One of the biggest stereotypes about Asian women (aside from the notion that we are meek, timid creatures who are sexual slaves in the bedroom) is that we never seem to age, or age at a much slower rate than the rest of the population. And wouldn’t you know it — here is a funny cartoon to show just that:
(image source)
While I’m not so sure about other Asian women, I can attest that now, at the age of 30, I am starting to notice signs of aging. I am very lucky that I have not yet developed wrinkles; however, I am beginning to get plagued by dry patches of skin and age spots. My metabolism is nowhere near where it was when I was in my late teens and early twenties (and I thought I was FAT back then…what I wouldn’t give to have the body I had ten years ago!), I get tired much more easily, and the 30+ years of bad posture is catching up to me in the way of nightly backaches.
That being said, I must admit that I am often mistaken for being younger — people are always surprised when I tell them my actual age, and I guess I have my (Asian?) genes to thank for that, because God knows I’ve treated by body like crap.
I dug up this old photo from 2001 (friend’s face marked out in respect for her privacy):
It is undeniable that I look younger (and I can’t help noticing how much thinner I was back then…sigh), but I’m not sure that I look an entire decade younger than I do now.
What do you think? Do you agree with the stereotype that Asian women never seem to age (or at least until they hit menopause, as depicted in the cartoon above)?
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Hahaha! I was just talking about this with a couple of bloggers at a meet-up last week. They all thought I was about 10 years younger than I actually was. It’s true… You look exactly the same til you hit like a magic number. Suddenly, wrinkles appear, a hunchback, you shrink 3 inches, need super thick glasses and your hair turns white.
I think it’s just that you can’t tell the age of Asian women because the markers of age (heavy wrinkles, spots on the skin) tend to not be there.
LOL…. And Asian Pear really looks 10 years younger 😛
Sorry… I forgot to mention… The pic is hilarious. I love the aged 120 look. cause that’s so true. XD
Precisely my experience with all my female relatives.
I don’t know about the whole skinnier than ten years ago thing — I know that my face looks totally different than it did even 4 years ago, but I feel like it’s more just growing into than it is weight… It’s hard to say if it’s all weight or the body just redistributing. 🙂
How funny! But there is some truth in it. I was just carded the other night when ordering a glass of wine. & I’m nearly twice the required age limit now. Geez!
Sadly, I have a few lines in my forehead already…and I’m only 22. I think maybe I spent too much time scowling and frowning in my teens.
That cartoon cracks me up, not the least b/c she totes looks like my grandma. I used to be irritated that I looked so young, but I’m going to be sad when I stop being carded.
heehee that cartoon is too funny. i’m 34, and many people think i’m in my young 20’s upon meeting me. i have some wrinkles, though, so i do think i’m aging gradually–no sudden onset post-menopause aging for me!
That cartoon strip is right on!!! I swear my 50+ mom aged drastically after menopause!
This is one of the “It’s sad because it’s true” things which I’m ashamed to say I take advantage of. In fact, my current boyfriend thought I was only 28 when we met, which is four less years than I actually am.
I think Asian woman are really bitchy and fake. They’re very ugly too I’ve never seen a cute Asian you all look the same plus they always put themselves first thank god I’m gorgeous and not Asian.
Congrats — I think you may be the next Alexandra Wallace!
Trololololo
LOL!!! fo reals…troll!!
“…really bitchy and fake.”
If you’re talking about yourself, then yes. Otherwise, you have no authority to make such crass generalizations. Asians have as wide a range of personalities as any other race.
Esmerald, you say: “I think Asian woman are really bitchy and fake. They’re very ugly too I’ve never seen a cute Asian you all look the same plus they always put themselves first thank god I’m gorgeous and not Asian.”
Better take a look at yourself in the morning light, Esmerald, and re-evaluate your level of ‘gorgeousness’ and just who is the ‘bitchy-and-fake’ woman in this commentary.
That you are up-front in stating that ‘you all look the same’ merely demonstrates that your racism makes anything you have to say quite irrelevant.
For the record: I am a White Guy. My daughter, both granddaughters and great-granddaughter are obviously Asian: Cambodia/Vietnam/P.I.
All are attractive women; intelligent; well-educated; skilled in their job requirements; and well-versed in the Performing Arts over and above their on-the-job requirements.
My six-year-old great-granddaughter is in kindergarten, but has been promoted to First Grade in Spelling and Language Arts, excelling in Public Speaking (once I spoke to her about sharing her time with her classmates).
After a tour in Iraq, in which he won a Bronze Star, her father is now deployed to Afghanistan.
She is working as hard as a six-year-old can to impress her father with all she is accomplishing while he is absent from (yet part of) her family.
Look more closely at this family, Esmerald!
