Original title: A 1.83 meter girl with low self-esteem regains her confidence by wearing Hanfu: Say no to a single aesthetic
On December 2, on the stage of the “2024 Henan Satellite TV Star Chinese Style Ceremony” co-organized by Henan Satellite TV and China Mobile, a girl born in the 1980s with a height of 1.83 meters will present a wonderful Hanfu catwalk show. Due to her burly figure, Diewu had a very low self-esteem when she was in school. She always had her head bowed and her back hunched over. She was also ridiculed by her male classmates as “the ugliest in the school”. Later, by chance, Diewu put on Hanfu to take photos. She discovered her own unique beauty and regained her confidence. (Urban Channel, December 2)
In the comment section of the video of Diewu changing into Hanfu from the Tang Dynasty, many netizens praised her, saying, “She looks like she walked out of a mural”, “The most restored version of a lady from the Tang Dynasty” and “Exceptionally confident and majestic”. The story about the changes that Hanfu brought to her became a hot search on Weibo, with the topic read as high as 260 million times. Diewu, who has a social fear, was a little overwhelmed at first, but she also responded: “Everyone has his own beauty, no matter what Be blindly confident and don’t be blindly inferior. I will continue to stick to my hobby of Hanfu in the future.”
“1.83 meters” and “burly”. If these two keywords are placed on an ordinary man, he will naturally be praised by people around him for being tall and powerful. But why did her appearance on Die Wu cause her to be ridiculed by her male classmates and fall into a dilemma of low self-esteem for a long time? In the final analysis, it is still because of the current society’s single standard for defining beautiful women – “white, thin”.
Under such mainstream aesthetics, female stars with “standard figures” on the big screen often become skinny “skeletons” in the eyes of passers-by; ordinary women with anxious looks also feel anxious when sharing selfies on social platforms. They will choose photos that are beautified, filtered, and separated from the real world; even women’s clothing sizes are unknowingly approaching children’s clothing. A woman with a normal figure may not be able to wear the largest sizes of some women’s clothing brands. .
Heart of beauty in everyone. It is undeniable that appearance, as a type of objective beauty, can indeed bring a certain emotional value to people by being clean, tidy, healthy and upward. However, with the invasion of capital and the packaging of the market, the “white, thin” aesthetic that people are passionately pursuing now has somewhat “changed its flavor”. V-shaped face, big eyes, high nose bridge, cartoon legs, A4 waist, right-angled shoulders… In order to meet these established standards, from skin care to cosmetics and weight loss, to medical cosmetic surgery, more and more women spend a lot of money. Time, energy, and money are spent trying, and some people even sacrifice their own health.
However, more and more phenomena are showing that this abnormal “white and thin” aesthetic standard is being changed. In 2020, on the final night of “Youth With You 2”, the androgynous Liu Yuxin debuted in the first C position. Like Diewu, who has been on the hot search for Hanfu, there are many fat girls who have received warm encouragement and praise after sharing photos of Hanfu on social platforms. In the recently popular TV series “Hometown, Goodbye”, the protagonists are played by Ren Suxi, Li Xueqin, Shi Ce, and Wang Zixuan. None of these four actors are beauties that meet mainstream aesthetics, but they have successfully gained recognition from the audience with their delicate and solid acting skills. These are powerful examples of people breaking away from aesthetic stereotypes and accepting different aesthetic concepts.
Each of us is a unique being, and aesthetic standards should be open to all, instead of being single and fixed. Reject appearance anxiety, establish a belief in natural beauty, and accept the less-than-perfect but most authentic version of yourself. You can bravely face up to your own shortcomings, and you can also calmly discover and recognize your own highlights. I hope that with the gradual change of social concepts, in the near future, every ordinary woman will be able to loudly say no to single beauty standards. (Yang Wenjie)
