I like that celebrities are being photographed with parasols, because it brings parasols to the attention of their fans.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry again
Katy Perry again
More Katy Perry
Culture??? I’m just trying to not get heatstroke while I’m walking the 4 blocks to CVS on my lunch hour. The humungo-purse means I don’t have to fiddle with a shopping bag, lunch bag, and briefcase, and it also provides a handy resting place for my humungo-brella away when I get to where I’m going 
I dunno 'bout Chicago proper, but here in the Chicago suburbs, I see “parasols” quite a bit. They’re not parasols-they’re umbrellas, but they are not uncommon. Not for people out and about --but the suburbs rarely have people out and about–but I see them frequently (and use one) at outdoor soccer games, field hockey etc. The spectators, silly, not the players.
Being of British descent, blonde, blue-eyed and having vitiligo to boot (I make Casper look black), I wear 50+ SPF AND sport an umbrella if I’m to be out in the sun for any real length of time. It’s not even so much for the sun protection (the SPF does that well), it’s for the cool, cool shade it provides. I have had mothers ask me at soccer games if their little ones (there to watch big bro or sis play) could sit under it instead of wilting away in the heat. I’ve had moms take one look, say to me-that’s a great idea! and go get their brolly out of their car.
It’s practical and sensible. Frilly burkas? :dubious:
As to the cultural differences, I see none regarding Asian women and Western women. Time was Western women protected their lily white skin (classic examples: Scarlett O’Hara or Laura Ingalls Wilder not wearing her sunbonnet), then milky white lost prestige and tanning became the rage. There’s a Mary Tyler Moore show all about her seeking a nice, even tan. We know better now, and if the reasons for lily white are different now, that’s all to the good, but apparently Scarlett et al weren’t completely vain.
How is a parasol any more affected than Hello Kitty or anime stuff? Those Asian women probably also fixate on their figures as well as their skin… just like American or Western young women do. Our culture is just as demanding and “oppressive” of young women’s appearances as the Chinese or other Asian countries. If anything, at least they’re more overt about it. Seems to me that since Asian people know about SPF etc, they like the parasols because they’re a fashion accessory that actually provides some utility.
And wtf is wrong with a large purse? I’d rather carry one large bag that can hold my stuff, my laptop and my lunch than look like a pack mule with 3-4 bags that I see some women carrying every day. That’s their choice; to me, it looks uncomfortable and I’d probably lose one of them.
It’s not the items themselves, as much as the incredible pressure many young women are under to have a skin color that for many simply isn’t possible, and the self-loathing that too often comes with that pressure. I had one of my top students- an extremely smart, beautiful, capable young women- break down and cry in my office because she got a mild sun tan. A lot of these women literally hate their own skin, and how can you go out there and grab life by the balls when you are spending your mental energy despising yourself? As a teacher whose job is to encourage and care about these students, it’s tough to watch.
If it would make you feel better, I could also say that I think Cameroonians should not marry off their girls at twelve and thirteen. I’m pretty much against anything that makes women’s lives more limited and difficult than their male peers.
But really, aren’t we all carrying giant teddy bears?
This exact sentiment, applied to weight control or “beauty” could be applied to ANY culture regarding women in the world. MOST women hate their own skin, and not just for the color of it. Yes, that fact is deplorable, but why pick on Asian women and a practical habit of skin protection?
Well, that’s a relief.
Beastly: IMO, the world might be better off if we all did carry giant teddies around. Or at least break for milk and cookies at 3pm every day. Or maybe a nap. Something!
I call him Mister Shivvy because he has a knife concealed in his stuffing. He is a great comfort to me when I am rioting over shoes.
I spent one summer living in Tallahassee and walking to and from classes. I also lived off-campus, so I had to be pretty prepared for whatever weather was going to happen; in summer, this meant carrying an umbrella for the inevitable daily storm, followed by the pavement steaming itself dry. I carried this model, and was frequently seen about town, using it as a parasol. Why? I’m pale and can be careless about sunscreen, and the temperature difference under the umbrella was significant.
I currently have a similar model, but would feel a bit silly using it as a parasol when I walk to places on my lunch break at work. Why? I don’t see that much sunshine, so I need the extra vitamin D. Additionally, I’m already sunscreened and covered by clothes, so it’d do very little to make a significant difference. On weekends or at festivals, I wouldn’t have an issue with using it as a parasol.
Also Kari Byron, seen here modelling her trademark helpless impracticality.
Because I happened to be in Asia at the time, mentoring women?
