Is There Evidence of "Whitening" For Asian/White Multiracial People in Britain?

Growing rates of interracial unions in multi-ethnic societies such as Britain are notable, and point to significant changes in the blurring and possibly shifting nature of ethnic and racial boundaries. Asian Americans who partner with White Americans are assumed to engage in “whitening” – both in terms of their aspirations and their social consequences. Yet little is still known about the aftermath of intermarriage, even in the USA. Drawing on this US literature, this paper considers the whitening thesis in relation to multiracial people in Britain, with a particular focus on Asian/White multiracial people. I draw upon the findings of two British studies – one of multiracial young people in higher education (Aspinall & Song 2013), and another of multiracial people who are parents (Song 2017) – to explore these questions. I argue that conceptualizations of part Asian people (in the USA) as leaning toward their White heritages are often unsubstantiated, and deduced primarily from one key factor: their high rates of intermarriage with White spouses. In addition to the variable ways in which part Asian people may relate to their minority and White ancestries, we must consider the ambivalence, tensions, and contextually variable identifications and practices adopted by multiracial people

The Filipino Question in Asian and Pacific Islander America: Rethinking Regional Origins in Diaspora

About the book: Pacific Islander Americans constitute one of the United States\u27 least understood ethnic groups. As expected, stereotypes abound: Samoans are good at football; Hawaiians make the best surfers; all Tahitians dance. Although Pacific history, society, and culture have been the subjects of much scholarly research and writing, the lives of Pacific Islanders in the diaspora (particularly in the U.S.) have received far less attention. The contributors to this volume of articles and essays compiled by the Pacific Islander Americans Research Project hope to rectify this oversight. Pacific Diaspora brings together the individual and community histories of Pacific Island peoples in the U.S. It is designed for use in Pacific and ethnic studies courses, but it will also find an audience among those with a general interest in Pacific Islander Americans

Colonial Faces: Beauty and Skin Color Hierarchy in the Philippines and the U.S.

"Colonial Faces: Beauty and Skin Color Hierarchy in the Philippines and the U.S." investigates how perceptions of beauty, skin color hierarchy, the globalization of beauty standards, and the ongoing colonial relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. are related. This project takes a transnational approach in order to compare beauty and skin color hierarchy among Filipinas in the Philippines and in the diaspora. It examines how beauty standards are constructed locally and globally, and how Filipino women in the Philippines and the U.S. respond to these standards. It addresses the popularity of skin-lightening products in the Philippines and looks at how Filipino American women are affected by this practice. This project also explores how skin-lightening products are marketed and analyzes the role of mixed-race models in this marketing