The A4 body challenge is as seen above, her torso can be hidden behind an A4 piece of paper and as a result she is deemed healthy and is praised all over chinese media. This is not the first stupid body image challenge to come out of China, last year we had the belly button challenge where "slim people" could touch their belly button. This however is in fact total rubbish, even fat people can do it. It has nothing to do with weight and is al about flexibility, see the following picture for evidence.
Now, you may think this looks healthy, she has a nice body and you may also be wondering "why is sean yet again complaining about something like this" If any of these thoughts entered your head...you have been brainwashed (被洗脑了) congratulations!!!!
Lets look at why this is stupid and the damage it does to China:
1. people's body types are different.
Such body standards are ridiculous as not everyone has the same body type, not everyone is going to be able to pass the A4 challenge. Some women have wider set hips, some have bigger bones; there are a multitude of factors that mean you may not be able to pass this challenge...and who cares? This is NOT HEALTHY in the slightest, it is not a healthy standard to set your lifestyle by. Not eating to achieve this isn't for your own health, don't ever delude yourself into thinking otherwise. If you are starving yourself, you are putting yourself through ridiculous amounts of pain and pressure for OTHER PEOPLE. That basically makes you a slave to society, so brainwashed that you cannot think for yourself and must bow down to the expectations our ridiculous society creates for you.
2. We see this on the media a lot, it is all fake...
What annoys me is that people begin comparing themselves to girls like fan bingbing, oh she is so beautiful, so slim.
She is also so false. Do you know how much Photoshop (PS for some of the Chinese readers) goes into making fan bingbing that slim? Lets have a look:
This is one of her modelling photos, now When you see this next photo you will see her face is not this slim.
Fan bingbing is just your average Chinese girl in real life. She is not fantastically beautiful, she is simply pretty. Do you see how much wider her cheeks are in real life? Now if that's just her face, how much PS goes into making her waist slimmer? (I will give you a clue...lots). The Chinese media really has a lot to answer for the psychological damage of Chinese girls in particular. By constantly portraying such false standards as achievable, Chinese girls across the country are taking over the counter medicine and starving themselves. As for this over the counter medicine, they claim it is side effect free (没有副作用) but how much research do you really think went into this product? Do you really know the long term damage of a product that came onto the market a month ago?
3. The damage done to Chinese people psychologically may be irreparable.
We have a nation of Chinese people growing up believing themselves to be too fat. They believe themselves to be ugly and create this negative body image of themselves which in turn leads to a whole host of psychological issues including depression, anxiety (it's no co-incidence these are on the rise in China). Thankfully there are some Chinese that understand this and are protesting in their own way but their voices are drowned out in the millions of other A***holes posting these pictures online and destroying the good efforts of the feminist movement in China. If you are one of these people posting A4 challenges on your social media, don't start complaining hen your own children grow up depressed, refuse to eat food and are generally miserable due to such negative body images, you are contributing heavily to their psychological damage. By reposting and reiterating such pictures, we force people to compare ourselves to other people and get upset about their own body.
(My body is not for looking at. I love my fat waist)
See you have to understand the damage done in calling someone fat, fat is a negative word, it is associated with ugly. By calling someone fat, even if the only gained a little weight, you are associating them with ugly. How do you think this will affect someone psychologically? Will it encourage them to lose weight...or repeat the cycle of depression as the try to achieve the unattainable? Calling someone fat is again contributing to this issue.
- Comments made by family and friends about their bodies and the bodies of others
- Global ideals regarding the perfect physical appearance
- The continual comparison of one’s body to others
- Media exposure to what is an ideal body image versus a normal body
- Experiences with physical activity
- Abuse, including sexual, emotional and physical
- Prejudices against race, religion, ability, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity
- Pleasure, pain and health experiences
Effects of negative body image
Researchers have discovered there is a link between eating disorders and negative body images. Those with a negative image about themselves are more likely to suffer from feelings of isolation and depression. Both of these have been known to trigger obsessions with weight loss, resulting in various forms of eating disorders, including bulimia and anorexia. Both of these can lead to other health-related issues.
