even cover up at night because they can get dark from moonlight. I know that sounds silly but for some it's the only thing they have going for them. I have a fiancee in Vietnam and when we first meet her parents kept telling her to go bleach her skin to look whiter for me. I said to them, "Are you crazy? I wouldn't mind if she was a little darker. People in the US *PAY* to lay in a tanning booth to get darker. I don't like girls white as a ghost." My fiancee loves the fact that she can go around in shorts and t-shirts. She says it's too hot to be covering up like the girl in the picture. It's torture!

Also, it's a very beautiful shot of a intimate candid moment. I don't see too much show of bodily contact outside of Saigon's parks. To see a girl sit on a boy's lap in that manner is very risque in Vietnamese culture. I throughly enjoy this picture because it brings back lots of memories of me and my fiancee.