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Becoming Beautiful: Female Beauty and Beauty Practices in Contemporary China
This book explores young women’s negotiations of female beauty and beauty practices in contemporary China, based on 20 semi-structured interviews, 10 beauty diaries, and 10 follow-up interviews with women aged 18–25. The research takes an interdisciplinary feminist approach to explore several themes related to beauty, including reasons for engaging in beauty practices, daily beauty routines and their understanding of what constitutes female beauty. Focusing on the under-researched everyday beauty practices in Chinese culture, the book addresses gaps in feminist work on beauty, particularly by examining postfeminism in China. It reveals how young Chinese women use postfeminist discourse of choice and pleasure to explain their beauty practices, while also negotiating inner and outer beauty within a Chinese social and political context. This study highlights how local values and postfeminism shape attitudes toward beauty. This book also foregrounds the issues of cultural specificity within beauty culture studies. Combining rich empirical data with feminist analysis, this work appeals to students and scholars of sociology, women’s and gender studies, feminist theory, media and cultural studies, and Chinese and East Asian studies.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 11, 2025
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May 5, 2025
(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
В целом неплохая книга, которая рассматривает вопрос женской красоты в сегодняшнем китайском обществе. Трудно сказать насколько описываемая практика и описываемые реалии китайского общества резонируют с обществами других стран, в частности стран Запада. Есть одна существенная проблема в книге, которая мешает экстраполировать китайскую ситуацию на все остальные страны. В частности мне трудно понять насколько частный случай, о которых пишет автор, является общим местом, тотальным, т.е. насколько культ красоты в китайском обществе является распространённым явлением, а не проблемой небольшого количества психологически неустойчивых женщин. Да, мы знаем из истории, что женщины всегда уделяли огромное внимание своей привлекательности, даже в ущерб здоровью, как например использование ядовитого макияжа, однако сегодня женщина может быть красивой и без использования опасных средств и методов. Однако некоторые женщины, в силу явных психологических отклонений, переходят черту адекватности вследствие чего идут на многочисленные пластические операции. Это не является нормой, а явным отклонением, точно таким же отклонением каким является булимия и анорексия. Хотя автор ничего не пишет о проблеме излишней худобы, которая практикуется некоторыми женщинами, чтобы достичь экстремальной стройности, которая в своих экстремальных формах уже перестаёт быть эстетически привлекательной и сексуальной. Короче говоря, я не совсем понял насколько описываемый опыт интервьюируемых женщин применим к большинству женщин современного Китая, насколько описываемое в книге является общим местом?
Thus, it is difficult for a woman to be both an independent modern woman and a traditional family-orientated woman, yet these young women live in an era where both ideals exist in society. They are faced with the dilemma that if they focus on their careers, they will be criticised for not paying enough attention to their families.
<…>
On the one hand, it is expected that women should wear makeup, but on the other hand, they might be accused of paying too much attention to their appearance.
С одной стороны трудно не согласиться с автором, однако с другой стороны примерно то же самое можно сказать и в отношении мужчин, когда те преследуют карьерные возможности в ущерб семейным отношениям. Конечно, мужчины менее акцентированы на своём внешнем виде, однако сказать, что мужчины вообще могут за собой не следить, тоже нельзя. Мужчины так же должны следить и за своей формой, внешним видом и пр., просто они это делают не настолько радикально. В итоге мы подходим к проблеме «золотой середины» или нормы и что есть норма. Поэтому то, что пишет автор, является верным замечанием, но лишь в отношении тех, кто уходит в крайности.
Sensen believed that attractive women could get things done more easily by asking for help from men. In other words, men will only help women they consider attractive. She also felt that beautiful girls are often luckier, indicating that she thought that attractive women had more social power, which would enable them to gain numerous benefits. Moreover, Sensen later explained her opinion on why she considered beautiful girls lucky: they could more easily find jobs, although they may have average abilities; because they look so adorable, people like them more and job interviews are easy for them.
Если почитать любой хороший и комплексный учебник по социальной психологии, в нём можно найти главу, в которой рассказывается что привлекательные люди, независимо от пола, воспринимаются другими людьми более позитивно, заслуживающие большего доверия и т.д. К примеру, более привлекательный человек может получить более мягкое наказание за совершённое преступление, чем человек с обычной внешностью или даже непривлекательный человек. Так что быть привлекательным, независимо от пола, это всегда эффективно о какой бы сфере жизни не шла бы речь. Да, женская привлекательность более очевидна в этом отношении, но и мужская привлекательность, как пишут социальные психологи, так же играет роль.
