When she finished high school, Wandi Cao’s mother received advice on how she looked.
Key points:
- Recent controversies have revolved around some Chinese models due to the shape of their eyes
- Critics say the ads are a caricature or adhere to a Western view
- Chinese government urges television to promote “correct aesthetics”
“My mom tried to persuade me to do double-eyed plastic surgery, so that‘ my life would be a lot easier, ’” Ms. Cao told ABC’s China Tonight.
Growing up in China, the 27-year-old model never thought she could “fit in with conventional beauty standards.”
“They thought my high cheekbones would curse my husband and my eyes are small,” she said.
“But I thought that wouldn’t change my personality and skills, and I wouldn’t necessarily look prettier, so I didn’t.”
Now based in Sydney, Ms Cao moved to Melbourne in 2016 and began modeling.
In Australia, he received numerous accolades about his appearance as photographers and designers.
It took him a while to realize that these comments were not simply “being polite,” but genuine.
Wandi Cao says his mother thought he would have an easier life if he had eyelid surgery. (Supplied)
“I realized, ‘Oh! People from different cultures and backgrounds have completely different perceptions of me.’
However, he never thought his face would become problematic in China one day.
Earlier this month, China’s National Radio and Television Administration demanded that the country’s television companies “adhere to maintain the right political, moral and aesthetic direction.”
The directive did not go into detail about the “correct” aesthetic, but urged companies to reject “pathological plastic surgery, ‘sissy men’ aesthetics, excessive makeup, excessive use of filters and other negative aesthetics “.
Wandi Cao says his appearance was praised outside of China. (Supplied)
It comes after widespread online boycotts against models and even fictional cartoon characters with small eyes.
Nationalist critics have accused Western brands of caricatures and stereotypes, including the use of makeup to exaggerate narrow eyes, and Chinese companies to acquire a Western perception of Chinese features.
Furious netizens criticized Chinese snack brand Three Squirrels for using a model they dubbed a “tilted eye” (mi-mi-yan) late last year.
A Weibo user said, “It’s an insult to China that ignores Chinese history and culture. We don’t know what aesthetics of the nation the tilted-eye modeling is attended to, but at least this is a one-sided, biased phenomenon. and insulting. “
“All cultural traitors are secretly distorting national aesthetics,” said another.
Some accused Chinese animation I Am What I Am, which focuses on the traditional lion dance, of making the characters ’eyes appear to“ appear ”to insult Chinese viewers last year.
The primary math textbooks that have been in use for almost 10 years have been attacked by the children’s wide view of the illustrations. The Chinese Ministry of Education announced that it will replace all textbooks in September.
Wandi Cao says it is absurd that the natural shape of a model’s eyes can be seen as an insult to China. (ABC News)
For Ms. Cao, the online fire storm over the shape of her eyes was “outrageous.”
“Did our existence insult China? It’s totally irrational.”
Struggling under China’s changing beauty standards
In recent years, many well-known international fashion brands have been criticized in China for using models with small eyes.
Dior, for example, was attacked last November for exhibiting 2012 photographs with thin-eyed models at its art show in Shanghai.
This 2012 photo by Chinese photographer Man Chen provoked a negative reaction. (Weibo: Dashi Logo)
After receiving criticism, Dior apologized to its Weibo account and removed all photos.
Man Chen, who took the photos and was considered China’s most successful fashion photographer, also apologized, saying the photos were taken in his “beginnings” when his “visions of the art were not yet formed “.
Similarly, Italian luxury brand Gucci removed ads with Asian models with bamboo handbags from its social media pages after they were criticized by nationalist critics.
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The Global Times, the Chinese state tabloid, claimed that the Gucci model’s makeup amplified “the” Asian face “typically depicted in Western narrative.”
Pan Wang, a senior professor of Chinese and Asian studies at the University of New South Wales, said he was “not surprised to see the controversy” surrounding these images.
“When different advertisers, especially Western brands, use a particular type of image, it’s likely to create the impression of racial and cultural stereotypes.
“Some people certainly feel offended by that.”
Dr. Pan Wang says brands should avoid stereotypes, but some of the reactions have been an exaggerated or contradictory reaction. (Supplied by: Dr. Pan Wang)
However, Dr. Wang said some critics may be overreacting, as “some advertisers and recruited models do not intend to distort the image of the Chinese. [people] and China “.
“It is not good to see that they are spreading their opinions and imposing their vision on others with the intention of creating a cultural or ideological war between China and Western cultures,” he said.
Dr. Wang added that some comments limited to bodily shame.
“A lot of people are born with ’tilted eyes’ and that’s nothing wrong.”
How did beauty standards become a battleground in China?
In ancient China, long, thin eyes were beautiful.
In Moon Goddess and Maid, artist Zhang Tinyan represents the ideals of beauty during the Qing Dynasty. (Weibo: @Zhongguo Yoshupin Shoucang)
It was not until much later that this bodily feature began to be used as an insult against Asians and associated with the racist ideology of the “Yellow Danger.”
In popular culture, this was embodied in the fictional supervisee Fu Manchu, which was created by the English novelist Sax Rohmer before World War I and appeared in films of the 1920s.
But because most Western films were banned in China before the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, few in China were familiar with the character and the associated insult.
After the country’s economic transformation began in the late 1970s, Chinese society began to adapt to Western culture and its standards of beauty.
Eyes like these, in the Ming Dynasty era, which painted Young Lady Reading Poems by Sheng Shiyan, were considered the pinnacle of beauty. (Weibo: @Zhongguo Yoshupin Shoucang)
Today, celebrities with double eyelids and bridge noses, such as Uyghur actress Dilraba Dilmurat and Fan Bingbing, are considered prominent examples of Chinese beauty.
Meanwhile, more people are using cosmetic surgery or putting on makeup to change their appearance to fit the standard.
According to Deloitte’s estimates, China’s cosmetic surgery market has been growing since 2012 and will reach 311.5 billion Chinese yuan (about $ 68.5 billion) by 2023.
Fan Bingbing is considered to embody the ideal beauty standards in China. (Reuters: Stephane Mahe)
Wang said the Chinese government now wants to “strengthen its national identity by building a positive image.”
“[The] The image of “tilted eyes” doesn’t fit that, ”he said.
“People don’t want others to use a slanted eye image to label China and ugly the Chinese people.”
Marks caught in the middle of a shock of beauty
The board of the Radio and Television Administration also demands that television productions “do not arbitrarily use, follow or copy foreign styles.”
However, from a nationalist point of view, the appearance of many Chinese media has been interpreted as a misrepresentation of China.
The contradiction raises a question for brands and companies: how should they find a balance when trying to market their products in China?
Ashley Galina Dudarenok, a Hong Kong-based marketing expert from China, saw the controversy over the models’ eyes as “a clash between what the brand wanted to show and what China’s beauty standards were.”
“This balance can be found if brands take into account their own artistic values and what the Chinese people value,” he said.
“Chinese consumers know they have the power because they make up a large part of the market that foreign brands are driving.
“That’s why it’s so important for brands to have a test market or review system for products, campaigns, or even social media posts. Launching anything without proper testing and evaluation is a sure way to be counterproductive “.
But Ms Dudarenok also said most Chinese customers still “focus on quality and want the best products”.
“Whether it’s foreign brands or brands that were under fire, often Chinese consumers still vote with their dollars for quality,” he said.
“It’s inevitable when you work between cultures because brands sometimes fall short even in their own cultures.”
Additional report by Bang Xiao
Watch the story on China Tonight tonight at 20:00 AEST on the ABC news channel, at 21:35 AEST on ABC TV or play it on ABC iview.