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Chinese girls were taking selfies way before the West had even heard of them – and probably even before the word ‘selfie’ had been invented in English.

在西方國家的人們還沒聽說“自拍”這個詞的時候，中國女孩就已經開始玩自拍了，甚至在還不存在“自拍”(selfie)這個單詞的時候就已經開始了。

And so, while the world embraces the selfie revolution – young Chinese women are again one step ahead, editing their pictures in a way the rest of us can only imagine.

之后，當世界開始“自拍革命”的時候——中國年輕女性又領先一步，用我們只能靠想像的方式，開始編輯她們的自拍照。

We're not talking about adding a few flattering filters on Instagram here. The augmentation of facial features – using phone apps such as Meitu Xiu Xiu – is becoming so widespread and powerful in China that it’s become fashionable to say online that they work better than plastic surgery.

這里所說的圖片編輯不只是在Instagram上添加一些好看的濾鏡那么簡單。調整面部特征——使用手機應用程序，如美圖秀秀——在中國變得如此的普遍和有影響力，網上盛傳這比整形手術還管用。

These hugely successful, homegrown photo editing apps specifically target two distinct psychologies of Chinese women: the unabashed posting of selfies (often a whole series of close-up pictures with different expressions) and the desire to look whiter than they really are.

這些極其成功的國產照片處理應用專門針對中國女性的兩大明顯的心理特征：一是可以隨心所欲地曬自拍(通常是一系列的特寫照片，只有表情不同);二是希望自己看起來比實際更膚白貌美。

Such apps play to Chinese women’s fantasies of achieving a ‘Westernised’ aesthetic - whiter skin and bigger eyes.

這類應用也使中國女性實現了她們所追求的“西化”的審美觀——皮膚白皙、大眼睛。

Photo enhancements are nothing new, of course and Photoshop has been readily available for a long time. But simple-to-use photo-editing apps, which create the same effect as Photoshop on your phone, are a relatively new invention.

當然，美化照片并不是什么新技術，Photoshop這樣的圖片處理軟件我們已經使用了很久。相對而言，操作簡易、功能與Photoshop相似的手機應用軟件卻是一個新發明。

In China at least, the phenomenon has become an integral part of the online culture. Most of my female friends edit their faces before posting pictures on social media – it’s a must-do, ingrained step.

至少在中國，這種現象已經成為網絡文化的一個必不可少的組成部分。我的大多數女性朋友在社交媒體發布照片之前一定會先美化這些照片，這已經成為發照片的“必經之路”，成為一個根深蒂固的習慣。

This is more than a digital ‘touch up’ – the likes of which are growing more popular in the Western world, too. Such apps play to Chinese women’s fantasies of achieving a more refined––or more ‘Westernised’––aesthetic that specifically lies in having a more streamlined facial contour, whiter skin and bigger eyes.

這已經不僅僅是數碼“潤色”，這在西方國家也逐漸盛行起來了。此類應用軟件幫助中國女性“實現”了她們對精致容貌的追求——或者說是更“西化”的美貌——有更流線型的面部輪廓、白皙的皮膚和大眼睛。

為什么中國女性如此熱愛自拍修圖？

Natural is the exact opposite of what many Chinese women want (posed by models) CREDIT: EPA

Meitu Xiu Xiu, the leading app of its kind in the Chinese market, is phenomenally successful, According to its official website, Meitu has over 500 million users and is installed on over 900 million mobile devices worldwide.

美圖秀秀，是中國美圖類應用市場中領先的應用軟件，此款應用獲得了極大的成功。根據其官網數據，美圖秀秀的用戶超過5億，全球超過9億用戶安裝了這款應用。

The ‘refine and whiten’ button is by far the most popular function, since having white skin in itself is a standard of beauty in China.

一鍵“磨皮美白”是目前最受歡迎的功能，因為皮膚白在中國是美的標準之一。

Famous Chinese women are driving the trend. The best-known actress in China, Fan Bingbing, has publicly declared Meitu her favourite app and often posts photos of her snow-white skin.

一些中國知名的女性也在推動這個潮流。中國最有名的明星范冰冰，就曾公開稱美圖秀秀是她最喜歡的應用，也經常在網上發她肌膚白皙的照片。

In recent weeks, a $1,000 'selfie camera' has also been flying off the shelves, as it make users look like they've had plastic surgery. The Casio's official name is Exilim TR, but it’s mostly known as ”zipai shenqi” in China, which means ”Godly tool for selfies.”

最近幾周，一款價值約1000美元的“自拍相機”也被搶購，因為這款相機拍出來的照片能讓用戶看起來像是她們做過整形手術。這款卡西歐自拍相機的官方名稱是Exilim TR，它在中國被稱為“自拍神器”，意思是神奇的自拍工具。

Indeed, the hot plastic surgery trend in China and Korea in recent years has been ‘jawline thinning’ – where women try to reduce their ‘bigger faces’ to resemble those of Western women. This ‘shaving’ involves cutting into the jaw and trimming off some of the bone. The result is a more sculpted face and a more triangular chin that resembles the supposed “pixie” look of Western faces.