As Deer put it metaphorically, compliments regarding women’s appearance are like sugar water—the more compliments one receives, the thirstier they are for more. From her point of view, such compliments encourage or force women to pay more attention to their appearance and spend more energy on beauty practices. She, therefore, did not think that paying too much attention to outer beauty was healthy for women, using the word poison. After the age bonus is over, all their hard work on their appearance and efforts to master beauty practices will be gone without any recognition.
Какое-то детское представление о комплиментах. Если женщина получает комплименты только в отношении своей привлекательности это вовсе не значит что она откажется от получения хорошего образования, саморазвития и пр., только из-за того что получает комплименты в отношении того что проще всего заметить. Чтобы понять глубокий внутренний мир другого человека, нужно долго знать этого человека. Внешняя привлекательность же является тем, что видна в ту же секунду как человек, условно говоря, вошёл в дверь. Ну, т.е. если я вижу незнакомую женщину, и мне хочется сделать комплимент ей, то единственный комплимент какой я могу сделать, это лишь тот, что связан с её внешней привлекательностью, т.к. другие её ценности просто скрыты, неизвестны мне. И это я не говорю о том, что даже в пожилом возрасте можно получать комплименты, связанные с внешнем видом, если человек следит за своим здоровьем, физической формой и психическим состоянием.
For example, internet celebrities and beauty bloggers promote makeup through social media. It appears to be the case that women wear makeup to look normal; however, it devalues how they look without makeup. If a woman does not wear makeup, she may feel abnormal or even ugly—as found in my data.
С моей точки зрения, это частный случай. Женщина может, как использовать так и не использовать макияж, т.к. общество её делать это не заставляет. Тут, опять же, речь идёт скорее о психологических проблемах некоторых женщин, нежели о распространённом явлении. К тому же автор не говорит о том, насколько активно предлагается использовать косметику, что тоже важно.
Some of the participants even felt that being makeup-free could be considered disrespectful to others. In everyday life, most of them felt that if women chose to be makeup-free, they would appear sickly and that people around them would think that they were not looking after themselves. Being makeup-free is also associated with negative moral judgements, such as being lazy or careless.
<…>
Wearing makeup is often seen as a moral duty, while being makeup-free is perceived as a moral failure. There is a clear message from society to young Chinese women that wearing makeup is morally good and being makeup-free is morally bad.
А вот это более интересное наблюдение, но оно важно так же исходя из контекста. К примеру, если женщина работает продавцом, то хочет она или нет, но она просто обязана использовать макияж чтобы быть привлекательной и обаятельной. И это касается не только продавцов, но и другие профессии, как например, стюардесса. Если же речь идёт о бухгалтере или о враче, то тут требование к использованию косметики явно не уместно. Так что и тут не понятно, о каком контексте пишет автор. Хотя это и интересно, что китайское общество имеет такие требования в отношении женщин. Впрочем, обязательств в отношении мужчин, как например обязанность носить костюм, у современного общества так же имеется.
For most of my participants, being beautiful was an important aspect of their identity. Through consumption, participants were able to imagine themselves as beautiful, and through this experience, they gained pleasure.
<…>
She, therefore, suggested that women do not need to care about men’s approval regarding their looks and should do it for their own pleasure. Thus, she put herself in an equal position to men—even though she conformed to normative beauty practices—by reasoning differently as to why women do their makeup. She did not see herself as powerless or as a victim.
Как видим, всё в какой-то момент всё равно возвращается на круги своя. Да, я понимаю что автор, скорее всего, описывая проблему Beautification, говорит о крайних случаях, о случаях экстрима, фактически об неадекватных действиях со стороны некоторых женщин и девушках в отношении своего внешнего вида и да, эта проблема существует. Однако в книге очень мало говорится о среднестатистических женщинах или обычных женщинах. Посему трудно сказать, насколько поднятые вопросы актуальны для всего современного китайского общества и для остальных обществ. Излишнее внимание к внешнему виду так же как использование компьютерных средств для создание идеализированных женских образов, конечно, идёт во вред, как обществу, так и женскому здоровью и посему речь скорее должна идти о нахождении «золотой середины», о гармонии внутреннего с внешним, но точно не об отказе, как например полном отказе от косметики или от стремления быть ухоженной и привлекательной. Самым лучшим примером является практика фитнес упражнений, которые не только делают человека внешне привлекательным, но и биологически здоровым и даже психологически здоровым. Вот то же самое можно сказать и в отношении косметики и женской привлекательности в целом и о стремлении к этой привлекательности.