It’s not like I’m on the “Wymyn Against Parasols” committee out to ban umbrellas as the number one symbol of female oppression. I was in a context where they perpetuated an unrealistic and damaging beauty standard, and I wished my students hadn’t have had that pressure in their life. And yes, every time my female students chose not to attend a lecture or to skip a field trip or to otherwise limit their life and opportunities because of this norm (and they would often refuse to go outside if the sun was shining), I told them that I think their brain is more important than their skin. I’d have been a crappy teacher and a crappy role model if I had done otherwise.
You sound like you’re on that committee. Don’t all of us older women have a duty to even informally mentor younger women to not give into the immense pressures on them to conform to certain beauty standards? I did and do for my daughter and my oldest son’s GF. It’s called being a decent person aka being kind.
But I don’t think it includes singling out one habit that seems harmless and may do some good vs others that are truly damaging–dieting, bulimia, altering body parts, verbal expressions of self-loathing. Lots of younger women wore Wellington boots as fashion accessories last year. They’re practical (and better/safer than FMPs). They looked silly as hell, too, but so what? I suppose I could have gone round and badgered them to stop wearing them, but what purpose would that serve?
IOW, I think the parasol use has more functionality than just wanting that pale complexion. And since conformity within certain parameters is a hallmark of that age group, no matter the country of origin, it makes more sense to me to let that one go and concentrate on building their self-confidence via appropriate feedback and active participation in intellectual debate. YMDV.
One could argue that Asian girls in a truly sun poor village, who are probably not eating fortified dairy products, are at high risk for Vitamin D deficiency. Hiding from what small amount of sunlight there is could compound the risk. Or do Asian diets have some other source of Vitamin D I’m unaware of?
Anyway, I can see why that one, very in-yer-face aspect of adolescent femininity would grate on evensven. Similarly drives me batshit insane when every six or eight legged creature in someone’s tent is cue for the teenaged girls to squeal and scream and run and explain, loudly, to anyone in a half mile radius how they can’t STAND spiders, and bugs are so GROSS! and would some big strong man please please please come and take care of it?!
I mean, neither parasols nor spiders are the actual problem, but some days they feel like they are.
Really? You’ve hever seen a Murse? Now you have
Men are less likely to have to stand around and wait in the hot sun; women are on time! (d&r)
It’s because we actually ask for directions, darnit. 
My wife (Vietnamese by birth) used to carry an umbrella while walking to work on very sunny days. People often felt obliged to scream at her out of their car windows, “It’s not raining!” I didn’t consider her to be the freak in that equation.
Politics aside, you all realize it’s possible to sunburn on a cloudy day, right? In fact, it’s often more likely to happen, because:
- people think that because they can’t see the sun, it can’t burn them, and
- the clouds scatter the UV light everywhere, so it’s not just coming straight down from the sky, but bouncing around and finding you even under your hat (or umbrella).
Just because the light is diffuse doesn’t mean it can’t burn. Even in those circumstances, an umbrella would at least cut down on the amount of UV you’re exposed to. (As it does with direct sunlight, really, since strong sunlight will also bounce off of walls, sidewalks, etc.)
As for sunblock – if I’m standing in direct sunlight, sunblock gives me maybe 30-40 minutes instead of 10. It also makes my skin feel gross and dirty, like it’s basically gluing dust and crap to my skin, especially my face where said crap clogs pores and makes me break out. Since it’s not helpful for long-term sun exposure anyway, I keep to the shade if I’m outdoors for that long, even if that means bringing my own.
Seriously. This is the place I am talking about. Year round. Rain or (un)shine it’s a flat dim grey fog. They gave us sun lamps and heavy duty vitamin D capsules so that we wouldn’t get sick.
Disagree with my politics all you want- that’s what a forum is for. But the whole “I just disagree with everything you say” is obnoxious. You couldn’t get a sunburn in that town if it were your only single goal in life and you have no good reason to be arguing otherwise. This place makes London look like Florida.
Can I disagree with your habit of going on and on about that town long after anyone’s cared? Seriously, sven, go set up a “rural Chinese women suck” web page or something.
Change that to “regressive gender norms, male or female, anywhere in the world suck” and you’ll have a deal. White skin, thinness, six packs, straight hair, tall height…I’m pretty equal opportunity in believing a narrow standard of beauty makes a lot of people miserable and wastes an inordinate amount of energy without bringing anything new or constructive to either the individual or society.
Yes, and diffuse hazy sunlight can still give you sunburn.
Emphasis mine.