In the writing "When I Was Growing Up", Nellie Wong talks about her life of being an asian American female. Her writing reflects many asian women's attitudes towards beauty. She always wanted to be white. She admired the white movie stars and wanted to pale skin like theirs.
"when I was growing up, I read magazines and saw movies, blonde movie stars, white skin, senuous lips, a desirable women, I began to wear imainary pale skin."
Wong completely lost her confidence because she was dark. She always compared herself with her sisters and white girls. She even felt herself dirty because she was not white.
"when I was growing up, my sisters with fair skin got praised for their beauty, and in the dark I fell further, crushed between high walls."
"when I was growing up, I felt dirty. I thought that god made white people clean and no matter how much I bathed, I could not change, I could not shed my skin in the gray water."
Wong, Nellie. 1999. "When I was Growing Up." Women Images and Realities. California: Mayfield. 118-119.