A Singaporean discovers more about the obsession with beauty trends in China

Does any beauty fad from China even surprise us any more? Two weeks ago, a group of women onboard a train during rush hour in Beijing were spotted with condoms on their faces. The sighting quickly picked up steam on the Web as a method to get smoother skin, yet another one of those wacky beauty trends that emerged from the mainland. But it was later discovered that it was a publicity stunt for DaXiang Condom China, making the dubious claim that the lubricant used for its condoms was good for the skin.

Just another day in China, isn’t it? But are the Chinese really that one-dimensional? As a Singaporean, I have always looked at China from the outside in. My grandparents hail from the Guangdong Province, and that is about the only connection (in name) I have to the country.

So when I moved from Pasir Ris to Beijing in April, I found myself thrown into the deep end of Chinese culture, learning to navigate through the mind-boggling, dazzling landscape of Chinese Web culture.

Earlier in March, Weibo was inundated with the #A4waist, #iPhone6legs and #100RMBwrist challenges in quick succession. They were neither new nor surprising to me. I still recall when these bizarre beauty trends popped up on my radar last year when a website reported that girls on Weibo were balancing coins on their collarbones and reaching for their belly button backhand. At that time, I thought the trends were vapid, disgusting, and did nothing for women who had body-image issues.

But being in Beijing, after seeing it play out in front of me and interacting with Chinese girls, I now realise that there’s a lot more going on behind the phenomena. Much of the discourse doesn’t reach the outside world. Or maybe, no one really cares to find out. When the world looks at China, there’s an eagerness to paint the country and its people as superficial or shallow. And like most viral stories that come out from the mainland, the singular narrative of these beauty trends ends with the Chinese looking ridiculous and self-absorbed.

SELF-AWARE, 
THANK YOU VERY MUCH


Contrary to what many think, China knows that these trends are problematic — and many of its citizens are reacting to them in their own ways.

People opposing the trends are slowly making their opinions heard, and are in fact taking over the hashtags with their criticism.

An example of criticism includes netizens calling the participants of the trends “brain-dead” and “pointless”. One popular account on Weibo, Voices of Feminism, also wrote a lengthy article criticising the unhealthy beauty standards, and called for women to love their waists — A4-sized or not.

The irritation spills over to real life, too. “It’s completely stupid and silly. I don’t think anybody’s waist should be judged by a piece of paper,” said Cecilia Ren, a 24-year-old writer I spoke to. “Women are already pressured to achieve a ‘perfect’ type of body, and honestly, that body simply doesn’t exist.”

Meanwhile, others understand that this is merely an online trend, and not a real representation of the women and mentality in China. “It’s just part of life — people just want to feel like they belong to a part of a movement or activity,” added Lu Wei, 29.

JOKE’S ON YOU


To us, these beauty trends might be yet another warped, unachievable standard. But to some Chinese girls, they see the entire thing as a joke.

“I don’t have an A4 waist, but I’m not really bothered by it,” said student Chen Qianyi. “How do I know I don’t have an A4 waist? Of course, I tried in front of the mirror!”

Chen, 24, is not the only one who’s able to laugh at herself, and at the trend. Plenty of others on the Web have taken to humour to express a soft disapproval. Either disappointed that they are unable to hit the requirements of the #A4waist or #iPhone6legs, or fed up with the impossibility of the trends, girls on Weibo have come up with even more ridiculous ways to mock the trends. One user grabbed her foot with her thumb and third finger, saying this proved she had small feet. Another placed her iPhone on the sole of her feet. And they’ve proven their point, really. These markers of beauty are nothing more than arbitrary — and a joke.

And like any trend, these prominent ones might have taken on a life of their own. “To be fair, most Chinese girls are really tiny — that’s how we’re genetically built,” said Ren. “Perhaps initially, these girls took these pictures to try to be funny, but then it just got blown out of proportion.” From wrapping bank notes around their wrists to reaching their lips from over the back of their head, it’s hard to tell where the jokes start.

LOST IN TRANSLATION


With the Chinese Web, it’s difficult to track the development of a meme because it moves so quickly. It is also a complex arena, full of puns, jokes and sarcasm. Chinese netizens recently suggested a new beauty trend — one with 2B pencils crossing the face. Outsiders who don’t know better would never be in on the joke. “2B” in Chinese is actually a homonym for “stupid b**tch”.

“Honestly, the world doesn’t understand the Chinese Web,” explained Ben Zhao, 28. “If they did, they’d be laughing along with us at these ridiculous trends.”

The thing is, it’s really easy to criticise a culture you don’t understand. “The West likes to tack on their own beauty standards on (Asia),” said Maimi Xu, 26. “That’s why our trends end up looking abnormal to them.”

The ladies I discussed this issue with agree that Chinese girls tend to be tall and thin, and that such a challenge is just harmless fun.

“Honestly, is it really that big a deal outside of China?” asked Chen. “All my friends and I took it as a joke. I don’t think it was meant to pressure us into feeling bad.”

As to why it has become such a kerfuffle outside of China? Maybe China was just a convenient punching bag. “It feels like the Western media needed a talking point,” said Zhao. “And these Chinese trends seem like an odd-enough one for them to generate traffic.”

So, being behind the Great Firewall that is China has turned out to be a surprisingly eye-opening experience in the short two months that I’ve been there. And the next time I see another crazy Chinese fad, I would know it’s not what it seems to be.