Yes, we Chinese love our “face.”

In the past, this love for “face” was largely metaphorical. In recent years, however, to Chinese, especially young Chinese, the importance of “face” is becoming more literal than ever. With the growing appeal of entertainment and celebrity culture, Chinese youth seem to be increasingly obsessed with good looks. The employment and gender inequality has given rise to a culture that disproportionately values outer beauty, especially in young women.

A reality show featuring "artificial beauties" was canceled by media authorities in 2007.

The lure–and pressure–of having a beautiful face and an attractive figure has motivated tens of thousands of young Chinese to go under the knife each year, spending millions of dollars of cool cash for a hot look that they hope will bring them, if not fortune and fame, at least job opportunities and love. According to Phoenix TV (ZH), China has become the third biggest market of plastic surgery in the world after the U.S. and Brazil. From 2009 to 2010, 3.4 millions of plastic surgery procedures were conducted in China. In 2010, the plastic surgery in China was already a 300 billion yuan ($47.7 billion) industry that employed more than 20 million people. The industry has a 40% annual growth and its suppliers boast a staggering 60% annual growth in sales.

Besides those who undergo plastic surgery in China, other Chinese chose to do it in South Korea, a country with the world’s highest per capital rate of cosmetic plastic surgery. According to the statistics from the Korean Embassy in China, in 2011, Korea issued 1,073 visas (ZH) to Chinese citizens who would travel to Korea in order to undergo plastic surgery.

The burgeoning celebrity culture in China feeds young Chinese’s curiosity and interest in plastic surgery. News, gossips and speculations about celebrities’ faces have become popular topics online, often accompanied with before-and-after photos for comparison.

Recently, Faye Wong, the legendary pop icon who is known for her unique style and uncompromising attitude towards media, is at the center of speculations. Gossips about whether Wong has gone under the knife to fix her nose and chin are circulating wildly online and getting mixed reactions from fans. Some are surprised that even the unearthly “goddess” of pop has resorted to plastic surgery, something that only lowbrow (su, 俗) celebrities seek. Other fans, however, respond with understanding and respect. “Online on-lookers love meaningless gossips. Whether or not the icon Faye Wong has undergone plastic surgery is none of anybody else’s business,” a fan wrote on Weibo.

Nevertheless, plastic surgery is almost an open secret in the entertainment circle. Many aspiring young men and women won’t hesitate to spend money and go through painful procedures to change their looks so that they have better chance in their career. This trend compelled Beijing Film Academy, the number one film school in China, to announce before its entrance examinations this year that students who had tattoos or had undergone plastic surgery would be disqualified for admission. “The changes in their faces or other parts of the body, and the tattoos too, might affect their performance when they are trying to depict a figure in a play,” Wang Jinsong, deputy director of the Performance Institute of the academy, told China Daily.

The popularity of plastic surgery, however, isn’t just among those who work in entertainment. Gender inequality and employment pressure for young women have forced some of them to consider plastic surgery seriously. It is almost an unspoken rule that some employers tend to hire female employees based on their looks more than their educational and professional merits. “They may not say it openly, but during the process they will pick the prettier one,” a college graduate, who had her eye lids worked on told Los Angeles Times.

Sadly, the great value society puts in women’s looks has created image issues for many young women in China. Although society respect strong, intelligent and capable women, many Chinese men still consider physically attractive women who are less capable than they are more desirable than otherwise as their partners. In the first-tier cities where single women outnumber single men (7:1) and where young people have more disposable income, as many young women feel great pressure to have good looks and a slim body more than anything else, plastic surgery looks more and more like a viable option to happiness and security to young women. In a recent post on zhuansoo.com, an online community for Chinese students who are interested in studying overseas, the author asks, “Should female students go and study abroad or save the money to get plastic surgery?” According to her, almost all male students who responded to a post she came across had said that they would choose a pretty girl who was only interested in beauty, shopping and fashion as their girlfriend over a plain-looking but academically successful girl. “Is face really that important?” the author is confused.

However, image is not only an issue for young women. More and more Chinese government officials, both men and women, are also rushing to go under the knife so that they will look younger, thinner, and more attractive. Caring more and more about their image, these official hope that plastic surgery will improve their popularity among the public and hide the signs of aging.

As more Chinese are willing to invest in their looks each year, health experts have warned the public of the risks related to plastic surgery, especially in a country where poisonous milk power and fake cooking oil are not rare cases that scare the public on a daily basis. In fact, in the past ten years, on average, 20 thousand cases of medical malpractice claims were filed each year, which amounted to a total of 200 thousand faces destroyed in China. In 2010, a reality show starlet died from a medical accident during a plastic surgery procedure, which raised the awareness of the negative impact of the craze for artificial beauty on Chinese youth’s mental and physical health.

Recently, on a special topic page on Weibo, netizens are asked whether they will choose to undergo plastic surgery considering its benefits and risks. The topic became one the most popular on the website, which has received 3,419,100 responses.

