Toxic air pollutants and beauty ideals

The air in Ho Chi Minh City is a potent mixture of fly ash, dirt, diesel smoke and dried raw sewage, according to The Word, an Engish magazine printed here. Before reading this article, I had figured I was breathing in mostly exhaust and perhaps an assortment of factory emissions, so I was a little put out to discover dehydrated fecal matter was another airborne possibility! Consequently, the Vietnamese try to protect themselves by wearing face masks when they ride their scooters. The Word says, though, that most of these masks don’t help, and you really need a particulate respirator.


Women in particular go to great lengths to cover their faces, arms, necks and hands while they’re on their bikes, partly to try to prevent inhaling the toxic smog, and partly because they’re chronically concerned about maintaining the whiteness of their skin. Mrs. Trang, who is one of my students and took me to play tennis this morning, explained to me that the Vietnamese woman’s never-ending battle to obtain and keep her pearly skin in this hot, (mostly?) sunny climate does not help attract men. She’s decided (and at 62 years old, her observations are worth something here) that men don’t care much whether their girlfriend is light or dark, and that the only ones who notice skin shades are other women. (Mrs. Trang’s opinion was almost immediately contradicted by a 33-year-old female tennis player who said, out of earshot of Mrs. Trang, that men are indeed more attracted to women with pale skin.)


As far as I can make out, the men, when they make an effort to notice at all and risk looking up and around in this jammed city, seem to pay most attention to well-dressed women, especially women in heels and hot pants!