“And I saw billboards, magazines, TV shows that all equated breasts with beauty. “When you’re a teenager, you take cues from your environment to find the metrics of how a culture measures a woman’s worth,” she wrote. The “Fresh Off the Boat” actress also opened up about the insecurities she used to have with her small breasts, and how people often told her, “Real women have curves.” The experience, which also included body-shaming for her height and weight, led Wu wear padded bras to look more like the women she saw in billboards, magazines, and TV shows. I like my freckles and my natural skin color. I’m the granddaughter of Chinese bamboo farmers, the daughter of immigrants, the sister of an ultramarathoner (who runs for hours…in the sun!), and an American. It signifies our heritage, and that’s not something to hide,” she wrote.

“I’m an American, and Americans are proud of our working-class roots. Not only did Wu condemn skin-lightening products, but she also spoke out on why she has no intention of changing her natural features. “This comes from an old Asian cultural idea that dark skin signifies being in the fields and working-class.” MORE: Priyanka Chopra Regrets Using and Endorsing Skin-Lightening CreamsĬoming from a family of “Chinese bamboo farmers, Wu isn’t one to deny her heritage.

The salesgirls would push whitening products on me and try to fade my freckles,” she wrote. “I’d go into skin-care stores, and there would be all these skin-whitening products. When she entered these stores, she revealed that she would often be urged by employees to buy skin-lightening products to “whiten” her skin and fade her natural freckles.Īccording to Wu, the Asian culture’s frequent preference for lighter skin stems from an age-old stigma associating dark skin with working-class field laborers. In an essay for Allure, Wu revealed that she recently traveled to Singapore and Malaysia to shoot her upcoming film, “Crazy Rich Asians.” There, she said she came across multiple skin-care stores advertising skin-lightening products, such as creams and lotions. The 35-year-old actress, who is frequently a pioneer for Asian and Asian-American representation in Hollywood, is switching gears and speaking out on the dangers of skin-lightening creams and the harmful standard the Asian beauty industry often perpetuates. Constance Wu is standing up against Asian beauty stereotypes.

Set to Music by Constance M. White