Overall, it's not a bad book that addresses the issue of female beauty in today's Chinese society. It is difficult to say to what extent the practices and realities of Chinese society resonate with societies in other countries, particularly in the West. There is one significant problem in the book that makes it difficult to extrapolate the Chinese situation to all other countries. In particular, I find it difficult to understand to what extent the particular case the author is writing about is general, total, i.e. to what extent the cult of beauty in Chinese society is a widespread phenomenon and not a problem of a small number of psychologically unstable women. Yes, we know from history that women have always paid great attention to their attractiveness, even to the detriment of their health, such as the use of poisonous makeup but today a woman can be beautiful without the use of dangerous means and methods. However, some women, due to obvious psychological abnormalities, cross the line of adequacy and therefore go for numerous plastic surgeries. This is not a norm, but a clear deviation, just as bulimia and anorexia are. However, the author does not write anything about the problem of excessive thinness, which is practiced by some women to achieve extreme slimness, which in its extreme forms ceases to be aesthetically attractive and sexy. In short, I didn't quite understand to what extent the described experiences of the interviewed women apply to most women in contemporary China, to what extent are the things described in the book commonplace?
Thus, it is difficult for a woman to be both an independent modern woman and a traditional family-orientated woman, yet these young women live in an era where both ideals exist in society. They are faced with the dilemma that if they focus on their careers, they will be criticised for not paying enough attention to their families.
<…>
On the one hand, it is expected that women should wear makeup, but on the other hand, they might be accused of paying too much attention to their appearance.
On the one hand, it is difficult to disagree with the author but, on the other hand, the same can be said about men, when they pursue career opportunities to the detriment of family and family relations. Of course, men are less focused on their appearance, but it is also impossible to say that men can not take care of themselves at all. Men also have to monitor their shape, appearance, etc., but they do not do it so radically. In the end, we come to the problem of the “golden mean” or norm and what is the norm. Therefore, what the author writes is a correct remark, but only in relation to those who go to extremes.
Sensen believed that attractive women could get things done more easily by asking for help from men. In other words, men will only help women they consider attractive. She also felt that beautiful girls are often luckier, indicating that she thought that attractive women had more social power, which would enable them to gain numerous benefits. Moreover, Sensen later explained her opinion on why she considered beautiful girls lucky: they could more easily find jobs, although they may have average abilities; because they look so adorable, people like them more and job interviews are easy for them.
If you read any good and comprehensive textbook on social psychology, you will find a chapter in which it is said that attractive people, regardless of gender, are perceived by others as more positive, trustworthy, etc. For example, a more attractive person may receive a more lenient punishment for a crime than a person of ordinary appearance or even an unattractive person. So being attractive, regardless of gender, is always effective no matter what area of life we're talking about. Yes, female attractiveness is more obvious in this respect, but male attractiveness, as social psychologists write, also plays a role.
As Deer put it metaphorically, compliments regarding women’s appearance are like sugar water—the more compliments one receives, the thirstier they are for more. From her point of view, such compliments encourage or force women to pay more attention to their appearance and spend more energy on beauty practices. She, therefore, did not think that paying too much attention to outer beauty was healthy for women, using the word poison. After the age bonus is over, all their hard work on their appearance and efforts to master beauty practices will be gone without any recognition.
It's a childish way of thinking about compliments. If a woman receives compliments only on her attractiveness, it does not mean that she will reject getting a good education, self-development, etc., just because she receives compliments on what is easiest to notice. To understand the deep inner world of another person, you need to know that person for a long time. External attractiveness is something that can be seen the second a person walks through the door. Well, i.e. if I see a woman I don't know and (I) want to compliment her, the only compliment I can give is the one related to her external attractiveness, because her other values are simply hidden, unknown to me. And I'm not even talking about the fact that even at an advanced age one can receive compliments related to appearance if a person takes care of his health, physical shape, and mental state.
