Self taken photos! All the rage these days in Asia and has been for a decent while now. But why is that? Is the culture really so narcissistic that people need to have pictures of themselves all over the place? God, I hope not.
There are amazing things all over the world that are worth preserving in a photo, but thousands of downward angled shots of girls faces is really not one of them. If the world was destroyed tomorrow and photos taken by everyday Asian people are the only thing we can pass onto our descendants, do you really want humanity to remember our age as the age of downward slanting shots of little girls? I would think not. If people want to share their amazing vacation, or the inside of their home, or the birth of a child, kudos to them! Preserve those memories. But do they really need to take a photo of their face just for the sake of taking a photo of their face? Where is the value in that?
Also, all these photos look the same. Throw in some variety please. Every picture has girls taking a downward angled shot in a poorly lit room. I know that the downward angle makes their eyes look bigger and elongates their face. The poor lighting probably masks a bunch of imperfections or hides the fact that they’re wearing an exuberant amount of foundation to cover up those same imperfections. Since I know all of this, others do as well. We all know that you don’t actually look like that in everyday life. So give some different looks, throw in a bunch of angles if you absolutely have to share your face with the world. Maybe an upward shot because nothing says sexy like the nostril flare. Hot.
Okay, so the blame cannot really be delegated completely to the girls. Taiwan is still a country that prizes the traditional beauty. Traits such as big eyes, pale skin, and doll type faces are still the accepted forms of beauty. As such, women try to cater to the expectations of society by using large amount of eye shadow, staying out of the sun, and using photo magic to better align themselves with social definitions of attractiveness. I get that. But I also get that these definitions were created in antiquity.
We are now living in 2009. Girls, grow a backbone. Dare to be different and stop following everyone else like a lemming. If being outside makes you happy, then go outside, enjoy the sun. Who cares if you get a little darker? Those definitions of beauty were created when social classes were still rigid and rich women didn’t have to go outside to work. When was the last time you had to go plant rice? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just put on some sun block and you’ll be fine. Being tan is not a bad thing, it means you get out and enjoy life. There isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Vampire-like paleness is unnatural and isn’t really all that good for you.
The eyes thing, unless you are going to get surgery, your eyes will not get any bigger. Everyone knows that. Get over it. Too much makeup is a definite no for me. It means you are high maintenance and you aren’t confident in the way you look. Confidence goes a long ways in making you attractive, so have more of it. If you spend an hour in the bathroom getting ready in the morning, that’s half an hour too long. That is precious time you could have spent doing something worthwhile and you’ll never get it back. In one year, you’ll have wasted 182.5 hours. If your foundation looks like it needs a belt sander to take off, that’s way too much. You are not in a Chinese opera production so don’t look like you are. Asians naturally have fair skin, take care of it, and touch up a little if you need to, but a natural look is always better.
Now I hear from some girls that they fret so much about their looks because they can’t date if they don’t. All I have to say is that you’re dating the wrong type of guy. A relationship built on your makeup and face shots is built on some rickety shit indeed. But if they really do give you problems because you don’t follow their definition of beauty, tell them to go look like Brad Pitt and get back to you. If you’re hot and you still need to endlessly worry about the way you look for your man, ditch his ass and give me your number.
--coxo
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