There’s an article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/weekinreview/02alex.html ) on the NY Times website that’s fascinating, and just a little disturbing. It discusses a trend that I’ve been aware for quite some time, but one that I was never able to vocalize. This article, which takes a look at the homogenizing of American beauty, does just that. Makes you wonder why we just can’t like ourselves the way we are.
Also, as a person who spends a lot of time in China (and who got her degree in East Asian Studies), I found this editorial to be eye-opening and spot-on ( http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/opinion/02FRIE.html?8hpib ). China is a crazy, wild, beautiful place, and is the one country that I feel Americans have the most misconceptions about. Yes, it’s a communist country, and yes, you don’t want to openly cross the government, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dark, oppressive, homogenous land of huddled masses. Oh, no. Quite the opposite.
And one more thing: If I ever hear anyone—ever again—say that all Chinese women are docile, quiet, and subservient, I’m going to put on a freak show that’ll make a prison riot look tame. The only people who spew that nonsense are men who have a skewed idea of what makes a good woman, and who fantasize getting one for themselves. China Doll, my ass.
—–