A negative body image increases the risk of someone taking extreme measures to achieve the body type they feel they should have. This can lead to over dieting, an obsession with exercising, laxative abuse, smoking, use of drugs and induced vomiting. All of which pose severe threats to one’s overall health images and wellness.
According to the Albert Ellis Institute those who are overly concerned about one or more body areas and have a complete misconception of these areas are commonly diagnosed with a psychological disorder known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Many of those diagnosed with BDD tend to have only minimal or nonexistent flaws to be worried about. Common areas of concern among those suffering from BDD include flaws involving the face, head, breasts, buttocks, abdomen, hips, thighs and genitals.
So what do we need to do?
1. If you care about other people in your country and you have posted an A4 challenge picture, please delete it instantly. This is a cruel comparison you are forcing people to partake in and it does nothing for the psychological health of the Chinese people.
2. Start complementing each other. If your friend has put on some holiday weight...thats ok. You don't need to tell them, I am sure they know themselves. Instead, if you really care about your friends, trying offering a compliment. "That necklace looks very pretty" "You look fantastic". You will see your friend become happier almost instantly.
3. Stop doing trends just because others are doing it, think for yourself. just because someone does something, doesn't mean you have to. You aren't sheep, you don't walk forward because the sheep in front of you walk forward. Whenever you use something like social media, be aware of the hidden consequences of human repetition, learn to think for yourself. Next time you see some new challenge, try taking a picture mocking the challenge instead and explaining the problems with it.
4. Finally, if you really care about your health, starving yourself will not improve it, there is only one option. Exercise!!! If you want to get a nice body and be healthy, go for a run. Your older self will thank you for it.
Why use such a provocative title? Destroying China, are you out of your mind?
Body shaming, or fat shaming are terms originally from English-speaking countries like the US and Uk, right? I wonder if you have heard of the term "thigh gap", which is absolutely an American thing, or maybe a British thing as well. Would you also say that the US and UK are being destroyed? I bet you wouldn't.
well, i love my fat waist
but i have promised myself to do more exercise and be more health.
i never consider those skiny figures are beautiful...if i were a man i would rather choose a chubby girlfriend
I think this way is not good for us, because the network developed, we will receive different information from the Internet, some information will bring bad influence to life. In this way to show our body, is good, but some people will be blind to lose weight because of these pictures. In order to achieve this effect, at all costs. Not everyone will have that thin waist. We need to use the correct way to lose weight, exercise their body. I think this is also a kind of blind worship. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to use this method to make my waist slim. Do not need to show on the network. So I hope you don't learn this trend!
15English class
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Katrina
In fact, there are other questionable beliefs among Chinese females which imperil their health too. I personally find Chinese women more averse to physical exertions than I do Western women. Walk? Why walk when there is a scooter to take you to the shop 200 metres down the road... Take a hike in the park? Why go to the park in the first place? Ride a bicycle? Oh no, please! It's so unladylike!
As a matter of fact, several Chiense women have told me they do not want to do strenuous physical exercise because "that will give me muscle!!!" A woman mustn't have a strong body. It's better for a woman's self-awareness to know that men constantly worry she might collapse under the weight of her lycra clothes! That is why men carry a woman's purse but the woman gets the money inside it from her man!
An occasional look at the pictures of anemic, flat-breasted girls in one of the dozens of this site's "...most beuatiful gir/angel/goddessl..." threads completely shows the trend you, Sean, described so well! Thanks for going to the trouble of making this excellent blog!
haha, just wait till people start modifying their cars to have the A4 waist
Spring, nice to see you on China daily.
Yes, I do not think it is a good way to test the body either. However, when people read things on the internet, sometimes they have a tendency to believe whatever they see. We must question knowledge, only then can we know if it is true.
I completely agree alexia!
We must remember not to just copy what everyone else does...Thats how things like world war 2 started, everyone just blindly following orders.
Nice to see you on China daily.
Maybe next hundred years,A3 body type will be popular for Chinese girls in china.
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