There is an old Chinese saying: "Fish is what I want and bear paw
too but I cannot have both at once," as our "X" generation girls,
trying to juggle jobs and their looks, are finding out. In fact
many young women in China today are not willing to make the
concessions to their appearance that their employers wish of them.
Making a Stand
It
has been suggested that after the New Year Spring Festival at least
100 female shop assistants in Chengdu left their jobs having been
dissatisfied with the dress-codes regulations of their
employers.
"As I reported to work at the personnel department, I was asked to
dye my hair black or I would be fined 50 yuan (US$6.04). Is dying
your hair wrong?" the young lady asked. "There are so many
regulations for appearance and dress code here; it is hard to
remember them all. No earrings, rings, scarves, long nails or nail
polish. No white socks, and hair must always be kempt: tied back or
up. I have to wear plaits with blue, black or brown ribbons."
While for some young women the rules appear to infringe personal
freedom, it is a fact that retail employers would rarely allow
individual appearance styles and making regulations simplifies
it.
Work and Appearance
"I
think that uniforms are a good idea. You can immediately tell who
the shop assistants are," remarked one young male customer, showing
agreement with the regulation. "That's correct. Dress code can make
the assistants more dedicated to their work tasks," said another.
Both men agreed that the code should be attractive for the women -
even stylish!
Regarding the view that uniforms do not help but hinder personal
appearance, a postgraduate from Beijing University
of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) School of Computers
said, "Of course, we want to see more beautiful and individual
women, but for shop assistants it isn't appropriate. For example,
programmers like us have to face a dull work environment and cannot
express our individualities. It is a requirement of the routine of
work to be stable and predictable. Harboring excessive demands
while working runs contrary to the need for compromise that work
needs."
What's Beauty?
Ning is a primary school teacher who likes to look smart. As a
teenager, she was confused about the problems of personal beauty.
While she was at school, she was against the varied regulations
that prohibited things like miniskirts. Once she graduated she
thought this would change. But when she turned up for work, the
headmaster of her school told her that there were regulations for
how teachers were to dress too. She got some comfort from her elder
sister, "What you wear is not important. If you want to achieve
success and be popular, you should emulate others at work. In fact,
you do look very pretty." Comforted by her sister's words, Ning
went on to teach happily at the school for six years, becoming a
core staff member and winning many awards for her work and
diligence. For each open class that she gave, she would take care
of her appearance and get admiration from her work colleagues. She
now understands that appearance is as important to occasion as it
is to the self. In her own time, she dresses how she wishes.
Who Is the Most Beautiful in the World?
Standards of beauty have differed a lot between times and between
countries. What one culture considers beautiful is not always
considered beautiful elsewhere. French women consider that elegant
manners constitute beauty and they are understood to be the most
rigorous pursuers of beauty anywhere in the world. Korean women
like to have face lifts and 13 percent of them have undergone
plastic surgery, ranking first in Asia. American women think beauty
is sexy and the Spanish believe beauty is defined by charm, grace
and energy. Finnish women, who are considered beautiful, are those
that are powerful and work managing the state.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao March 6, 2003)