‘Is Barack Obama Handsome?’: From the China Daily
August 23rd, 2008
By WILLIAM KERN
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It may be that much of the world is consumed with the upcoming U.S. conventions and the selection of Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee for Vice President, but in China, it seems, there is another battle raging: Is Barack Obama REALLY Handsome?
In an article that strongly demonstrates how much the debate on race differs in China - and how Western ideas of political correctness are almost unknown there - the burning question of Obama’s physical attractiveness was recently touched upon by Raymond Zhou of the state-controlled China Daily. Apparently, since most Chinese have never seen a Black person up close, players for the NBA set the standard for how Black men should look.
“Chinese netizens have their own standards of beauty when it comes to Black Americans. One reader said that it took him a while to recognize ‘Black beauty,’ and that since Obama doesn’t look like a typical NBA player, it’s hard for him to categorize the Senator as physically appealing. … In fact, so many readers cited the NBA as their biggest exposure, that it’s not a stretch to say that when it comes to sizing up Black males, Kobe Bryant is become the benchmark for Chinese youth. ”
“Chinese and Black people seem to occupy two ends of the aesthetic spectrum. Having reached China via middlemen like White Americans and Korean singers, many trends that began with Blacks, such as hip-hop, lose much of their authenticity in the process. And then it’s somewhat jarring to see a Chinese youth with softly-toned skin and smaller features, dressed in XXL-sized clothing with the striking colors that so naturally compliment Black teenagers.”
By Raymond Zhou
August 23, 2008
People’s Republic of China - The China Daily - Original Article (English)
A while ago, when Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, I wrote a blog entry to explain why it was unlikely that Obama would pick her as his running mate. I used “handsome” to describe him, and one of the responses was “What? Do you consider Obama handsome?”
Sure, I think he’s a good looking guy. But my views were quickly drowned out as more and more people joined my challenger and questioned my aesthetic wisdom.
So I tried thinking of the issue from the point of view of an ordinary Chinese netizen, with no knowledge of Obama’s eloquence, poise or insight on race relations. He may not be as eye-catching as Denzel Washington, but he certainly scores pretty high on the question of physical attractiveness.
In fact, so many readers cited NBA as their biggest exposure that it’s not a stretch to say that when it comes to sizing up Black males, Kobe Bryant is become the benchmark for Chinese youth. So where does that leave Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, not to mention Hollywood’s efforts in shaping global perceptions of Black Americans? Obviously as far as China’s vast basketball fan base is concerned, their efforts haven’t been half as effective as the ubiquitous basketball player - to say nothing of the magic of Michael Jordan.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing foreign press coverage of the U.S. election.
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Democratic Party, Columnists, Videos, White House, Black/African-American, Newsweek Blogitics, Newspapers, Racism, Barack Obama, Politics, Television, Sports, 2008 Elections, China, Minorities, Foreign Affairs, Movies. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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