介绍:
[Opening]
Stephanie: Lots of images may come to mind when you think of plastic surgery. Nose job, lip filler, double eyelid ect. Influenced by TV shows and dramas, more and more girls are turning to plastic surgery for better appearances. There are more doubts and critics from the society than approvals on plastic surgery. However, plastic surgery clinics are booming more than ever.
Why are so many girls seeking to get plastic surgery?
Joyce: Why? I don’t know why….you have to ask the girls….
Stephanie: well, you are a girl….
Joyce: well, Personally, I think there are a few reasons. I am just guessing, alright? First one, the women have low self esteem. Some of the women are craving for attention or are forced to by the image-obsessed society. In my opinion, Stephanie, I think our country China, is an image-obsessed society.
Stephanie: And how do you define that?
Joyce: How do I define that? um, lets look at what we see on our TV screens nowadays. We see V shaped faces, so called 锥子脸女孩儿 everywhere. And it seems that every girl around me are chasing after this V shaped face. They either starve themselves to death or seek cosmetic surgeries to help them get V shaped faces.
Stephanie: Oh, I’m screwed…
Joyce: also…you are…..you work out a lot! And recently, I think very recently, last month, right? I saw people posting videos showing their very proud A4 waists. Their waists were so tiny that a piece of A4 paper can cover their whole waists. This is very extreme I think…
Stephanie: I have a A4 face….does that count?
Joyce: I have a A5 face! And a pointy nose as well. On another perspective, I think our body types are a major topic as well. I think my country is an image-obsessed society because I hear people asking me all the time, ‘Oh Joyce 姐姐, You are so hot! You look so hot. So are you even 100 jin? ’ I was like, ‘what??? 100 jin? 50 kilos?? I might weigh 55! I don’t think that’s even healthy! ’ but in China, we have the sayings that you guys hear it all the time like“女人过百就没有前途啊”, “你就别活啦。。。。”You know it seems in our society, we are so obsessed with the low numbers on the scale. I think this is silly.
Stephanie: Yeah, coz I work out a lot. A lot of people keep asking me, so Stephanie, I see you’ve been working out for a while now, so how much weight did you lose? I’m like I’m not losing any weights. I’m gaining weights! Coz I’m getting muscles! I eat a lot every day in order to grow a lot of muscles! They are like, omg, why would you do that? Why do you wanna become a kingkong Barbie? So I totally feel you!
Joyce: Image obsessed society! That’s the new vocabulary we are sharing today.
Stephanie: Other than that, why else do you think girls are chasing after this kind of surgery?
Jessie: Well, to me, I think it’s a way to please yourself. You can get some minor adjustments as a birthday present for yourself. Personally, I would like to get my eyelash enrichment. Coz that’ll make me look glamorous, to please myself, not to please others. They make me feel glamorous and sexy…
Stephanie: So actually plastic surgery provides an option for girls who are less confident about their appearances, to make themselves feel better, right?
Joyce: Yeah. And also, Jessie, I overheard that you have girlfriends who own these minor cosmetic surgery /touchup clinics and studios. And this seems very popular in our city.
Jessie: Yes! And she herself can be the image of her studio. She looks so pretty and she’s done quite a lot of adjustments like her nose, her double eyelids, and some injections into her face. Collagen injections.
Kristina: botoxes?
Jessie: Collagen injections.
Joyce: I have no idea what they are. What??? So shots on the face, right?
Stephanie: how’s her business then?
Jessie: very good, blooming!
Stephanie: I know that a lot of girls actually go through minor surgeries but they won’t tell anyone. You just feel like, omg, she is so much prettier than before. But you can’t really tell.
Kristina: You can tell actually if you take a close look. But I don’t know whether you guys notice it yet. Because In China or moreover Asian countries, we tend to focus on eyes and nose, like we should do double eyelids or surgery to get pointy nose. In western countries, they tend to focus on boobs/breast implants or butt implants. I think a lot of people want to do the surgery due to peer pressure. You know beauty standards now have changed because of TV shows. They set a standard that This is what we think is beautiful: women with big eyes, pointed nose and V shaped faces. That’s very pretty. Or else, you are gonna be like, so low in self-esteem. You wanna change yourself and fix your imperfections, And I think, well, you have the choice to fix your imperfections or have the confident to believe that you were born this way, just like lady gaga sang ”I’m born this way…”
Stephanie: Yes!
Kristina: The imperfection is a kind of beauty too, you know.
Stephanie: Yeah that’s true, depends on how you look at it. So are these kind of plastic surgeries really helpful? For the girls who are looking for the process? When they seek jobs, will they get hired because they are prettier?
Kristina: I actually think, girls with pretty faces tend to be more successful or easier to get to the successful point in their lives. I read some articles before and they showed that. Beauty is a very crucial part for women. It’s not a like discrimination saying. Actually If you are pretty, your life will be easier.
Joyce: and beauty should have a diversified standard. Can I interpret it in this way? Coz I used to be a professional human resource for 12 years in the states and in China. May I interpret it in this way? So not necessarily a prettier woman tend to have advantage in their career advancement. Can we say that pleasant looking ladies might have some advantage in their career advancement? Can we say that? Because people judge, people see beauty using their own standard of judgments.
