Chinese Beauty Standards analysis

For young women, the definition of beauty that is marketed towards them is that of a young lady who has creamy white skin that is free of blemishes, big wide eyes that are quite proportional as well as a figure that can be only be described as being stick thin. Even though this above stated pressure does not equally carry over to the male gender, the men are still pressured by society in some way to attain a physical image that is appropriate and ideal. These young men are constantly fed images and ideas of beauty ideals that are quite different to their own current physical attributes. These ideals include a figure that is tall and slim. (Rhodes, Yoshikawa and Clark) Moreover, they should also have a hint of feminine characteristics.

Through these various forms of media, Asian men in particular are oftentimes portrayed as characters with a feminine looking image that is desired by many young Chinese men who go to great lengths to achieve this. For instance, men from the West will mainly work out in order to increase their muscle mass but on the other hand, Chinese men will try their level best to maintain a figure that is both slim and non-muscular. Scholarly sources have even gone as far as that that these Asian men who grasp onto Confucian ideals will more often than not exhibit an exterior that is tender and inner will that is quite strong. (Xu and Feiner) Women actually have to adhere to far more standards in order to conform to the ideal standard of beauty in the republic of China.

This pressure is not mainly created by advertisements but women are pressured from very many angles. This is due to the fact that throughout the entire globe, a large number of studies have that if one is more beautiful, this directly correlates to an increase salary or hourly income at his/her place of work. China has one of the high rates for cosmetic surgery on the entire planet. This could be partly or even wholly affected by the misplaced perception of working people within the nation who see their attainment of certain beauty standards as a way in which they can further their careers as well as attain better forms of gainful employment. (Evans and McConnell) While more attractive people usually have an advantage or they find it easier to acquire work in all forms of occupation, the service industry in China is even more competitive.

Certain jobs like working in real estate or being a flight attendant all come with very specific requirements regarding make up and even uniforms. This is not right and beauty becoming a necessity in order for one to secure a future is not an ideal that should be held in the modern world. (Rhodes, Yoshikawa and Clark) In conclusion, these beauty standards are largely unbecoming of a society that should be focused on building a brighter future. People are going to great lengths and even putting themselves at risk in order to adhere to a certain standard that was forced upon them. Many people are made to feel as if their qualities are not sufficient in their natural state and thus they have to resort to inhuman tactics such as skin whitening creams as well as starvation in order to attain acceptance and slot into the narrow acceptable standard of beauty that should not even exist in the first place.