On Beauty

Last week Ricky informed me that a new foreign teacher had been hired to begin in September. He told me that many people had applied but this guy “was the best”. I asked why and he said, “He is the most handsome.” This pretty much confirms something I have suspected for a while: the Chinese have an extreme prejudice when it comes to physical appearance.

As part of the application process, all teachers must submit a photo. I thought this was for security purposed but it turns out they use it to judge your application. They hire attractive teachers (foreign and Chinese) because the students are more receptive to them. I have met dozens of teachers and I can only think of two who looked to be over 50. So as much as I would like to think it was my teaching experience that got me through the door here, I must accept that they hired me because they consider me beautiful. However, I consol myself with the fact that the students must also like my teaching because physical appearance could only hold them enraptured for so long and I have been given summer classes to teach (by my request) because my classes remain “so popular”.

The Chinese idea of beauty is a slender body, big eyes, and pale skin. The latter is of some amusement to me because in the States, being as white as I am is not desirable but here I am complimented on my pale complexion. When I have been out with someone, they assume I would want to remain in the shade to maintain my color. Many women carry around parasols when it is sunny outside. I, on the other hand, seek out the sunlight on the rare occasions I can catch it.

Being fat has a stigma attached to it. There are not nearly as many over weight people here and they make it clear that being fat makes you the odd-one-out. A student once wrote me a letter in which she said, “I’m Iris, remember me? I’m the fat girl.” I also know some of the other foreign teachers are criticized for their beer-guts.

On the other hand, I have seen great tolerance for differences. One of my students has a face and hands that are badly scarred as if she was burned and another has twisted legs and can only walk with extreme difficulty. These girls, however, are treated as equals without contempt or pity.

The people here react differently to beauty than Americans. It is hard to explain but in America there is more of a desire to possess an attractive person whereas in China there is more of a reaction of admiration or awe. The culture here is far less sexually driven and the Chinese people are shy in general, which I think accounts for the differences.

Although they might put a beautiful woman on a pedestal, most women work on equal ground with men. Many people might think the gender roles are stronger in China than in the States since it is a developing country but I have not observed this to be the case. In fact, women hold just as many high positions as men. I would say one of the reasons for this is that women spend less time in the home raising children given the one-child policy and I have seen men on the street with children just as often as women. So, there is no bread-winner and home-maker demarcation. This is not to say that China is full of independent women, however. Strength and independence in general are not prized personality traits.