Beauty is only skin deep
2004-12-18 19:21
Beijing - China on Saturday crowned its first ever Miss Plastic Surgery at a pageant that attracted widespread attention at home and abroad with its apparent endorsement of the notion that beauty is only skin deep.
Feng Xian, 22, who is training to be a plastic surgeon herself, was considered the most beautiful "Renzao Meinu," or "Artificial Beauty," among 19 finalists aged 17 to 62 vying in Beijing for the title celebrating beauty at any cost.
She said she was proud of her glamorous, albeit artificial looks, achieved through botox injections and surgery to widen her eyes and remove fat from her cheeks and waist.
"Regardless of how I used to look, regardless of what measures I have taken, I'm now beautiful and healthy and full of confidence - that's the most important thing," she said.
Feng said she believed the experience of going under the knife would make her a better cosmetic surgery practitioner.
"I want to feel the operation myself so that I will have confidence when I become a plastic surgeon," she said.
Pain was worth it
The physical pain she had to endure to make her dreams come true was worthwhile, she said.
"It was definitely worth it. First, I've become much prettier, second, it is for my future career, for my whole life."
Feng will receive gifts worth 50 000 yuan (about R35 000) such as club membership and jewellery, plus a free fact-finding trip to cosmetic surgery salons in Japan.
Second prize went to 22-year-old Zhang Shuang while third was awarded to Cheng Lili, also 22, who also won the "Best Figure" prize.
Zhang had operations to widen her eyes, enlarge her nose and breasts and alter the shape of her face, while Shanghai-native Cheng had her eyes widened, the shape of her nose and cheeks refined and her bust enlarged.
The two highest-profile contestants - 62-year-old Liu Yulan and transsexual Liu Xiaojing - did not make it to the finals, but both received awards for "giving the best impression to the media".
Liu Yulan, who entered the contest as "the top man-made sunset rose of Hebei province," told an applauding audience during the show that beauty was ageless.
"The pursuit of beauty is eternal. Cosmetic surgery shouldn't just be something that belongs to the young," said Liu, who was showing off her wrinkle-free face and large, better-defined eyes.
She was a man
Transsexual Liu Xiaojing, sporting a slinky low-cut turquoise dress, revealed only a few days ahead of the pageant that she was a man three years ago.
"Beauty is everyone's dream, it's not only the pursuit of women, but men's too," said the 22-year-old, who had surgery on her breasts, nose, eyebrows and chin and liposuction on her waist.
China is now the world's eighth-largest and Asia's second-biggest cosmetics market.
According to state media, there are 11.2 million practitioners in 1.5 million beauty salons in China, raking in 168 billion yuan last year, a 20% year-on-year increase.
- AP