These are Asian-American families making sacrifices for our country!
Bob, Don’t feed the trolls. The ‘person’ who wrote this is obviously looking for a reaction. Besides, they are obviously also the ones who peed in the gene pool.
Love your hilarious comment, Bob !!!!
Esmeralda must be blind.. I am a Black guy and I have seen countless Asian women older and especially younger and MORE THAN 90% ARE DROP DEAD GORGEOUS AND EVERYBODY KNOWS IT! that said, of course some will be grouchy or not so good looking but most are beautiful I think because of their mostly petite sizes [5′ to 5’8″] with gorgeous little figures,soft cute voices,long beautiful hair,delicate pert mouths,small little hands and feet to go with that; it’s just a bomb combination they have a near monopoly on…..Maybe esmeralda is really just jealous…facts and reality are facts and reality baby..I’m just sayin
Right on the target brother…your comment is so true!
Your black tho so everyone is cute to you.
Yup… Esmeralda is definitely one jealous chick…
@esmerald stop sulking about your bf who left you for an asian. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *villain asian evil bitch laugh*
Score: jenny gets +100, racist hater Esmerald gets negative infinity.
http://1.2.3.12/bmi/i.imgur.com/QvetU.jpg
Example of stunning Asian girls.
Esmerald: Why are you even on this page, you racist hater? Let me guess, you are hispanic. Unfortunately, low-income hispanics HATE Asians. That’s all right. Stay with your own kind, you racist hater. Oh, and why don’t you get your own kind to stop raping women, stop masturbating in public, and stop screeching, “I want to suck your puuuuuuuusssssy”, sounding exactly like the Taco Bell chihuahua. Fix yourself and your own before you race-insult Asians, you racist hater. (And yeah, if racist-hater Esmerald is gonna dish racism, she’s gonna have to eat it.)
Best. Reply. EVER.
This is the most inappropriate way to reply to a troll. Responding to hate with hate is not only immature, it also speaks volumes as to who you are as a person. You are no better than the original poster. Most important, there is not a single race that is superior to another.
Hypocrite much? YOU are no better than the original poster.
“Grow up” @9:50pm: Who are YOU to judge other people’s reactions to racism? If you don’t like people expressing their views, then DON’T express your own. Nothing in jj’s post said one race was “superior” than another. It was a “give her a taste of her own medicine,” feeding Esmerald’s racist vomit right back to her. YOU are “inappropriate” and “immature” — and condescending — for thinking that you’re so high and mighty. YOU need to grow up.
Among Human animals…there is ONLY ONE RACE! Kindly UPGRADE your mindset!
Directly put…you’re a bigoted arsehole…who’s “mind” is still in the abyss of the dark ages!
WRONG!
Fact: Asian people age normally. Everyone else ages HORRIBLY.
Caucasians age the worst of all races…the Afro American is the one race that age quite gracefully…our skin does not wrinkle for a long long time…you normally can not guess our age…
This is also a false generalization, I am a 42 yr old white male and people frequently mistake me as in my early to mid 30’s.
Then again, there are always exceptions to over generalizations.
Although humans have different cultural origins. We are all of the SAME race…the HUMAN RACE! What absolute FOOLS these mortals be!!
Hahahaha
Excuse me, Ms. Hwang,
I agree with you about Asian women aging. Or appearing to not age. I have never been carded — started losing it young and growing stubble — if I am with an Asian woman, who might range in age from 20 to 35, will always be carded — except in Mexico. I’m in my early 30’s and look 45, my girlfriend will look 17 until I actually AM 45! This might be a desirable thing to some, but if we’re traveling internationally, I worry they might think I’m smuggling a minor into the U.S.! But on to something about which we disagree….
I have read several times in articles about Asian women, but have only once found it to be true, that a stereotype exists that Asian women “are meek, timid creatures who are sexual slaves in the bedroom.” In fact, that only time someone asked me if I liked my Asian ex-girlfriends because they were “submissive,” have never conversed with an Asian woman other than to say,”May I borrow a pen?” (I won’t repeat what my college roommate asked me, but both serve as exceptions to a general rule — in hundreds, if not over a thousand interactions, only two have ever assumed those bullshit stereotypes.) In fact, I think there is a stereotype that is actually threatening to sway public opinion the complete opposite direction — the domineering, shallow, fussy stereotype is much more predominate than the submissive-geisha-war-bride stereotype.
Really, who in the last ten years — or twenty? — has treated you like you’re just a “delicate little china doll?” Can we have a number? A range? More than 3? More than a half-dozen? But if you look back, I would bet you find a lot more jackasses treating you like you’re a pressure cooker ready to blow or a crocodile ready to snap. Thanks to Lucy Liu’s oh-so-empowering (that is sarcasm) portrayal of Ling on Ally McBeal, more idiots are walking around on egg shells hoping not to get burned by the Dragon Lady.
