Shocking trend: Chinese women undergo plastic surgery just to get a job
Social networks, filters, and anime fashion have begun to distort not only the ideal of beauty, but also of everyday life. To get a job in China, you not only have to meet professional requirements, but also aesthetic ones. Some employers even offer plastic surgery to promising candidates. The culprits include social networks, anime, K-pop, and ubiquitous beautifying filters.
You must look just like the filters in apps. The pursuit of beauty and naive notions of what the human body looks like, perhaps this belongs to human nature. And maybe in the worst case, just dismiss it with the fact that young people will grow out of it. That they might just be complicating the relationship market. The web BBC however, published a shocking report.
However, the truth is more terrifying. Are you imperfect? You don't have a job!
Young (not just) women are however hurt by something worse. By being excluded from the labour market. The fear of not being able to support themselves or ending up in inferior and poorly paid positions, is a strong driver in a society generally focused on performance, luxury and perfection.
One receptionist role requires candidates to be "at least 160 cm tall and aesthetically appealing", while administrative work requires a "attractive and elegant appearance".
It is written in an absolutely shocking report BBC.
Ugly parts of the body? Eyes, nose and unattractive look
The direction plastic surgeries are heading is dual, but has much in common. The first is to be a perfect ideal of Asian beauty. Extremely cute look and removing everything that is not perfect. Imagine for example a beautiful geisha. So something like that. Nose reshaping, skin retexturing, face shaping.
The second direction also aims at cuteness, but targets more towards the look of the white race or anime characters. The desire for more open eyes drives girls to eyelid surgeries.
Liposuctions also dominate if girls cannot manage to keep their weight around 40 kg.
Abby Wu underwent plastic surgery for the first time when she was 14
After hormonal treatment due to illness, her weight increased from 42 kg to 62 kg in two months. The drama teacher told her she was too fat and could not go for acting exams. So her mother took her for liposuction. The girl was only partially sedated and is still traumatized by the procedure.
"I saw how much fat they took from me and how much blood I lost,"
she says.
But the pressure of the environment and her own self-destruction kept her in the field. The trauma was forgotten. Now 35-year-old Abby has undergone more than 100 procedures costing half a million dollars. She is grateful to her mother for forcing her to have the surgery.
This woman eventually jumped on the trendy wave and set up a life of luxury.
She became a co-owner of a beauty clinic in Beijing.
Facial surgery every month: This is the life of the co-owner of a Beijing beauty clinic
She undergoes face slimming injections monthly, so her face looks "firmer and less chubby". Women commonly undergo procedures such as jaw reduction, removal of bones from the face. Botox is applied behind the ears, to tilt the ears forward, both lower and upper eyelids are surgically corrected for an innocent wide-eyed childlike look. The space between the lip and the nose is shortened. The trend is "childish look".
The trend is driven by rising incomes and social media
Every year, 20 million Chinese people pay for cosmetic procedures. The pressure to look perfect is felt by men as well, who are not excluded. The surgeries are mainly sought after by an overwhelming majority of Young women aged 20-25 years. Not just because they can afford it, but also because they are incurring debt in order to have a better chance of landing a better job. Western ideals, K-pop and anime heroines are however falling into the background. The influence of filter use on social media applications can still be felt. Often, people create an alter ego that has nothing to do with their real appearance.
An Application That Will Plan Your Surgery
However, there is a more frightening phenomenon that drives everything. Applications like SoYoung and GengMei use algorithms to "analyze facial flaws" and recommend tailored surgeries. Moreover, they directly connect you with a clinic. And worse, the clinic gets a commission from such clients. Even the more than a hundred times operated on Abby Wu, this application still shows constant beauty flaws.
Biggest risk: Illegal clinics and inexperienced doctors
The biggest problem is illegal clinics, which arise in response to high demand. A 2019 study found:
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80,000 clinics without a license
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100,000 doctors without qualifications
Clinics are also filled with people wanting to fix botched surgeries. Yue Yue (28 years old) is one of them. She underwent fillers at a friend's illegal clinic. The fillers hardened and she felt like she had concrete under her skin. Many women end up with scars and poorly healing facial wounds. They would like to return to their original appearance, but that is no longer possible.
Disqualification in the Labor Market
A beautiful girl has a better chance of finding a wealthy groom in Chinese culture, this is perhaps understandable. But many job positions require women to undergo plastic surgery. For instance, if you want to be a beauty consultant at a clinic, you yourself have to undergo surgeries. These surgeries are often performed on credit.
The problem is that girls can lose their jobs very quickly and in the worst cases end up disfigured, in debt and unemployed.
Some employers even surprise their employees by ordering them to undergo surgery, and the girls often have less than an hour to make a decision and get a loan.
China is really grappling with a big problem and this area is an example of how far the excessive pursuit of perfection can go, which is not just an improvement of life, a luxury, an extra bonus, but a necessity of life.
Source: original text, bbc.com
