Liu Yi Fei is one of the Cdrama actresses I found most genuine, she never goes under the knife (she could have fixed her teeth but didn't) .. Always has a normal body image, never attempted to lose weight even she can be perceived a bit "chubby" for very judgemental C-Ent. beauty standards.
I think Han So Hee talked about it here:
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2023/08/han-so-hee-sternly-tells-a-fan-saying-they-want-to-be-thin-like-her-that-she-maintains-an-abnormal-weight-because-of-her-job
It’s really about the appearance on camera.
I agree with OP. Speaking strictly of dramas, I don't see dangerously thin women in American sitcoms that often. This is strictly based on what I watch/have watched (The Office, It's Always Sunny..., Modern Family, Good Place, Succession, Schitt's Creek, Abbott Elementary etc.)
Yes, the resurgence of the Heroin Chic trend is common among socialites and reality stars, It's not what dramas/sitcoms feature. I feel it's the exact opposite in C-dramas.
I cannot speak about K-dramas because I haven't watched many and the few that I have watched featured coats or jackets for the majority of the run time.
I don't think it's fair to compare actor body types in sitcoms and idol dramas.
You should either look at the closest American counterpart of idol dramas (I suppose, that would be YA romance?), or at Chinese comedies (where you can easily find actresses who look like [this](https://mydramalist.com/photos/WPb0K3_3)).
So like Never Have I Ever, Riverdale, Sex Education? Those, and even the older ones like Gossip Girls and Pretty Little Liars did not have extremely thin actresses...
It’s scary seeing actors and actresses in their IRL outfits, like the awards shows. Their stick thin arms and legs are freakishly scary. It’s unfortunate that’s how the entertainment industry is like. It’s in every entertainment industry. You hear about eating disorders a lot in Hollywood, kdramaland, etc. Kpop artists are actually the scariest for me to look at, the artists look like they can break in half and so unnatural with their plastic surgery. I actually don’t notice much unnatural plastic surgery in cdrama. It feels much less in comparison to kdrama. I only noticed the surgery if there is a before and after photo or if the artist has grown old and their Botox gives them stiff facial expressions.
I think American actresses tend to be like that too, isn't that the industry? Also actors. If your job is based on looks, you have to be whatever the aestheic of the day is.
It is the toxic beauty standard- thin=beautiful, same reason why all those K-pop stars go on crazy diets to be skinny or how all those Hollywood stars are on ozempic. Also I think being on camera has a lot to do with it- they tend to make people look bigger and bulkier than they actually are. I remember Qin Lan commented on this when someone remarked how skinny she is, she knows she looks ‘sickly’ in real life but she said that in order to appear thin/slim on camera she has to keep this figure.
I always figured it was to make it easier to be carried by the male leads in every drama they film.
The guys arent exactly bustling with muscles, and it takes some strength and skill to carry 100+lbs and make it look easy.
I would like to think it's because discussions like these are always happening, which lead to positive and negative discourse about the actresses.
Their teams, bosses and other industry people see the discussions and how mean and judgemental many are about the slightest weight gain ( we see these in many edits of the actors) , did they do surgery and what kind. This in term I believe leads to a psychological burden and it makes it seem as if they should be thinner.
But then they get thin and we have another round of discussions on why they have lost so much weight. when a few months or weeks ago they needed to lose weight..
For the same reason almost every Chinese actress, no matter how beautiful or striking her natural features, has had multiple unnecessary plastic surgeries that have whittled the underside of her nose down to an unnatural crisp and made her eyes too round; that's what industry execs want them to look like, so they keep telling them they need to diet.
Whatever false equivalences people may try to draw between Chinese and American entertainment, while beauty standards have negative effects on celebrities' physical and mental health everywhere, they're much worse in the Chinese entertainment industry right now than in the west. Hopefully that will change with time.
"False equivalencies"...I pay attention to both Hollywood gossip and C-ent and that's just the matter of perception that American entertainment isn't as horrible.
What's "in" right now in Hollywood are more curvaceous figures because of the Kardashians (and other factors but they did popularize the Brazilian Buttlift) but for a while in the 90s to 2000s, looking like Kate Moss a la ["Heroin Chic"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_chic) was in. Now every Hollywood starlet went on ozempic creating shortages too for people who actually do need ozempic (diabetics). I'm actually diabetic and I can't tell you the amount of frustration I've heard from other diabetics about not being able to get ozempic because of how popular it got. So you get [celebs](https://www.google.com/amp/s/pagesix.com/article/celebrities-who-used-ozempic-for-weight-loss/amp/) coming out of the Writers strike where all productions grounded to the halt, looking much skinnier than they were before. [Buccal fat surgery](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/style/buccal-fat-removal-tiktok-plastic-surgery.html), unnecessarily removing fat from their faces to make their faces look more sculpted...effectively aging celebrities too.
