“How to Look Like a Hafu: Consumption of the Image of ‘Part-White’ Women in Contemporary Japan”, 2016 (; backlinks):
This paper examines the consumption of whiteness through a study of make-up style in contemporary Japan. Since the late 2000s, ‘hafu gao make-up’ has become a fashion trend amongst young women; it has been featured in women’s magazines, beauty salons, and cosmetic stores. Hafu gao refers to a distinctive make-up style which looks supposedly ‘part-white’ (hafu).
Through an analysis of women’s magazines, I will describe how and why this make-up style has become so popular through its featuring of ‘hafu’ women as ‘models’ to fill the gap between ideal and reality for women in Japan.
[Keywords: whiteness, consumption, representation, performance, hafu, ‘part-white’]