By now, I'm familiar with most Chinese perceptions of female beauty: white skin, big eyes with long eyelashes, thin legs, nice breasts. I've seen products that can help with all of these areas. The most ubiquitous are the whitening skin products; it is nearly impossible to find a skin product that doesn't whiten, whether it's lotion, face wash, or sunscreen. There are plenty of eye makeup products as well as eyelash lengthening treatments, and if that isn't permanent enough, surgery to get a upper eyelid crease. There is a weight-loss tea commercial I see everyday on the bus that supposedly slims every part of your body, including your calves. In Korea you can get calf slimming surgery (where they basically remove some muscles…) And as for breast enhancement, other than the obvious plastic surgery, I once saw a bizarre infomercial for a "breast spray". It costs only 9 yuan but promises to increase bust size from flat to popping out of your shirt. It was the most entertaining thing I've seen.
I haven't really figured out what Chinese guy attractiveness is, although many girls have said they like their men to have an apartment…haha, oh sad but true.
I don't think Chinese people are more gullible when it comes to health and beauty miracle products (then again, they have Chinese medicine…) but I see so many commercials here, so they must have some sort of target audience. Like that diet tea commercial on the bus--I turn up my music whenever it comes on because I hate the ending phrase "不要太瘦!“ (Don't be too skinny!) I don't get it. I just watched a 2 minute commercial on how you can slim down your neck, waist, hips, arms, calves, and face.
As for Chinese health…it's interesting how so many things are still rooted in old ideas. We were talking about Xiao Xu's wife, who is doing the traditional 坐月子 after having a baby. Traditionally, the new mother can't leave the house for a month, eat "cold qi" food, take a shower, be exposed to wind, etc… maybe before modern medicine, these practices helped women recover faster. The modern version of "sitting a month" doesn't have to include no showering, but it often includes not using the tv, cellphone, or going online. I feel like this would just lead to postpartum depression, all the being cooped up inside with your mother-in-law and being made to eat pig knuckles and drink herbal concoctions. Then again, maybe you can have better psychological health and bond with your baby more. I'm sure lots of working moms regret not spending more time with their babies. But Chinese people never bring up that as a reason for 坐月子, probably because talking about psychological health is still a little taboo.
I'm not very convinced by most Chinese medicine practices, especially when I ask people how do they know it works and they reply, "Because we've been doing it for 5000 years!" Ah well. Sometimes peace of mind is the best thing and who am I to take that away?
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Hahaha, I think the thing I freak out most about is whether a product has the whitening chemical in it. I'm convinced it'll give me skin cancer or something. I always ask the 服务员 if the product has 美白 in it, and they always proudly say "yes," and I quickly replace it back on the shelf to their dismay.
ReplyDeleteAs for Chinese medicine, I think I am a firm believer of Chinese naturpathy, none of that bottled pill-form stuff. I think I've never considered the whole "using it for 5000 years" thing, but rather continue using it because it's proven effective over the years. A lot of 小毛病 can be "cured" per se, at least the symptoms by Chinese medicine, but none of the big things like cancer. A lot of the herbs or more like grass and tree bark end up causing your body to get rid of whatever dirty thing is in your body. I am a huge fan of 铁打酒, which may simply be a Cantonese thing, but I am prone to hurting myself often and pull things I shouldn't... this has always helped me, which I suppose has its scientific reasoning as well. I guess there's a rhyme and reason for everything. The Chinese are far too 夸张; I don't believe in some lofty Taoist logic, but I think it works because there is some medicinal purposes that science can prove as well. :) Who knows, but I know a lot of people are researching about it at the moment. I don't think it's all just a placebo effect.