事實上，近年來在中國和韓國的整形手術中，“削尖下巴”十分熱門——女性們希望自己的“大臉”可以像西方女性那樣立體精致。這里所說的“削”需要切削下頜，以及削骨。其結果就是一張更有型的尖下巴“瓜子臉”，與人們印象中的西式“小精靈”面容相似。

But if you can’t afford surgery, these new apps let you ‘suck in’ your face with the subtle slide of a finger.

但如果你負擔不起整形手術，那么這些新興的應用軟件只需你動動手指就可以讓自己的臉部縮小，擁有精致的輪廓。

One charmer asked me why I used such “life like photos” rather than edited pictures.

有人問我為什么更喜歡用“生活照”，而不是美化過的照片。

為什么中國女性如此熱愛自拍修圖？

Chinese women are afraid to look natural online (posed by model) CREDIT: QUARTZ
“Brightening my skin and making my face thinner is normally all I do on Meitu”, says my attractive friend Leah Zhang. Although she does admit to having gone much further in modifying her features - and having toned it down after one boyfriend told her that her pictures looked nothing like her.

我的一位漂亮的朋友張莉(音)說，“我一般用美圖秀秀‘美膚瘦臉’。”然而她承認自己對照片改動很大，自從她的一個男朋友告訴她，她的照片與她本人相去甚遠之后，她對照片的美化就沒那么夸張了。

I’ve experienced the opposite problem. All this extreme digital photo editing is leading to unrealistic expectations as to what Chinese women actually look like in real life.

而我卻經歷過相反的問題。所有的這些美化照片導致大家對于中國女性在現實生活中的模樣有了不切實際的期望。

A guy I met on a dating app told me he was shocked when he first saw me as I was “much better looking” than my photos suggested. “You look really dark in your photos”, he said, “and your face looks round.”

我在交友應用上遇到的一個人告訴我說，當他第一次見到我時，他感到很震驚，因為我本人比我的照片更好看。“照片上你看起來真黑，”他說，“而且你的臉在照片上看起來是圓的。”

Another charmer asked me why I used such “life like photos” rather than edited pictures.

又有另一個人問我為什么用這樣的“生活照”而不是美化過的照片。

“Nowadays, men are so used to seeing faces of girls on social media where the skin has been whitened, features softened and jaws thinned down, so that anything unfiltered looks strangely under par,” 27-year-old graphic designer Xiaolin told me.

27歲的平面設計師小林告訴我，“現在，男性都習慣于在社交媒體上看到已經‘磨皮美白、臉部特征更柔和、尖下巴’的女生的照片。所以，任何未經處理的照片反而讓人看起來覺得奇怪不舒服。”

My 24-year-old friend Zhao Siyuan tells me that plenty of her male friends have been deceived in online dating with a little help from Meitu. A few were apparently so appalled by the difference in their date's face that they “just directly turned around and walked away”.

我24歲的朋友趙思源(音)告訴我，她的很多男性朋友在網上交友時被欺騙了，就因為美圖秀秀的“一點點幫助”。有一部分在見面的那一刻，對約會對象的相貌是如此的震驚以至于他們“轉頭就走”了。

A couple of months ago I too gave into the pressure downloaded Meitu Xiuxiu, partly because I was curious. Now I’m addicted - because it's so easy to change the way you look, and because, no matter where you are from, a bit of “brightening” is never a bad thing.

幾個月前，我也下載了美圖秀秀，部分原因是因為我很好奇。現在，我竟然“上癮”了，因為它真的可以輕易“改變”你的容貌。而且，無論你來自何方，“白一點”總不是什么壞事。

I can just tap to erase blemishes on my face – meaning my lazy morning routine doesn’t impact my online persona. My jawline, as much as I don’t want to admit it, is quickly streamlined with a quick ‘sucking’. It’s a lot of fun.

我可以點擊抹掉我臉上的瑕疵——這意味著即使我每天早晨再懶，也不會影響我在網上的形象。雖然我不想承認，但我的下巴輕輕一點擊就迅速“變尖”了。這是一個很有趣的過程。

Photoshopping your face with an app is just that – fun - and isn’t harmful in most cases.

用一款應用美化你的照片是如此地有趣——在大部分情況下，也是無害的。

But, in China, it’s increasingly redefining standards of beauty. Chinese women are moving away from their natural selves and I can't help but feel this 'fun' is rapidly turning into an even greater pressure to conform, and look a certain way.

但是，在中國，美的標準不斷被重新定義。中國女性正逐漸遠離最本真的自我，這使我不禁覺得這種“有趣”正在迅速轉變成一種巨大的順應潮流、以及以一定的方式去看待周圍的壓力。

The gap between reality and our online lives is widening as we sit on our phones playing plastic surgeon - and it can't be long before Western women join in.

我們的現實和網絡生活之間的差距正在不斷擴大，因為在手機上，我們都是一位整形外科醫生——相信不用過多久，西方女性也將加入這個行列。

Vocabulary

selfie：自拍，自拍照

plastic surgery：整形，整形手術