For example, internet celebrities and beauty bloggers promote makeup through social media. It appears to be the case that women wear makeup to look normal; however, it devalues how they look without makeup. If a woman does not wear makeup, she may feel abnormal or even ugly—as found in my data.
From my point of view, this is a special case. A woman may or may not use makeup, because society does not force her to do so. Here, again, we are talking about the psychological problems of some women, rather than a widespread phenomenon. In addition, the author does not talk about how actively it is suggested to use makeup, which is also important.
Some of the participants even felt that being makeup-free could be considered disrespectful to others. In everyday life, most of them felt that if women chose to be makeup-free, they would appear sickly and that people around them would think that they were not looking after themselves. Being makeup-free is also associated with negative moral judgements, such as being lazy or careless.
<…>
Wearing makeup is often seen as a moral duty, while being makeup-free is perceived as a moral failure. There is a clear message from society to young Chinese women that wearing makeup is morally good and being makeup-free is morally bad.
This is a more interesting observation, but it is also important in context. For example, if a woman works as a salesperson, whether she wants to or not, she has to use makeup to be attractive and charming. And this applies not only to salespeople but also to other professions, such as flight attendants. If we are talking about an accountant or a doctor, then the requirement to use cosmetics is clearly not appropriate. So here too it is not clear what context the author is writing about. Although, it is interesting that Chinese society has such requirements for women. However, modern society also has such requirements for men, such as the obligation to wear a suit.
For most of my participants, being beautiful was an important aspect of their identity. Through consumption, participants were able to imagine themselves as beautiful, and through this experience, they gained pleasure.
<…>
She, therefore, suggested that women do not need to care about men’s approval regarding their looks and should do it for their own pleasure. Thus, she put herself in an equal position to men—even though she conformed to normative beauty practices—by reasoning differently as to why women do their makeup. She did not see herself as powerless or as a victim.
As we can see, at some point everything comes back to normal. Yes, I realize that the author, most likely, when describing the problem of Beautification, is talking about extreme cases, about inadequate actions on the part of some women and girls in relation to their appearance, and yes, this problem exists. However, the book says very little about average women. Therefore, it is difficult to say to what extent the issues raised are relevant for the whole of contemporary Chinese society and other societies. Excessive attention to appearance, as well as the use of computer tools to create idealized female images, of course, is detrimental to both society and women's health, and, therefore it should rather be about finding the “golden mean”, about the harmony of the inner with the outer, but certainly not about the refusal, such as a complete rejection of cosmetics or the desire to be well-groomed and attractive. The best example is the practice of fitness exercises, which not only make a person look attractive but also biologically healthy and even psychologically healthy. The same can be said about cosmetics and women's attractiveness in general and the pursuit of this attractiveness.
В целом неплохая книга, которая рассматривает вопрос женской красоты в сегодняшнем китайском обществе. Трудно сказать насколько описываемая практика и описываемые реалии китайского общества резонируют с обществами других стран, в частности стран Запада. Есть одна существенная проблема в книге, которая мешает экстраполировать китайскую ситуацию на все остальные страны. В частности мне трудно понять насколько частный случай, о которых пишет автор, является общим местом, тотальным, т.е. насколько культ красоты в китайском обществе является распространённым явлением, а не проблемой небольшого количества психологически неустойчивых женщин. Да, мы знаем из истории, что женщины всегда уделяли огромное внимание своей привлекательности, даже в ущерб здоровью, как например использование ядовитого макияжа, однако сегодня женщина может быть красивой и без использования опасных средств и методов. Однако некоторые женщины, в силу явных психологических отклонений, переходят черту адекватности вследствие чего идут на многочисленные пластические операции. Это не является нормой, а явным отклонением, точно таким же отклонением каким является булимия и анорексия. Хотя автор ничего не пишет о проблеме излишней худобы, которая практикуется некоторыми женщинами, чтобы достичь экстремальной стройности, которая в своих экстремальных формах уже перестаёт быть эстетически привлекательной и сексуальной. Короче говоря, я не совсем понял насколько описываемый опыт интервьюируемых женщин применим к большинству женщин современного Китая, насколько описываемое в книге является общим местом?
Thus, it is difficult for a woman to be both an independent modern woman and a traditional family-orientated woman, yet these young women live in an era where both ideals exist in society. They are faced with the dilemma that if they focus on their careers, they will be criticised for not paying enough attention to their families.
