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This is not meant to upset or offend anyone, but I wanted to share it. Its the first paper I had to do for my identity development class [which I got a 100 on] and I thought it was interesting.
Simone Provence
Lopez
Identity Development
15 February 2010
Field Component 1: Comparing Hawai'i and Japan
Being white is rarely, if ever, something that I intentionally use in order to get ahead in life. I have never enjoy being treated differently because I am of the so-called "superior Aryan race;" However, my journey through Semester At Sea has opened my eyes to skin color and how others make a conscious effort to have a certain shade or color of skin depending on their culture or how they were raised. In Hawai'i I stood out as a pale "mainlander" because of my inability to progress beyond sunburns to a tan; on the other hand in Japan my pale skin was a much better fit culturally - granted I am still blond with blue eyes. The physical traits that I brought with me to Hawai'i and Japan played a major role in my treatment and are also significant with regards to the treatment of those who live there regularly.
As soon as I stepped off the MV Explorer in Hilo, Hawai'i I took a right turn and walked two miles into downtown with my two pale friends in an attempt to find Orchidland Surf Shop. We asked for directions twice, were helped, and then went back to being ignored by the locals. The three of us are most obviously young, pasty-white college students from the US which could be the cause of our treatment, or it could be completely irrelevant; Hawai'i did not want to become part of the US and now makes up a diminishing population comparable to that of the Native Americans (Kanaiaupuni 2005). Being white in Hawai'i may have been unbeneficial because whites came into Hawai'i, colonized the land, killed off locals, and conquered it - ultimately making it a state of their own. In most of the US having a tan is viewed as a sign of wealth or at least the ability to enjoy leisure time, while resembling a ghost could imply that I never leave my cabin on the ship (although that is not true).
A large contrast in Japan existed with regards to how my skin color was received by the locals; in Japan being pale does not share the same meaning it does in the US or possibly Hawai'i. The Japanese, especially the women, view pale skin as a positive characteristic meaning one works a respectable, professional job as opposed to those with tans who are outdoor laborers.
Maybe it pays to be white? Again, I and my two light-skinned white friends managed to get lost in Osaka, Japan. Before we could find someone to ask for help we were approached by a pale Japanese man in a suit. He took us to the police station, where better English was spoken, in order to figure out that we were trying to find the aquarium; he then walked us the six blocks to the front door of the aquarium in the rain after giving his umbrella to my friend who was being rained on. This could be explained by the fact that he had just returned from a short trip to California where he was treated very kindly and welcomed as a tourist, but that does not mean that I did not wonder if it would have happened similarly under different circumstances. Would we have received such warm treatment if we wore darker skin, such as some of the Japanese islanders who face discrimination based on their tanned hides and lesser occupations? In Japan it was immediately obvious, just through advertisements alone, that white is beautiful (Ashikari 2005).
I have been to Hawai'i before and enjoyed my trip then and enjoyed it again with my new friends and teachers and although I had never been to Japan I also enjoyed every place I visited within the country. Even with the language barrier in Japan I rarely felt out of place because of the positive reception I was shown, yet I still cannot help but wonder if it pays to be white?
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