I love learning about different cultures. For various reasons, I have a particular
interest in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). A while back I watched a fascinating
documentary on the country. It was part
of the Discovery Atlas series, which
apparently features vignettes of people in different parts of the planet to
give viewers a sense of the culture of a particular land.
The episode I watched was called Discovery Atlas: China Revealed. It was released in 2006 and is narrated by
actor James Spader. I found it
fascinating and would highly recommend it.
I watched it with my children; we all enjoyed it and learned a lot. In particular, to continue with the themes of
recent blog posts, I would like to focus on a few aspects of the documentary
that I especially found interesting.
The film described how there is huge competition for
professional jobs in the PRC. And the film noted that such job competition was
particularly difficult for women. To
explain the situation, one woman, who went by the Western name “Eliza,” was
interviewed along with her boyfriend.
In the interview, Eliza’s boyfriend noted that getting a good
job in the PRC was not dependant entirely on one’s professional qualifications. With Eliza standing next to him and listening
to everything he said, the boyfriend explained that if there are two female
candidates with the same qualifications, the better-looking candidate would get
the job. I felt rather humiliated for
Eliza because the clear suggestion was she was not good looking. And it was a strange suggestion because to me
Eliza looked quite lovely. The narrator then
explained that with such intense competition, aspiring professionals do
whatever they can to get a leg up on fellow job-seekers.
The documentary then followed Eliza’s consultation with a
traditional Chinese medicine expert who noted her dehydrated skin and the
impact stress was having on her appearance.
Eliza then went for more extreme measures; she visited a plastic surgeon. The documentary then followed her decision to
get a number of cosmetic surgeries.
This was mind-blowing to me.
These were expensive, painful and time-consuming surgeries. Moreover, any surgery involves serious risks,
including death. It was tragic to me
that anyone would feel compelled to devote such resources and take such risks just
to improve one’s appearance. And it was
particularly tragic when the pressure was attributable to trying to get a job
in an office that would not appear to have anything to do with one’s appearance. Eliza was not applying for jobs as a model or
actress.
One of the surgeries Eliza elected involved changing the shape
of her face. Another involved a
controversial procedure to create more of a crease in the eyelid to give
Eliza’s eye more of a European appearance.
These were surgeries with huge repercussions and would completely alter
what this young woman looked like.
Eliza explained to the filmmakers that she knew that she had
classical Chinese beauty, but she said that was not enough. Without any sense of irony, Eliza noted that
the surgeries would make her look more like a “Barbie doll” and such dolls are
so “lovely.”
I’m not even sure where to start. The documentary was fascinating, but this
portion of the film was one of the most depressing things I’ve ever viewed.
To American ears, it would be easy to look down on Chinese
culture for such blatant sexism. It
would be easy to take the superior attitude that such things could never happen
in the U.S. I’m not sure that is true
though. We may just be less open and
honest about it.
Several years ago, Barbara Walters did a report on 20/20 about
the role of appearance in how people perceive others. Studies showed that we make judgments on
people based on their appearance. We are
drawn to make favorable judgments about attractive people, harsher judgments on
people who are not attractive. There was a part of the report about job
interviews. Attractive people did better
with the same qualifications than less attractive people.
I think I have seen such subtle attitudes play out in the course
of my professional life as a lawyer.
I’ve known female colleagues with great credentials and talent, who are
obese or have very visible acne scars, and somehow never get a good legal
job. I’ve always suspected that their
appearance had something to do with it.
I’m no longer in practice and am now an academic. Even before I stepped into the classroom, I
was well aware that female profs get judged (at least in part) based on their
appearance. I had heard that through the
grapevine, e.g., from trusted female advisors and at a new professor
conference. Many of us feel the need to
powder our noses, put some lipstick on and/or comb our hair before stepping in
front of the class. We know our
appearance is scrutinized—much more, I suspect, than our male colleagues.
Over the semesters I’ve been teaching, I’ve had countless
student comments about the shorter (or longer) length of my hair and details of
my jewelry. I even have had students
feel at liberty to ask pretty personal questions like whether I color and/or
perm my hair! I was visiting with a
female colleague not long ago, and we laughed that we both avoid mid-semester
hair cuts if at all possible. We have
learned through past experiences that such changes are too distracting to students. We
now limit our hair cuts to winter and summer breaks.
I had heard over and over in various ways that course evals are
in part a reflection of snap judgments at the beginning of the course, and such
snap judgments are disproportionately influenced by physical appearance. Repeatedly, I’ve heard female profs half
jokingly say they’ve considered plastic surgery. I don’t think the American women who’ve said
that to me really mean it. But I think
it is telling that in the 21st century anyone even makes jokes of
that kind. In the United States, we may
think we’ve come a long way, baby, and the status of women here is vastly
superior to their status in China. I’m
not sure that we necessarily are light years ahead in this area.
John 7:24
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
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