In Taiwan the picture of beauty is being as thin and as pale as possible. This informs women of what they can and can't do. They must use an umbrella when outside. They can't walk more than 100 meters a day because they don't want to get any muscle on their legs. On their days off "going out" means sitting inside a cafe. Actually this last one cracks me up. I love it when people say "oh it's a nice day out, let's go out." But that means just go to another place where they can be inside.
But perhaps the biggest drawback to trying to look like somebody who is suffering from a deadly disease, is that this makes Taiwanese women extremely unhealthy. It can depend on just how thin and pale you are, but the majority of Taiwanese women have a cold once every two weeks. I know some who are sick every few days, while many suffer from long term health problems that they can't get rid of. It's actually a pretty scary thing to see, especially when your friends whom you care about are often sick, or have some health condition they can't shake.
Today's picture is kind of self explanatory. I will joke that that it's every Taiwanese woman's dream to be as thin and as white as a skeleton. But what is not funny is that the pursuit of looking like that, is greatly increasing the chances that they will soon be a real skeleton.
