The Pursuit of Physical Beauty in Hong Kong
Learning English through Popular Culture
The human desire to look attractive is universal and because of this, cosmetic surgery is now a multi-million dollar industry. Write a letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Express about the obsession with physical beauty.
Dear Editor, I am writing to express my grave concern towards the obsession with physical beauty in the territory. Seeing that a deluge of advertisements and billboards concerning beauty parlors and slimming centres show up on magazines, the TV and even public transport, it cannot be denied that people taking part in this multi-million dollar industry is a widespread trend, particular to Asia countries. Meanwhile, this worrying phenomenon, without doubt, has indicated that physical beauty is high on the wish list of innumerable people. Despite the fact that people put so much emphasis on physical beauty, I firmly believe that there are other things constituting an integral role in one’s beauty. The justifications to which my inclination can be ascribed are manifold. Probably the first springing to my mind is that intelligence can render a whole definition to procurement of one’s beauty. Nowadays, the mass media colours every aspect of people’s lives, especially to their aesthetic. A raft of celebrated movies and soup operas vividly depict the gender stereotype, in which people consider that women should have an ideal body shape and charming appearance, “Ugly Betty”, “200 Pounds Beauty” , to name but a few. This in turn inculcates susceptible people’s value towards the importance of superficial beauty. Intelligence, in fact, plays a significant role in people’s life. Lamentably, seldom do people realize that the beauty can be one’s intelligence, which is the long-lasting and invincible asset for human beings. Mulan, a prominent Disney animated movie which portrays the story of a legendary Chinese heroine with ordinary appearance, has received high acclaims and gained growing popularity across the
The human desire to look attractive is universal and because of this, cosmetic surgery is now a multi-million dollar industry. Write a letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Express about the obsession with physical beauty.
Dear Editor, I am writing to express my grave concern towards the obsession with physical beauty in the territory. Seeing that a deluge of advertisements and billboards concerning beauty parlors and slimming centres show up on magazines, the TV and even public transport, it cannot be denied that people taking part in this multi-million dollar industry is a widespread trend, particular to Asia countries. Meanwhile, this worrying phenomenon, without doubt, has indicated that physical beauty is high on the wish list of innumerable people. Despite the fact that people put so much emphasis on physical beauty, I firmly believe that there are other things constituting an integral role in one’s beauty. The justifications to which my inclination can be ascribed are manifold. Probably the first springing to my mind is that intelligence can render a whole definition to procurement of one’s beauty. Nowadays, the mass media colours every aspect of people’s lives, especially to their aesthetic. A raft of celebrated movies and soup operas vividly depict the gender stereotype, in which people consider that women should have an ideal body shape and charming appearance, “Ugly Betty”, “200 Pounds Beauty” , to name but a few. This in turn inculcates susceptible people’s value towards the importance of superficial beauty. Intelligence, in fact, plays a significant role in people’s life. Lamentably, seldom do people realize that the beauty can be one’s intelligence, which is the long-lasting and invincible asset for human beings. Mulan, a prominent Disney animated movie which portrays the story of a legendary Chinese heroine with ordinary appearance, has received high acclaims and gained growing popularity across the