Although most of those who responded still prefer “natural beauty,” they are also open to surgery, being aware of the risks. However, now, one may take more caution and think twice before she/he lets anybody cut open her/his face or body: “if you’re to undergo these procedures, you must first verify the source of the products and whether the service provider is a professional institution so as to reduce the risks,” as a netizen warns.

Although the result might not be surprising to anybody who has worked in China, the numbers are nevertheless quite appalling. China’s current Labor Law (1994) does have very general stipulation that ensures the equal employment for Chinese. It’s written that:

Laborers shall have the right to be employed on an equal basis, choose occupations, obtain remuneration for their labor, take rest, have holidays and leaves, obtain protection of occupational safety and health, receive training in vocational skills, enjoy social insurance and welfare, and submit applications for settlement of labor disputes, and other rights relating to labor as stipulated by law. (Section 3, Chapter I)

However, there is no specific anti-discrimination law in China that protects vulnerable population such as women, people with disabilities, the LGBT people, ethnic minorities, people above certain ages, or people from certain regions. Sometimes, the employers even use information about job seekers’ personal life, such as they’re divorced or married twice, against them. Like in many cases of other Chinese laws, the Labor Law is loosely enforced and thus many violations can go without sanction. Already in a powerless position especially when the job market hasn’t been growing proportionally as the labor force, job seeker rarely take action to contest employers’ oftentimes outright discrimination.

In a perpetually male-dominant society, one is hardly surprised that gender discrimination tops the list. “Women can hold up half of the sky!” My generation of Chinese (born in the late 70s and early 80s) grew up with this slogan. The reality is, however, there’s still a long way ahead of us before women in China can have equal employment opportunities with men. Female college graduates, for instance, will more likely end up in jobs with less potential for career development than their male counter parts.

“I’m looking for a job this year,” a reader shared her story. “[I] study hydraulic engineering, in a Master’s program, female. [I’m] running into walls every day. Nobody hires girls, based on discrimination. [I’m] so helpless and can’t find a satisfactory job. It looks that I’ll have to wait until my graduation next year to find a job.”

“I hear you,” a reader replied to her. “It’s extremely tough for female students in engineering [to get a job].”

Engineering is indeed often considered a “male profession.” However, it’s by no means the only profession that doesn’t welcome female workers. Gender discrimination is almost a norm on the job market cross-the-board. “[They only] hire male employees and never hire females [in] accounting,” wrote another reader from her experience.

“Now no matter [you study] engineering or liberal arts, female graduates don’t have the same opportunities as male graduates do in job seeking… Gender discrimination is very serious…” another reader commented.

Serious it is. Gender discrimination is so prevalent in the hiring process that the employers don’t even need to hide it. “I got an interview,” wrote a reader, “and then they told me that they didn’t hire female graduates.”

And it can be worse, if a female employee or job seeker has another disadvantage such as health or age.

“No matter how well you perform at your job, once [you have] health problems, [you’re] ruthlessly kicked out. [It’s] very devastating, and [you have] no protection whatsoever. And female employees make a lot less than male employees who do the same job. The age limit for female employees is extremely strict, no higher than 35. Sometimes only 28 or even under 25,” wrote a reader.

The age discrimination is not just in private sector. Legally speaking, the government itself has violated the Labor Law by limiting the age of those who can register for the Public Service Examination to under 35. The age limit puts rural graduates, especially, in a very disadvantaged position. A reader observed that “about the issue that rural students [generally] start school late, and they graduate at an age older than others, so when it comes to job seeking, applying for graduate school or military academy, they’re not discriminated but flat-out rejected, because their ages exceed the limit. What are they going to do?”

Employers also don’t hire women because of the prospect of their marriage, pregnancy and child raring. In fact, the Labor Law’s Chapter VII provides legal protection for women and juvenile workers, including protection during and after pregnancy as well as the child raring period. However, because of the lack of protection for women at hiring and the poor enforcement of the law, these protections actually became the reasons for the employers to be reluctant to hire women, no matter how qualified they are for the job.

“[When a female college graduate chooses to] get a job, some companies don’t even open their doors to anybody other than those who have a Master’s degree. [When she] chooses to go to grad school, [the employers] will look at her marriage status, and see if [she] will apply for maternity leave etc.,” a reader lamented.

Indeed, it is extremely hard for Chinese women to balance career and family because they have to work a lot harder than men to get to where they want to be, if they’re lucky. That’s part of the reason why there are an increasing number of single career women, shengnu, who have delayed marriage and child raring, indefinitely.

As China’s economy slows down, the job market can only get tougher. For those who are in an disadvantaged position, getting a job is even more challenging, let alone getting equal pay. However, in a society where people are not equally valued for their ability, achievement and work ethics and where the vulnerable and the disadvantaged are not provided with a basic safety net, economic growth alone isn’t enough to bring about “prosperity” or “harmony.” Those in power in China may well understand this, but just like many other issues in China, addressing the issue of employment discrimination is easier said than done.