Celeb Scandal Reveals Changing Beauty Aesthetics and Prevalence of Toxic Leadership
On July 21, a huge scandal lit up Weibo’s hot topic ranking board. Yamy, former captain of a girl’s group Rocket Girls 101, released a video with audio of her former boss Xu Zhaoyang(徐明朝) harshly criticizing the her appearance in front of her colleagues, telling them Yamy looked really ugly and that she has poor style and taste.
Now we all know the entertainment industry is harsh, but Xu’s comments were brutal, and they were said publicly. What’s more, it is highly likely this isn’t the first, nor the last, time he will speak and treat people this way. This recording set off not one, but two major discussions across the internet:
- The changing definitions of beauty in China and the greater acceptance towards people who don’t fit traditional beauty norms
- The prevalence of 职场PUA or workplace pick-up-artists and toxic work environments in China.
Changing Beauty Aesthetics
Yamy has a very distinctive look. She got what Chinese people refer to as phoenix eyes. It’s the opposite of the very popular wanghong look, or the look you see among many Chinese celebrities with big eyes and the more Western double eyelid. But while many people may not find it beautiful, this look is also what makes her stand out among all the other artists.
Under Yamy’s post there are so many supportive voices telling Yamy to be confident and “stand up!” and “be yourself!” And of course, many people are condemning Xu’s behavior.
From this scandal, one thing for sure is that, people’s definition of beauty in China is expanding. We used to place so much value on double eyelids, big eyes, a pointed nose and white skin. And a couple years ago everyone we saw in the media fit that one definition of beauty.
But now, if you take a look at the models and celebrities that are currently trendy, you’ll notice that the confines are slowly being broken. For example, singer and model Lexie Liu (刘柏辛), her looks are considered unusual because she has very thick lips and a big forehead, but she is featured all over fashion magazines and is also a brand ambassador for C-beauty brand Colorkey.
Then there is Jin Jing(金靖), who also has smaller eyes similar to Yamy and a “beauty mark” above her mouth, which many people say reminds them of a matchmaker in olden times. She is a very talented and entertaining actress with over 1.8M followers on Weibo.
These are only a few of the celebrities that are breaking the mold and and based on netizens’ support of Yamy I predict we’ll see more non-traditional celebrities in the future.
Toxic workplace culture
But the even hotter topic that has come out of Yamy’s scandal is discussion around the prevalence of toxic work environments in China, particularly what people refer to as 职场PUA. 职场PUA or ‘workplace pickup artist’ is a Chinese slang term for bad bosses and managers who don’t understand how to be a leader and think that yelling and losing your temper at your employees is a way to demonstrate your power.
Hearing the way that Xu treated Yamy unfortunately resonated with and overwhelming number of people, who began discussing their personal experiences with bad managers and bosses. So much so that the topic 职场PUA made it onto Weibo’s hot topics board.
Numerous Chinese media outlets and KOLs have chimed in on the issue as well including popular WeChat account 末那大叔 and fashion and beauty influencer 徐老师 or Teacher Xu. Xu actually filmed a video where she and her husband called fans who had submitted their stories about their bad workplace experiences and had then recount their stories and give advice to fans and viewers about how to handle these types of situations.