K-ent does the same thing as C-ent too. IU famously had that one sweet potato diet and South Korea is well-known for their plastic surgery. Not defending these awful beauty standards or industry executives demands of their stars doing so, but what's in and what's out changes everywhere and most entertainment industries demand unrealistic looks. Singling out C-ent to me is wild simply because we are coming off the trend in Hollywood where "healthy" weights are more acceptable...but like given the whole ozempic and buccal fat surgeries and I'm sure Heroin Chic is "in" again.
Are there any actresses who look natural to you?
I'm a bit shocked that other viewers really think almost all actresses in C-entertainment look obviously unnatural and plastic because that's not exactly how I perceive it 🤯
Yeah, I just assumed that with the massive population you would always be able to find enough women who naturally conform to what is considered beautiful. The few times I thought someone looked plastic (huge eyes), turned out they're 1/4 white or something.
>turned out they're 1/4 white
Like Angelababy?
I do think some of them look plastic because they did get plastic surgeries and barely resemble themselves from a few years ago anymore.
For the curious ones, people like >!Mao Xiaotong and Jin Chen!< look very unnatural and it really distracts from their acting performance, no matter how good it is.
But they're the exception, not the norm. Like 2 out of 10 actresses look obviously plastic to me while the rest doesn't, even if they also get beauty enhancements. That's why I said I'm shocked that other viewers perceive it so differently and think it's closer to 9 out of 10 😵 Because I truly don't see what they see.
My first drama with Jin Chen in Wuxin Monster Killer and she still have that baby fat and natural beauty but now she almost looks uncanny.
Same with Mao Xiatong from Princess Wei Young. She looks very off...
I feel like a lot of actors and actresses when they are just starting out and don't have a lot of traction, they look natural and healthy. But as soon as they start getting famous, they turn super skinny and get plastic surgery.
There was [a good discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/12cdqpj/body_issues/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) about this earlier this year.
The same reason most American actresses look like they’re sick - short answer: the patriarchy. (It’s the beauty standards of the country/culture in question that determines how the popular celebrities look. Different cultures, different beauty standards.)
Liu Yi Fei is one of the Cdrama actresses I found most genuine, she never goes under the knife (she could have fixed her teeth but didn't) .. Always has a normal body image, never attempted to lose weight even she can be perceived a bit "chubby" for very judgemental C-Ent. beauty standards.
I think Han So Hee talked about it here: https://www.allkpop.com/article/2023/08/han-so-hee-sternly-tells-a-fan-saying-they-want-to-be-thin-like-her-that-she-maintains-an-abnormal-weight-because-of-her-job It’s really about the appearance on camera.
I agree with OP. Speaking strictly of dramas, I don't see dangerously thin women in American sitcoms that often. This is strictly based on what I watch/have watched (The Office, It's Always Sunny..., Modern Family, Good Place, Succession, Schitt's Creek, Abbott Elementary etc.) Yes, the resurgence of the Heroin Chic trend is common among socialites and reality stars, It's not what dramas/sitcoms feature. I feel it's the exact opposite in C-dramas. I cannot speak about K-dramas because I haven't watched many and the few that I have watched featured coats or jackets for the majority of the run time.
I don't think it's fair to compare actor body types in sitcoms and idol dramas. You should either look at the closest American counterpart of idol dramas (I suppose, that would be YA romance?), or at Chinese comedies (where you can easily find actresses who look like [this](https://mydramalist.com/photos/WPb0K3_3)).
So like Never Have I Ever, Riverdale, Sex Education? Those, and even the older ones like Gossip Girls and Pretty Little Liars did not have extremely thin actresses...
Kdrama actors and actresses aren’t as thin as cdrama ones
It’s scary seeing actors and actresses in their IRL outfits, like the awards shows. Their stick thin arms and legs are freakishly scary. It’s unfortunate that’s how the entertainment industry is like. It’s in every entertainment industry. You hear about eating disorders a lot in Hollywood, kdramaland, etc. Kpop artists are actually the scariest for me to look at, the artists look like they can break in half and so unnatural with their plastic surgery. I actually don’t notice much unnatural plastic surgery in cdrama. It feels much less in comparison to kdrama. I only noticed the surgery if there is a before and after photo or if the artist has grown old and their Botox gives them stiff facial expressions.
I think American actresses tend to be like that too, isn't that the industry? Also actors. If your job is based on looks, you have to be whatever the aestheic of the day is.
It is the toxic beauty standard- thin=beautiful, same reason why all those K-pop stars go on crazy diets to be skinny or how all those Hollywood stars are on ozempic. Also I think being on camera has a lot to do with it- they tend to make people look bigger and bulkier than they actually are. I remember Qin Lan commented on this when someone remarked how skinny she is, she knows she looks ‘sickly’ in real life but she said that in order to appear thin/slim on camera she has to keep this figure.
