Tipping Gender Scales: From Boys Rule to Girl Power

Abstract

In 2009, a Shanghai Carrefour cashier made headlines for literally taking to the streets to advertise her demands for a mate.² It was not just that Sister Feng was a woman grabbing the reins of the mating ritual or her untraditionally flashy methods that attracted attention. She drew a media blitz for what was perceived as her overly lofty ambitions. At a pint-sized 4’8”, with dark skin and an exceptionally wide mouth with buckteeth, Sister Feng was fatally unattractive by Chinese standards. The fact that she was not a traditional beauty was only one strike against her. Sister Feng also did not possess important family connections or an exceptional academic pedigree.

I’d rather cry in a BMW car than laugh on the backseat of a bicycle.

—Ma Nuo, fashion model, born in 1988¹