So begins an article that landed in the FMS inbox from the Beijing-based English language Global Times. The title is the title of this post (without the brackets).
And it's an article that was submitted by a reader, Tiara Lin.
After an opening like that, of course we read on...
I was wearing a pair of men's shorts that I had recently bought in the boys' section of Zara's children's department, which drew people's attention to my thick calf muscles, a result of a year's worth of long workouts. I don't know about you, but by this point I was starting to imagine what Tiara Lin, her calves and those shorts look like. And I was liking the sexy Asian muscle girl that my imagination was dreaming up.
But then the bubble burst and it was back to reality with a bump as Tiara reveals exactly what the effect of being told she has "men's legs" was. That was the first time and also the last time I put on those shorts. Thud.
And the comment those women made on that hot humid afternoon was not the only reason why Tiara has consigned her boy shorts to the bottom of the wardrobe. Seems like everyone she knows is making comments about her calves, and those comments are resulting from what she identifies as the Chinese preference for "chopstick legs".
Whenever I tell my friends the story, they feel sorry for me and comfort me by saying, "No worries, you look healthy." Healthy? Wait! In a country where men and women prefer ultra skinny legs, telling a Chinese woman that her legs look "healthy" is not necessarily a compliment. I believe the word they were looking for was "ample."
Many Chinese women are obsessed with white, long and skinny "chopstick legs." The Chinese are biased against muscular legs. Flip through any fashion magazines in China, and you can see digitally altered pictures of beautiful girls showing off their skinny thighs and legs. That image has been forever linked with gentility and beauty.
It gets worse. It's not only in China that "chopstick legs" are venerated. South Korea and Japan are also, according to Tiara, under their spell. And in all three countries, increasing numbers of women are undergoing calf muscle reduction surgery.
One of the clinics where this devil-work happens claims, Unfortunately many Asian women have short and muscular calves. Thus, muscle reduction surgery was first developed in Korea. For many years, efforts to reduce calves had focused on fat. But the results of liposuction were disappointing in most cases because the calf was mainly composed of muscle with little fat. By reducing the muscle bulk of Gastrocnemius muscles, the calves can be made thinner and longer.
Botox injections into the muscle will reduce its prominence for up to six months at a time. Injecting a nerve-blocking toxin will decrease the size of your calf by up to 2cm around permanently. Or, and I promise you I am not making this up, the circumference of the calf can be permanently decreased by up to 4cm by burning away the muscle fibres using a process called Radiofrequency Ablation. But none of these, this clinic claims, are as effective or as safe as partial removal of the muscle.
Tiara says that some calf reduction surgeons (henceforth "Servants of Satan") claim as much as 60% of the muscle can be removed. The remaining 40 percent of muscle tissue is said to be 'safe enough' to support daily movements like walking, standing and jumping, she writes. Her room mate is one Chinese woman considering a life minus half of her calf muscles, hilariously blaming too much exercise for her calf "problem".
That this outrage is particularly rife where there is a tendency for more women to have naturally muscular (and therefore naturally beautiful) calves only heaps irony onto the female muscle head's misery that this happens at all. Towards the end of the article Tiara says that in the West, calf implant cosmetic surgery is reportedly as common as breast enhancements, which might be expected to cheer me up. It doesn't. First of all, the thought of all those beautiful Asian calves getting sliced up is still bothering me, and secondly, if big calves are the new fashion in the West, I've seen zero evidence of it.
But in the end, Tiara makes it all alright. She's not going to sacrifice her genetics and her hard work for the sake of conformity. No chopstick legs for this Chinese girl.
I am proud of my muscled calves, she writes. This summer, I am going to put on those boy's shorts again and walk down the streets like I am a star.
Like a star? No, Tiara, you ARE a star.
And in the course of our research we came across another star. She's a Californian with Asian heritage who goes by the name beccafit4life on Tumblr. If ever there was a speech that a woman considering calf reduction surgery should have to hear before they go under the knife, it should be her take on the whole thing.
When I was growing up, I used to not like my legs, esp my calves @ all. I used to ask my parents why I couldn’t have those skinny/thin legs like the typical Asian girls. I know, what the heck was I thinking?!?! Lol. Anyway, through time I’ve learned to accept that I do have big legs & learned to embrace my uniqueness.
Plus, I came to love them even more bcuz they power me on my runs & realized how strong they are. How much “damage” I can do with these babies ;).
I no longer compare myself to anyone else & love everything about my body. You have to love yourself 1st before anything else & have to know that each of us is a unique individual. If everyone looked the same, the world would be very boring.
And there’s nothing wrong with having ONE OF A KIND body :)
Amen.
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