Continuing on with the comment on Yan-Yee
Here is the headline of another article that follows up on the Yan-Yee scandal from last week: "Three Week Magazine" giving away Yan-Yee targets gets criticized. Basically the article reports that a magazine in HongKong is giving away poster-targets (that said "the destruction of fairy tales") of Yan-Yee's upper body, with her wearing her Snow White costume. We don't have to worry about the article, apart from the comments of a celebrity who is trying to defend Yan-Yee:
Mr. Jun Gee-Wai believes Yan-Yee is still "A little girl", her will to slim herself is admirable, and should not be picked on anymore, as well there are many kinds of princesses, why should the complaining audience complain?
I have previously mentioned how demented the social consciousness of Hong Kong is; the "Beauty myth" plants itself deep into the consciousness, and the image becomes a source of power. The obsession of the image drives reality away, and now to the point that suggests we ought to kill reality, symbolized by the poster-target of Yan-Yee. This is not about the obsession of the image; rather it is about the obsession of the image. It is the image that is most damaging. By extension, women continue to be subjected to the Beauty Myth, that they must be beautiful because if they are not they will be metaphorically killed by the social gaze.
The comments given by the two celebrities, I would argue, do far more damage than the poster itself (and the poster is pretty bad). Let's read these comments closely:
1. Why do they insist that Yan-Yee is "a little girl"? Does it actually matter? Is it because she is a little girl that she is allow to indulge herself in her absolutely disgust fantasy? What if she is not a little girl? What if she is 25 years old? Would that make her a shame because she does not know that she should conform to the cultural oppression of the female sex, as according to the Beauty Myth, and stay away from cameras?
2. Why is her will to slim herself "admirable"? So she should rigourous conform to the masculine gaze of society?
3. Why is it that she should not be pick on anymore? So when she was a fat little girl (when she was 12, for example), it's perfectly okay to laugh at her obesity?
4. What does Mr. Jun mean when he said "there are many kinds of princesses"? So there is the slim, pretty kind and the fat, ugly kind? Why make a distinction? Is it to place her in a category such that she can be ethically dismissed and therefore pitied?
5. Why does not he say that Yan-Yee is beautiful as any princess if he really supports Yan-Yee? This is, in a way, a decisive moment of Hong Kong culture. I see his comments as the defining moment of how Hong Kong culture sees itself.
I will repeat this is not a little obsession that we can just gloss over and say "oh this is just a little obsession" as if nothing happened. This is a political battlefield, in which the women of Hong Kong has just lost. They are going to be oppressed by their male counter parts for a long time, until that one day when a celebrity can revisit the crisis and say, "oh no, I think she is beautiful the way she is. If you don't see her beauty, then it is your problem."
Mr. Jun Gee-Wai believes Yan-Yee is still "A little girl", her will to slim herself is admirable, and should not be picked on anymore, as well there are many kinds of princesses, why should the complaining audience complain?
I have previously mentioned how demented the social consciousness of Hong Kong is; the "Beauty myth" plants itself deep into the consciousness, and the image becomes a source of power. The obsession of the image drives reality away, and now to the point that suggests we ought to kill reality, symbolized by the poster-target of Yan-Yee. This is not about the obsession of the image; rather it is about the obsession of the image. It is the image that is most damaging. By extension, women continue to be subjected to the Beauty Myth, that they must be beautiful because if they are not they will be metaphorically killed by the social gaze.
The comments given by the two celebrities, I would argue, do far more damage than the poster itself (and the poster is pretty bad). Let's read these comments closely:
1. Why do they insist that Yan-Yee is "a little girl"? Does it actually matter? Is it because she is a little girl that she is allow to indulge herself in her absolutely disgust fantasy? What if she is not a little girl? What if she is 25 years old? Would that make her a shame because she does not know that she should conform to the cultural oppression of the female sex, as according to the Beauty Myth, and stay away from cameras?
2. Why is her will to slim herself "admirable"? So she should rigourous conform to the masculine gaze of society?
3. Why is it that she should not be pick on anymore? So when she was a fat little girl (when she was 12, for example), it's perfectly okay to laugh at her obesity?
4. What does Mr. Jun mean when he said "there are many kinds of princesses"? So there is the slim, pretty kind and the fat, ugly kind? Why make a distinction? Is it to place her in a category such that she can be ethically dismissed and therefore pitied?
5. Why does not he say that Yan-Yee is beautiful as any princess if he really supports Yan-Yee? This is, in a way, a decisive moment of Hong Kong culture. I see his comments as the defining moment of how Hong Kong culture sees itself.
I will repeat this is not a little obsession that we can just gloss over and say "oh this is just a little obsession" as if nothing happened. This is a political battlefield, in which the women of Hong Kong has just lost. They are going to be oppressed by their male counter parts for a long time, until that one day when a celebrity can revisit the crisis and say, "oh no, I think she is beautiful the way she is. If you don't see her beauty, then it is your problem."
posted by Tristan at 3:32 p.m.
1 Comments:
Actually, Mr.Jun Jee-Wah's comment does not contain any meaning of segregating Yan-Yee as a rather over-weight individual. We must not deny the fact that Yan-Yee has been an obese teenager and has only recently lost her pounds. I strongly believe that in saying "there are lots of different kinds of princesses," Jee-Wah is conveying to the masses the need to accept diversity; the underlying intention of the remark carries the same meaning as what the new Dove commercial is attempting to manifest. Moreover, this comment is a way to tell others (who despises Yan-Yee's physical qualities) to be more open-minded and mature. Even though I agree with the overwhelming obsession towards slimness that is prevalent in HOng Kong right now, I do not believe that the issue is worth any 'political' value. Several stars are beginning to gain weight, many people (including Jee-Wah) are standing out to defend Yan Yee. Thus, before we know it, the frenzy for thinness will slowly dissipate, or in fact, is already dissipating. Rather, your "untimely Meditations" causes me to worry about another trend: Chinese's tendency to be "curious" about entertainment news instead of current events that are happening around the world. I suggest that you should "meditate" on some more worldwide issues instead of being so keen and nosy about stars and gossips. Therefore, I suggest to you that instead of reading these gossips and writing a tedious essay on it (just like the 'obsessed' people writing a complain letter to the government), why don't you get a life.
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