Not that you have to agree, because I’m sure each person’s experience is different; I am just pointing out that even in the deep south — I’m in Texas — such a stereotype of a frail, weak, submissive Asian woman is almost totally evaporated, certainly not “biggest.”
Well I’m happy for you that you haven’t come across this stereotype, but I have all my life and so have my Asian girlfriends. Maybe the NYC area isn’t as progressive as it likes to think? And never have I been treated as a “pressure cooker.” But like you said, everyone’s experiences are different.
Well expressed “Ms. Geek in Heels!”
I just searched your cartoon for a discussion about “asian aging” and since I am here, I want to share an example you might like: http://chrocodiles.blogspot.com/2011/01/april-xia-da-beautiful-chinese-manga.html
Xia Da is a gifted cartoonist (or mangaka) – one example of her work: http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=40489
To see her pictures with the knowledge that she turned 30 this April is mind-boggling…
I would still totally enslave you 😉
I think it is more complex, Asian men seem to be able to determine the age of Asian women. The indicators are just different is all. It is similar to everyone from country X looks the same syndrome. Once you start meeting people from country X and mixing with them you learn how to adapt what you use to determine people apart.
Asian guys I know get age checked in the UK also (I have know one or two guys get quite frustrated and upset), way past the ages of most westerners over here. Also many Asians I have talked with tend to feel that Western teenagers and adults in their early twenties appear older than they are (more mature physically). Asians without experience also seem very poor at guessing ages of Westerners who are middle aged (wild over or under-estimates, probably based on applying the standards they are used to using).
Stereotypes are useful because they are usually based on an element of truth (or a least truth from a certain perspective), and basically your brain has so much to do it is essential to make snap decisions based on generalities.
What we have to do though is treat individuals as individuals when we get to that level.
You also look good, which is something that won’t just go away as you get older. You’ll look good as a 50 year old. You should take a minute and enjoy that fact. A lot of people are not so blessed unfortunately.
Being Asian does help. I met my late wife in South Vietnam a long, long time ago. She stayed young and vibrant up until her death a couple of years ago. My children are half-Asian, and they look much, much younger than I did when I met their mother for sure, even though I was just a 20 year old boy at the time! My son hated looking younger for a while, but he’s in his mid-thirties and is doing quite well romantically I’m told.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents here. At the risk of sounding racist… Asian women are the most exquisite creatures God has ever created. I hate to generalize, BUT, Do Asian women age better? Hell yes! One reason, I believe, is that ethnic minorities have thicker skin. Ever hear the saying “Black don’t crack.”? Well, that one is pretty much true too. My wife (who is 100% Japanese) is now in her early forties and the same age as my sister (northern european and latino, like me). My sister, who is very pretty (a cross between Daisy Fuentes and Sarah Palin), began to prune-up in her mid-thirties, and by now has about as many wrinkles as a baby elephant. My wife, on the other hand, has absolutely no sign of wrinkles, no gray hairs, and only a moderate about of body fat. She has a Japanese friend that is almost 50, but looks like she is in here early 30’s. I also have a very blonde co-worker that just turned 30. And although she has a great personality (not really), she looks like a haggard old bitch with dark circles under her eyes, and a fat ass. That’s why so many white women are hating on Asian women.
Wow, you seem to really base everything on appearances. I don’t know any white women who are “hating on Asian women.” Sure, those with light skin who hang out in the sun too much will certainly age faster than those with an olive or darker complextion–but for the most part, how you look when you’re older is based on how you live now. If you gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, etc. you’ll probably age fast…or smoke…or tan…or deal with lots of stress…don’t drink enough water or not enough good foods ,etc. I can tell when Asian women are older. Not necessarily because of wrinkles, but because a give-away on age is sagging skin. And that happens to everyone.
I was asked not just once, but THREE times by airport security staff in Amsterdam this question: ” Where are your parents?” I am a 49 year old single woman traveling alone and I assume that they must not see a lot of Asian women around in that area! It certainly made my day that I was mistaken for a minor … ( AND NO…I am not a midget…at 5’6″)
I’m scared lol I hope this doesn’t happen to me. My mom looks NOTHING like this though. She’s 56, thin, takes care of her looks, and doesn’t wear thick glasses.
Hang in there, guys. I’m 48 and people still think I’m in my 20’s – okay, late 20’s. It makes me feel bad and uncomfortable when I don’t get the respect I sometimes think I’m due or I shock some girl who finds out I’m more than twice her age. But, as I get older, I think that it’s better too age more slowly than too quickly. The hardest thing was seeing my wife get old before her time. It’s also hard to see the apparent age gap open up between friends and relatives as they age and I don’t. I chalk it up to genetics.