<…>
On the one hand, it is expected that women should wear makeup, but on the other hand, they might be accused of paying too much attention to their appearance.
С одной стороны трудно не согласиться с автором, однако с другой стороны примерно то же самое можно сказать и в отношении мужчин, когда те преследуют карьерные возможности в ущерб семейным отношениям. Конечно, мужчины менее акцентированы на своём внешнем виде, однако сказать, что мужчины вообще могут за собой не следить, тоже нельзя. Мужчины так же должны следить и за своей формой, внешним видом и пр., просто они это делают не настолько радикально. В итоге мы подходим к проблеме «золотой середины» или нормы и что есть норма. Поэтому то, что пишет автор, является верным замечанием, но лишь в отношении тех, кто уходит в крайности.
Sensen believed that attractive women could get things done more easily by asking for help from men. In other words, men will only help women they consider attractive. She also felt that beautiful girls are often luckier, indicating that she thought that attractive women had more social power, which would enable them to gain numerous benefits. Moreover, Sensen later explained her opinion on why she considered beautiful girls lucky: they could more easily find jobs, although they may have average abilities; because they look so adorable, people like them more and job interviews are easy for them.
Если почитать любой хороший и комплексный учебник по социальной психологии, в нём можно найти главу, в которой рассказывается что привлекательные люди, независимо от пола, воспринимаются другими людьми более позитивно, заслуживающие большего доверия и т.д. К примеру, более привлекательный человек может получить более мягкое наказание за совершённое преступление, чем человек с обычной внешностью или даже непривлекательный человек. Так что быть привлекательным, независимо от пола, это всегда эффективно о какой бы сфере жизни не шла бы речь. Да, женская привлекательность более очевидна в этом отношении, но и мужская привлекательность, как пишут социальные психологи, так же играет роль.
As Deer put it metaphorically, compliments regarding women’s appearance are like sugar water—the more compliments one receives, the thirstier they are for more. From her point of view, such compliments encourage or force women to pay more attention to their appearance and spend more energy on beauty practices. She, therefore, did not think that paying too much attention to outer beauty was healthy for women, using the word poison. After the age bonus is over, all their hard work on their appearance and efforts to master beauty practices will be gone without any recognition.
Какое-то детское представление о комплиментах. Если женщина получает комплименты только в отношении своей привлекательности это вовсе не значит что она откажется от получения хорошего образования, саморазвития и пр., только из-за того что получает комплименты в отношении того что проще всего заметить. Чтобы понять глубокий внутренний мир другого человека, нужно долго знать этого человека. Внешняя привлекательность же является тем, что видна в ту же секунду как человек, условно говоря, вошёл в дверь. Ну, т.е. если я вижу незнакомую женщину, и мне хочется сделать комплимент ей, то единственный комплимент какой я могу сделать, это лишь тот, что связан с её внешней привлекательностью, т.к. другие её ценности просто скрыты, неизвестны мне. И это я не говорю о том, что даже в пожилом возрасте можно получать комплименты, связанные с внешнем видом, если человек следит за своим здоровьем, физической формой и психическим состоянием.
For example, internet celebrities and beauty bloggers promote makeup through social media. It appears to be the case that women wear makeup to look normal; however, it devalues how they look without makeup. If a woman does not wear makeup, she may feel abnormal or even ugly—as found in my data.
С моей точки зрения, это частный случай. Женщина может, как использовать так и не использовать макияж, т.к. общество её делать это не заставляет. Тут, опять же, речь идёт скорее о психологических проблемах некоторых женщин, нежели о распространённом явлении. К тому же автор не говорит о том, насколько активно предлагается использовать косметику, что тоже важно.
Some of the participants even felt that being makeup-free could be considered disrespectful to others. In everyday life, most of them felt that if women chose to be makeup-free, they would appear sickly and that people around them would think that they were not looking after themselves. Being makeup-free is also associated with negative moral judgements, such as being lazy or careless.
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Wearing makeup is often seen as a moral duty, while being makeup-free is perceived as a moral failure. There is a clear message from society to young Chinese women that wearing makeup is morally good and being makeup-free is morally bad.