Stephanie: Yeah, I agree. I think so. So um Will you guys ever have a minor surgery on yourselves? Do you feel like you have some parts that need to be improved?
Jessie: I totally accept that. But I wouldn’t accept a big operation like a boob job or a nose job, just some minor adjustments.
Kristina: um I think if you got minor surgeries on your face, it’s totally acceptable. But our topic today is how far is too far for getting a plastic surgery. When you get to a point that you think its an addiction, after you fix some imperfections on your body, you get too into that in the plastic surgeries, I think that’s too far. I think pleasing yourself, not pleasing others just because you want to boost your self esteem, it’s totally okay. But just like in the western they have these bad articles, some people got serious plastic surgeries, throwing 10,000 dollars just because they want to look more like a celebrity. That’s just too hardcore.
Stephanie: Yes, that’s way too much. So do you have any friends who go through plastic surgeries around you?
All: oh yeah, yes. A lot.
Stephanie: Do they actually tell you? They are not shy about it at all?
Joyce: oh yeah, they were not shy. In last century.…
Stephanie: You mean when you were in the US?
Joyce: Yes, in the 20 century, we are in 21 century…that’s how old I am. So I was in college in the United States. My college roommate, her name is Gigi, she and I worked part time at a Japanese restaurant as waitresses. Coz you know a lot of Asian students/ Chinese students we worked and studied. 勤工俭学. So I remember she worked so hard. In 1999, it cost her 7,500 $ in the US for breast implants. I remember, I worked very hard in the restaurant to earn money to support my living expenses, my apartment rentals or whatever. she worked hard to get a new set of boobs. So I accompanied her to the hospital to get her boobs done. It took about 4 and a half hours in 1999, in new haven, Connecticut. I think she got it done somewhere close to Yale University. But anyways, the story went on. It was quite dramatic. Gigi took out her fake boobs two years later.
Stephanie: What happened?
Joyce: Very painful, according to her. Coz everybody’s reaction towards an operation or an implant in their body varies. I guess Gigi was the unlucky one. She felt a lot of pain. She took them out in 2001.
Stephanie: So what was her motivation for the surgery? Why she did it in the first place?
Joyce: Craving for attention. We went to school in Connecticut. We were neighbors with Yale University, you know, one of the Ivy leagues. We partied a lot. We were party animals, you know, a bunch of first Asian girls, so wild. And I remember she always wanted attention from guys. And she claimed not having a set of big boobs was the thing preventing her from getting attention from all the cute boys. Then she decided she wanted a set of new boobs so she could get attention. So her motivation was craving for attention. You guys all have some girlfriends who also had surgeries done?
Kristina: Yes, actually a lot. Most of them get their surgeries on their eyes coz they crave for double eyelids. They like taking pictures or selfies. When they go out with their friends, they are shy about their single eyelids. They have very low self-esteems. They just think single eyelids don’t seem as pretty as most girls with double eyelids. So they like to save money for the surgery. Most of them didn’t tell their parents. After the surgery couple months later, their parents found out but there was nothing to do with it anymore. You know, I’m not encouraging it. I’m just saying, well, it’s your personal choice and this is what I’m going to do, but no more, I’m not getting addicted to it. It’s fine, I think. most of them are getting surgeries just to please themselves, I think that’s okay. What about your friends?
Jessie: I have a very extreme case. My friend had always wanted to marry a rich guy but she was a little bit short. So she got an operation to get taller.
Kristina: How do you do that?
Jessie: The doctor broke her leg and implanted something in between her….
Joyce: Iron or a piece of steel to…I don’t know but I heard of this kind of surgery, very risky though.
Jessie: Um, she took the risk. She got taller and she married a rich guy.
Kristina: Really? I want to be shorter!! I don’t want to be so tall….
Stephanie: Tell me about it! Me too!!!
Kristina: Most girls have a hard time finding a boyfriend when they are too tall!
Joyce: Kristina, how tall are you?
Kristina: 170cm.
Joyce: and Stephanie is 176cm, right?
Kristina: oh my god….
Jessie: You guys are crazy. I want to be taller!
Stephanie: Well, this is why I could never get a Chinese boyfriend.
Joyce: see? Women are…….Hahahahhahaha
Stephanie: but I think people are more open towards girls’ height. I mean, 170cm is fine, especially for nowadays’ standard, you are not too tall.
Kristina: umm, it varies. For example, if you met a guy who you had a crush on and you guys have similar heights, he is not going to have the crush on you back. I think the boys in the south tend to like girls who are shorter.
Stephanie: to make themselves feel more masculine?
Kristina: um, It’s probably this case.
Stephanie: I know. Coz there are guys asking me, they are like “Stephanie, You are so tall. How tall is your husband? Is he like 188cm?” I’m like, “no, he is only 172cm.” so what? It’s not a problem for me. I don’t mind. It’s not his height I’m married to.
Joyce: It’s very interesting. I’ve never looked into the statistical reports in terms of whether Chinese men mind their significant half who a
