Beautiful Dark Skin

Aesthetics can be objective but concepts of physical beauty are influenced by the development of human society. During the pinnacle of ancient Chinese culture plump women with light skin were considered more attractive than skinny ones with dark skin. the same is true of Renaissance Europe, when lily white women with love handles were objects of desire. This notion, of course, has changed in the east and west in the 21st century where being overweight is no longer associated with wealth. Skin, though, is a different matter.
Lily white skin is no longer considered beautiful in western countries anymore. White people consider a golden brown tan to be the most attractive hue for their skin. Most see this as objectively the most beautiful color, even Asian. However, Chinese see light skin as the most attractive color too, as if this were just as objective. Perhaps part of the reason for this discrepancy is that beauty is often tied tho the notion of wealth. A nice tan in the west signifies a life of leisure and money. Dark skin tin the east is associated with working in the fields, the life of an impoverished farmer. Who wants to be perceived this way?

My black friend described the color of her skin to me as coffee with a bit of milk stirred in, which is much darker than any Chinese farmer. It is a beautiful shade of brown but every time she sees a cosmetics commercial in china she is reminded that people here do not agree. People have even given her unsolicited advice on how to lighten her skin. She finds this quite frustrating because in American this would be considered a racist comment. Perhaps the concept of "white Chinese" will change as the society develops just as being overweight has gone out of fashion.