衣更真绪的青梅竹马:For me, it's still brains over beauty

By Xu Xiaomin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-21 07:57
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Hong Huang, a well-known Chinese writer, recently wrote in her blog:Because I am not good looking, I must cultivate my other values.
Sharing her, well, "average" looks and being a writer like her, Ismiled in agreement with her point of view. I've always believed God istoo busy to care for everyone, so we need to open doors for ourselves.
A beautiful look is a rare gift from God. So is wisdom. But in theincreasingly materialistic society of fast developing Shanghai, beautyis what catches people's eye. A wise woman, no matter how witty andsharp she may be, often feels at a loss in finding her place in work andin play.
Indeed, physical looks have never been raised to such a high pedestalin the minds of men and women since the founding of New China 60 yearsago.
In the early days of the People's Republic, Chairman Mao once calledon all women to pursue gender equality through hard work. In thatpoverty stricken era, women were admired for their physical toughnessand mental dexterity. Strength was beauty.
Even during my childhood in 1980s, my parents and teachers keptreminding me that studying to improve my mind should always takeprecedence over efforts to enhance my outward look. Hence, I found myidol in Jane Eyre rather than those teenage heartthrobs from Taiwan orHong Kong who had a big following among my high school peers.
My friends and I, who shared the same values, used to sneer at those"social butterflies" in their fancy dresses and designer hairdos. In ourWal-Mart clothing and straight hair, cut short above the neck, wedidn't really feel deprived at all. On the contrary, we actuallysucceeded in conditioning ourselves to feel superior toward those whomwe derided as chou mei, or stinking tarts.
Not anymore. Whatever confidence we had in our superior intellectagainst the "bimbos" has been chipped away by a rapid shift in socialnorms shaped by money, manifested in the madding crowd's ignoble strifein stocks and properties.
The saying that beauty is skin deep may still hold true. But as apopular line from a South Korean movie suggested, "a pretty face willwin the bread". Most of the time, it wins more than just the bread.
Pretty kids win more care in the kindergartens, beautiful girls have more choices in their pursuit of career or men.

The privilege that comes with good looks has become ingrained in theminds of many young people. Their obsession with beauty has helped thegrowth of beauty parlors, face-lift clinics and assorted health centers,making promises only the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella could fulfill.
Of course, Shanghai women's preoccupation with looking good is notnecessarily a bad thing. A well-groomed and elegantly dressed woman witha beautiful face and a well-proportioned body is an inspiration notonly to men, but also to those of us who are either too lazy oruninitiated to doll up every time we go out.
But what I object to is the over-emphasis on outward appearance overother, I dare say, more important attributes. The Shanghai Dragon TVstation recently staged an "Oriental Angel" contest to "dig out," as thehost said, young talent in singing and acting.
To nobody's surprise, the winners were all pretty faces. But none of them had shown any promise either in singing or acting.
Now you know why I still prefer my hair short and hardly wear any makeup.
(China Daily 08/21/2009 page9)