中国剩女的整容热_BEC初级作文_BEC初级-查字典英语网

中国剩女的整容热

The idea that beauty is capital “epitomizes the idea that good looks are the key to increased opportunities for social and career success,” she said. “Cosmetic surgery has become a form of consumer choice; it reflects in microcosm the transition of China from communism to consumerism with its own Chinese characteristics.”

Wen’s research focused on field studies in Beijing, interviews with 58 women from age 16 to 55 and analysis of Chinese media reports. She found that cosmetic surgery is less taboo in China than in North America, and is particularly popular among women struggling to find work.

Between 1993 and 2001, 43 million urban employees were laid off, amounting to a quarter of China’s total urban labor force. Women were often the first to be laid off and the last to be hired back, and when applying for jobs they encountered much more discrimination than men, said Wen.

A 2003 review of job advertisements found that among positions open to women, nearly 90 percent were open only to those younger than 30 years old. Youth is particularly cherished in a country where women who remain unmarried past the age of 27 are labelled “leftover women” by the government. Women who don’t meet minimum height requirements (usually set at 1.58 meters) are also often denied government jobs.

But these obstacles have not kept women from aiming high. A 2011 study by the Centre for World-Life Policy found that 76 percent of women in China aspire to top jobs, compared with 52 percent in the United States.