My girlfriend is filipina and when I met her she told me that she was 28. And I thought she looked even younger than that. Well I’m 25 and I found out after we were together for almost 2 months that she was actually 34. Now she’s 35, I’m still 25, and we’re still together. 😀 It doesn’t really bother me that she’s 10 years old than me because she’s so damn cute.
Patrick, I’m Filipino/Spanish, and fifty-one (51) years old. I have a seventeen (17) year old son, and when he does my hair and his boss introduces me as my son’s mom, other women find it hard to believe, saying, “She looks like a kid herself. She must have had him when she was twelve.” That’s my photo (I’m hoping the gravatar works and yes, and I’m 50 there! No procedures whatsoever and I’m still an hourglass at 34-24-35) so this is what you have to look forward to with your Filipina lady as she grows older. Don’t lose her!^^
Are you really 50? DANG I’m vietnamese, so im no stranger to the asian people look young stereotype but DAMN! you age the most gracefully out of anybody I’ve ever seen out of any race.
That’s a good one, Patrick!
I noticed that most Asian women do not age like most caucasians. It seems to be a slower process. I find most women (Asian) as well to be wonderful people.
I love being asian. (cambodian/thai) I still get carded even though i’m 37 yrs old. It annoys me sometimes, but Im not complaining. 🙂 I have 5 kids, my oldest daughter is 17. People think we r sisters. Which is nice! Im friendly n outgoing. I get mistaken for being in my 20’s. Plenty have mistaken me for hispanic. But I will gladly let them kno I am not.
After reading what Esmerald had to say I had to comment. She is ignorant n full of hatred. No one should call another person “ugly” Beauty comes from within, n personality captures the heart. But its clear to see , she doesnt have either one. 😉
I’m a 43 year old Chinese, and every time I go with a white friend (same age) to a cosmetic counter, she will be offered wrinkle protection cream while the salesgirl just gives me a moisturizer with a look that says “you don’t need that stuff yet”! One great thing about looking younger (strangers assume I’m in my early 30s) is that I don’t need Botox and the army of age defying lotions older Caucasians spend tons of money on. I can also wear clothes meant for younger women without looking silly.
I’m 36 but people still think I’m in my mid-20s! I guess we Asians are ageless beauties . . . not unlike vampires! 🙂
Why americans are so simplistic in categorizing races.Asian american is a vague term to categorize people from Japan to Indonesia .
Actually the people who really look younger than their ages are the Thai ,philipinos ,cambodge,Indonesia’s .
This is because they are more related to Melanesian tribes who live there ,under the tropic,since prehistorical aged.
For me ,they are not Asian like Korean ,Chinese or Japanese . Real Asians are from the north part like Korea ,Japan .
Cambodian ,Thais are malesians related to south Indians .
I am a 36 year old Korean-Canadian women, born and raised in Canada. I am constantly mistaken for 25 or 26 years old. I have two beautiful children and married to a Native Indian/ Scottish Canadian.
I exercise, eat well ( well enough, lol, I love nachos and beer ) but I do eat healthy on regular basis, drink loads of green matcha tea, and wear sunscreen spf 60 everyday ( during winter, and never sit out in sun )
Okay so basically all I am saying is, I enjoy life, but I am cautious of sun and like to keep healthy, aging has to do with keeping fit, active, and generally a balanced lifestyle.
I feel Asians do hide their age well in comparison to our counterparts, due to genetics ( Asian skin is like Black, thicker, more prone to sagging and brown spots ) although we are fair, we age like Black in terms of wrinkles (lack there of )
I know in Korea, women tend to spend a small fortune on taking care of their skin and learn at an early age, to take care of their skin,( wash every night, tone, and cream ) and generally eat very healthy and are more petite which happens to help with hiding their age as well.
My mother who is 60 this year, looks in her mid 40’s, still tiny and plays gold, lol!!
So to all, stick to a couple rules of thumb, eat balanced meals, exercise and wear SUNCSREEN!!!!! Oh and drink GREEN tea everyday, matcha powder green tea, available at any health food store or Teaopia.
I totally agree with the stereotype, but i think that instead of genes, it is due to lifestyle, specially diet. Culturally, asian eating and living habits are just alot more healty than western counterparts, thats why this stereotipe may not work as well on you
I don’t think looking younger than you are is a bad thing
Western women tan and Asian women don’t. Enough said.
I’m a redhead and never go in the sun. Today I am 35, milky white skin and not a wrinkle in sight. 🙂 Caucasion women here in South Africa, where I live, age MUCH faster than Europeans. Number one reason: SUN.