А вот это более интересное наблюдение, но оно важно так же исходя из контекста. К примеру, если женщина работает продавцом, то хочет она или нет, но она просто обязана использовать макияж чтобы быть привлекательной и обаятельной. И это касается не только продавцов, но и другие профессии, как например, стюардесса. Если же речь идёт о бухгалтере или о враче, то тут требование к использованию косметики явно не уместно. Так что и тут не понятно, о каком контексте пишет автор. Хотя это и интересно, что китайское общество имеет такие требования в отношении женщин. Впрочем, обязательств в отношении мужчин, как например обязанность носить костюм, у современного общества так же имеется.
For most of my participants, being beautiful was an important aspect of their identity. Through consumption, participants were able to imagine themselves as beautiful, and through this experience, they gained pleasure.
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She, therefore, suggested that women do not need to care about men’s approval regarding their looks and should do it for their own pleasure. Thus, she put herself in an equal position to men—even though she conformed to normative beauty practices—by reasoning differently as to why women do their makeup. She did not see herself as powerless or as a victim.
Как видим, всё в какой-то момент всё равно возвращается на круги своя. Да, я понимаю что автор, скорее всего, описывая проблему Beautification, говорит о крайних случаях, о случаях экстрима, фактически об неадекватных действиях со стороны некоторых женщин и девушках в отношении своего внешнего вида и да, эта проблема существует. Однако в книге очень мало говорится о среднестатистических женщинах или обычных женщинах. Посему трудно сказать, насколько поднятые вопросы актуальны для всего современного китайского общества и для остальных обществ. Излишнее внимание к внешнему виду так же как использование компьютерных средств для создание идеализированных женских образов, конечно, идёт во вред, как обществу, так и женскому здоровью и посему речь скорее должна идти о нахождении «золотой середины», о гармонии внутреннего с внешним, но точно не об отказе, как например полном отказе от косметики или от стремления быть ухоженной и привлекательной. Самым лучшим примером является практика фитнес упражнений, которые не только делают человека внешне привлекательным, но и биологически здоровым и даже психологически здоровым. Вот то же самое можно сказать и в отношении косметики и женской привлекательности в целом и о стремлении к этой привлекательности.
Overall, it's not a bad book that addresses the issue of female beauty in today's Chinese society. It is difficult to say to what extent the practices and realities of Chinese society resonate with societies in other countries, particularly in the West. There is one significant problem in the book that makes it difficult to extrapolate the Chinese situation to all other countries. In particular, I find it difficult to understand to what extent the particular case the author is writing about is general, total, i.e. to what extent the cult of beauty in Chinese society is a widespread phenomenon and not a problem of a small number of psychologically unstable women. Yes, we know from history that women have always paid great attention to their attractiveness, even to the detriment of their health, such as the use of poisonous makeup but today a woman can be beautiful without the use of dangerous means and methods. However, some women, due to obvious psychological abnormalities, cross the line of adequacy and therefore go for numerous plastic surgeries. This is not a norm, but a clear deviation, just as bulimia and anorexia are. However, the author does not write anything about the problem of excessive thinness, which is practiced by some women to achieve extreme slimness, which in its extreme forms ceases to be aesthetically attractive and sexy. In short, I didn't quite understand to what extent the described experiences of the interviewed women apply to most women in contemporary China, to what extent are the things described in the book commonplace?
Thus, it is difficult for a woman to be both an independent modern woman and a traditional family-orientated woman, yet these young women live in an era where both ideals exist in society. They are faced with the dilemma that if they focus on their careers, they will be criticised for not paying enough attention to their families.
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On the one hand, it is expected that women should wear makeup, but on the other hand, they might be accused of paying too much attention to their appearance.
On the one hand, it is difficult to disagree with the author but, on the other hand, the same can be said about men, when they pursue career opportunities to the detriment of family and family relations. Of course, men are less focused on their appearance, but it is also impossible to say that men can not take care of themselves at all. Men also have to monitor their shape, appearance, etc., but they do not do it so radically. In the end, we come to the problem of the “golden mean” or norm and what is the norm. Therefore, what the author writes is a correct remark, but only in relation to those who go to extremes.
Sensen believed that attractive women could get things done more easily by asking for help from men. In other words, men will only help women they consider attractive. She also felt that beautiful girls are often luckier, indicating that she thought that attractive women had more social power, which would enable them to gain numerous benefits. Moreover, Sensen later explained her opinion on why she considered beautiful girls lucky: they could more easily find jobs, although they may have average abilities; because they look so adorable, people like them more and job interviews are easy for them.