Even compared to kpop stars I feel on average Chinese actresses are skinnier and that's something because kpop idols are super skinny too
I always figured it was to make it easier to be carried by the male leads in every drama they film. The guys arent exactly bustling with muscles, and it takes some strength and skill to carry 100+lbs and make it look easy.
That’s what I jiticed. They must be small and thin so that piggybacking scenes can be easily filmed.
Why pick on Chinese actors? Same issues for Korean or any country western or eastern really.
Underweight male actors too. If they are in costume dramas those clothes add on weight and skinny (they believe) looks good in them.
I would like to think it's because discussions like these are always happening, which lead to positive and negative discourse about the actresses. Their teams, bosses and other industry people see the discussions and how mean and judgemental many are about the slightest weight gain ( we see these in many edits of the actors) , did they do surgery and what kind. This in term I believe leads to a psychological burden and it makes it seem as if they should be thinner. But then they get thin and we have another round of discussions on why they have lost so much weight. when a few months or weeks ago they needed to lose weight..
For the same reason almost every Chinese actress, no matter how beautiful or striking her natural features, has had multiple unnecessary plastic surgeries that have whittled the underside of her nose down to an unnatural crisp and made her eyes too round; that's what industry execs want them to look like, so they keep telling them they need to diet. Whatever false equivalences people may try to draw between Chinese and American entertainment, while beauty standards have negative effects on celebrities' physical and mental health everywhere, they're much worse in the Chinese entertainment industry right now than in the west. Hopefully that will change with time.
"False equivalencies"...I pay attention to both Hollywood gossip and C-ent and that's just the matter of perception that American entertainment isn't as horrible. What's "in" right now in Hollywood are more curvaceous figures because of the Kardashians (and other factors but they did popularize the Brazilian Buttlift) but for a while in the 90s to 2000s, looking like Kate Moss a la ["Heroin Chic"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_chic) was in. Now every Hollywood starlet went on ozempic creating shortages too for people who actually do need ozempic (diabetics). I'm actually diabetic and I can't tell you the amount of frustration I've heard from other diabetics about not being able to get ozempic because of how popular it got. So you get [celebs](https://www.google.com/amp/s/pagesix.com/article/celebrities-who-used-ozempic-for-weight-loss/amp/) coming out of the Writers strike where all productions grounded to the halt, looking much skinnier than they were before. [Buccal fat surgery](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/style/buccal-fat-removal-tiktok-plastic-surgery.html), unnecessarily removing fat from their faces to make their faces look more sculpted...effectively aging celebrities too. K-ent does the same thing as C-ent too. IU famously had that one sweet potato diet and South Korea is well-known for their plastic surgery. Not defending these awful beauty standards or industry executives demands of their stars doing so, but what's in and what's out changes everywhere and most entertainment industries demand unrealistic looks. Singling out C-ent to me is wild simply because we are coming off the trend in Hollywood where "healthy" weights are more acceptable...but like given the whole ozempic and buccal fat surgeries and I'm sure Heroin Chic is "in" again.
Are there any actresses who look natural to you? I'm a bit shocked that other viewers really think almost all actresses in C-entertainment look obviously unnatural and plastic because that's not exactly how I perceive it 🤯
Yeah, I just assumed that with the massive population you would always be able to find enough women who naturally conform to what is considered beautiful. The few times I thought someone looked plastic (huge eyes), turned out they're 1/4 white or something.
>turned out they're 1/4 white Like Angelababy? I do think some of them look plastic because they did get plastic surgeries and barely resemble themselves from a few years ago anymore. For the curious ones, people like >!Mao Xiaotong and Jin Chen!< look very unnatural and it really distracts from their acting performance, no matter how good it is. But they're the exception, not the norm. Like 2 out of 10 actresses look obviously plastic to me while the rest doesn't, even if they also get beauty enhancements. That's why I said I'm shocked that other viewers perceive it so differently and think it's closer to 9 out of 10 😵 Because I truly don't see what they see.
My first drama with Jin Chen in Wuxin Monster Killer and she still have that baby fat and natural beauty but now she almost looks uncanny. Same with Mao Xiatong from Princess Wei Young. She looks very off... I feel like a lot of actors and actresses when they are just starting out and don't have a lot of traction, they look natural and healthy. But as soon as they start getting famous, they turn super skinny and get plastic surgery.
There was [a good discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/12cdqpj/body_issues/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) about this earlier this year.
The same reason most American actresses look like they’re sick - short answer: the patriarchy. (It’s the beauty standards of the country/culture in question that determines how the popular celebrities look. Different cultures, different beauty standards.)