There is an old Chinese saying: "Fish is what I want and bear paw too but I cannot have both at once," as our "X" generation girls, trying to juggle jobs and their looks, are finding out. In fact many young women in China today are not willing to make the concessions to their appearance that their employers wish of them.

Making a Stand

It has been suggested that after the New Year Spring Festival at least 100 female shop assistants in Chengdu left their jobs having been dissatisfied with the dress-codes regulations of their employers.

"As I reported to work at the personnel department, I was asked to dye my hair black or I would be fined 50 yuan (US$6.04). Is dying your hair wrong?" the young lady asked. "There are so many regulations for appearance and dress code here; it is hard to remember them all. No earrings, rings, scarves, long nails or nail polish. No white socks, and hair must always be kempt: tied back or up. I have to wear plaits with blue, black or brown ribbons."

While for some young women the rules appear to infringe personal freedom, it is a fact that retail employers would rarely allow individual appearance styles and making regulations simplifies it.

Work and Appearance

"I think that uniforms are a good idea. You can immediately tell who the shop assistants are," remarked one young male customer, showing agreement with the regulation. "That's correct. Dress code can make the assistants more dedicated to their work tasks," said another. Both men agreed that the code should be attractive for the women - even stylish!

Regarding the view that uniforms do not help but hinder personal appearance, a postgraduate from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) School of Computers said, "Of course, we want to see more beautiful and individual women, but for shop assistants it isn't appropriate. For example, programmers like us have to face a dull work environment and cannot express our individualities. It is a requirement of the routine of work to be stable and predictable. Harboring excessive demands while working runs contrary to the need for compromise that work needs."

What's Beauty?

Ning is a primary school teacher who likes to look smart. As a teenager, she was confused about the problems of personal beauty. While she was at school, she was against the varied regulations that prohibited things like miniskirts. Once she graduated she thought this would change. But when she turned up for work, the headmaster of her school told her that there were regulations for how teachers were to dress too. She got some comfort from her elder sister, "What you wear is not important. If you want to achieve success and be popular, you should emulate others at work. In fact, you do look very pretty." Comforted by her sister's words, Ning went on to teach happily at the school for six years, becoming a core staff member and winning many awards for her work and diligence. For each open class that she gave, she would take care of her appearance and get admiration from her work colleagues. She now understands that appearance is as important to occasion as it is to the self. In her own time, she dresses how she wishes.

Who Is the Most Beautiful in the World?

Standards of beauty have differed a lot between times and between countries. What one culture considers beautiful is not always considered beautiful elsewhere. French women consider that elegant manners constitute beauty and they are understood to be the most rigorous pursuers of beauty anywhere in the world. Korean women like to have face lifts and 13 percent of them have undergone plastic surgery, ranking first in Asia. American women think beauty is sexy and the Spanish believe beauty is defined by charm, grace and energy. Finnish women, who are considered beautiful, are those that are powerful and work managing the state.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao March 6, 2003)