If you read any good and comprehensive textbook on social psychology, you will find a chapter in which it is said that attractive people, regardless of gender, are perceived by others as more positive, trustworthy, etc. For example, a more attractive person may receive a more lenient punishment for a crime than a person of ordinary appearance or even an unattractive person. So being attractive, regardless of gender, is always effective no matter what area of life we're talking about. Yes, female attractiveness is more obvious in this respect, but male attractiveness, as social psychologists write, also plays a role.
As Deer put it metaphorically, compliments regarding women’s appearance are like sugar water—the more compliments one receives, the thirstier they are for more. From her point of view, such compliments encourage or force women to pay more attention to their appearance and spend more energy on beauty practices. She, therefore, did not think that paying too much attention to outer beauty was healthy for women, using the word poison. After the age bonus is over, all their hard work on their appearance and efforts to master beauty practices will be gone without any recognition.
It's a childish way of thinking about compliments. If a woman receives compliments only on her attractiveness, it does not mean that she will reject getting a good education, self-development, etc., just because she receives compliments on what is easiest to notice. To understand the deep inner world of another person, you need to know that person for a long time. External attractiveness is something that can be seen the second a person walks through the door. Well, i.e. if I see a woman I don't know and (I) want to compliment her, the only compliment I can give is the one related to her external attractiveness, because her other values are simply hidden, unknown to me. And I'm not even talking about the fact that even at an advanced age one can receive compliments related to appearance if a person takes care of his health, physical shape, and mental state.
For example, internet celebrities and beauty bloggers promote makeup through social media. It appears to be the case that women wear makeup to look normal; however, it devalues how they look without makeup. If a woman does not wear makeup, she may feel abnormal or even ugly—as found in my data.
From my point of view, this is a special case. A woman may or may not use makeup, because society does not force her to do so. Here, again, we are talking about the psychological problems of some women, rather than a widespread phenomenon. In addition, the author does not talk about how actively it is suggested to use makeup, which is also important.
Some of the participants even felt that being makeup-free could be considered disrespectful to others. In everyday life, most of them felt that if women chose to be makeup-free, they would appear sickly and that people around them would think that they were not looking after themselves. Being makeup-free is also associated with negative moral judgements, such as being lazy or careless.
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Wearing makeup is often seen as a moral duty, while being makeup-free is perceived as a moral failure. There is a clear message from society to young Chinese women that wearing makeup is morally good and being makeup-free is morally bad.
This is a more interesting observation, but it is also important in context. For example, if a woman works as a salesperson, whether she wants to or not, she has to use makeup to be attractive and charming. And this applies not only to salespeople but also to other professions, such as flight attendants. If we are talking about an accountant or a doctor, then the requirement to use cosmetics is clearly not appropriate. So here too it is not clear what context the author is writing about. Although, it is interesting that Chinese society has such requirements for women. However, modern society also has such requirements for men, such as the obligation to wear a suit.
For most of my participants, being beautiful was an important aspect of their identity. Through consumption, participants were able to imagine themselves as beautiful, and through this experience, they gained pleasure.
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She, therefore, suggested that women do not need to care about men’s approval regarding their looks and should do it for their own pleasure. Thus, she put herself in an equal position to men—even though she conformed to normative beauty practices—by reasoning differently as to why women do their makeup. She did not see herself as powerless or as a victim.
As we can see, at some point everything comes back to normal. Yes, I realize that the author, most likely, when describing the problem of Beautification, is talking about extreme cases, about inadequate actions on the part of some women and girls in relation to their appearance, and yes, this problem exists. However, the book says very little about average women. Therefore, it is difficult to say to what extent the issues raised are relevant for the whole of contemporary Chinese society and other societies. Excessive attention to appearance, as well as the use of computer tools to create idealized female images, of course, is detrimental to both society and women's health, and, therefore it should rather be about finding the “golden mean”, about the harmony of the inner with the outer, but certainly not about the refusal, such as a complete rejection of cosmetics or the desire to be well-groomed and attractive. The best example is the practice of fitness exercises, which not only make a person look attractive but also biologically healthy and even psychologically healthy. The same can be said about cosmetics and women's attractiveness in general and the pursuit of this attractiveness.
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