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Miniskirts reveal our notions of beauty as only skin deep
By Frank Jiang |
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH the advent of summer comes the flowering of a culture of beauty. Universally, miniskirts and tank tops are worn by the typical pretty woman.
But those who do not regard themselves as the ideal lady may find summer a painful or depressing experience. Some young girls, desperate to slim down due to the pressures of the beauty culture, try many different types of fat killers. But many end up in hospitals by damaging their health.
Modern society is caught in a cul-de-sac of beauty, where almost every facet of our lives is saturated with superficial senses of beauty, of cloyingly sweet aesthetics. This beauty culture runs counter to the notions of philosophical beauty in which true sunshine and color lie in one's personality.
Contemporary society should hark back to the days when beauty was judged in terms of wisdom. Even physical beauty should be achieved through exercise, discipline and smart nutrition, instead of fat killers and their like.
This beauty cult is self-defeating when placed in a social development context. When innumerable "unsatisfactory" people succumb to psychological pain and withdraw, society is significantly crippled.
China used to be isolated from this modern beauty cult, but look at the myriad luxury brands of cosmetics and costumes that glisten along Nanjing Road W. We can only marvel at the power of face value.
(Frank Jiang, an Australian student in Shanghai)
But those who do not regard themselves as the ideal lady may find summer a painful or depressing experience. Some young girls, desperate to slim down due to the pressures of the beauty culture, try many different types of fat killers. But many end up in hospitals by damaging their health.
Modern society is caught in a cul-de-sac of beauty, where almost every facet of our lives is saturated with superficial senses of beauty, of cloyingly sweet aesthetics. This beauty culture runs counter to the notions of philosophical beauty in which true sunshine and color lie in one's personality.
Contemporary society should hark back to the days when beauty was judged in terms of wisdom. Even physical beauty should be achieved through exercise, discipline and smart nutrition, instead of fat killers and their like.
This beauty cult is self-defeating when placed in a social development context. When innumerable "unsatisfactory" people succumb to psychological pain and withdraw, society is significantly crippled.
China used to be isolated from this modern beauty cult, but look at the myriad luxury brands of cosmetics and costumes that glisten along Nanjing Road W. We can only marvel at the power of face value.
(Frank Jiang, an Australian student in Shanghai)
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