It seems that people's pursuit of thinness never stops. Every once in a while, a figure-centric internet challenge goes blatantly, urging people against one another. Several years ago, there was the A4 waist challenge, which had people placing vertically an A4 sheet of paper in front of their torsos to prove that they were slim. Then came the collarbone challenge, where people competed to see how many coins they could balance on their collarbones, and some crazy individuals can even put items like lipsticks on their collarbones. There’s also the belly button challenge and the iPhone 6 kneecap challenge, all sending a clear message that thinner is better.
似乎人们对苗条身材的追求从未停止。每隔一段时间，一个以身材为中心的网络挑战就会大肆传播开来，促使着人们互相竞争。几年前的“A4腰挑战”要求人们将一张A4大小的纸垂直地放在身体前面，以证明自己苗条。后来出现了“锁骨挑战”，要求人们比赛看自己能在锁骨上放多少枚硬币。还有肚脐眼挑战（反手摸肚脐）和iPhone 6膝盖挑战，都传达着这个明显的信息：越瘦越好。
This year's Spring Festival is no exception, with the latest outlandish trend of using earphones to test the circumference of your waist. A large number of photos showing extreme thin waists wound by earphones have been uploaded to social platforms such as Weibo and Qzone. A competition without smoke began, and many netizens keep trying just for more laps. However, there were varied reactions to the challenge. Some expressed envy while others were sceptical and concerned. Is it true that the thinner, the better?
今年春节也不例外，因为网络上又出现了最新的怪异潮流——用耳机来测试你的腰围。大量展现自己缠着耳机线的腰的照片被上传到如微博、QQ空间等各大社交平台。一场没有硝烟的战争打响，许多网友一次次尝试，只为能将耳机线多绕上几圈。然而，人们对这一挑战反应各异。一些人表示羡慕，另一些人则表示怀疑和担忧。真的是越瘦越好吗？
The unhealthy preoccupation with being skinny is a pervasive problem among Chinese girls. There are many living examples around me. Some of my roommates weigh themselves every day. When the data fluctuates a little, they either shout excitedly or whine desperately. In order to keep slim, they can even not eat anything all day. The body weight dropped temporarily, but the health problems also increased. One of them got gastritis. I advised her not to do this in the future, but the same scene will be staged again soon.
在中国女孩中，对变瘦的不健康关注是一个普遍的问题。我身边就有很多活生生的例子。我的一些室友每天都称体重。当数据稍有波动时，她们便要么兴奋地叫喊，要么绝望地呜咽。为了保持苗条，她们甚至能一整天都不吃任何东西。体重暂时下降了，但健康问题也随之增加。其中一个得了胃炎。我劝她以后不要这样做，但同样的场景很快就会再次上演。
With a cultural obsession over numbers on the weighing scale, being thin is a necessary condition of attractiveness by Chinese standards. It seems that people have a deep fear and even disgust for obesity. When Chinese celebrities grow a little pudgier, they are immediately laughed at or even criticized by ruthless netizens. Female celebrities are also relentlessly compared with their peers and scrutinized for their weight. As a consequence, the stars are always impractically skinny, and competitions about who is skinnier often appear in public.
在国民文化中，对体重数值的痴迷并不少见。因此以中国人的标准衡量，苗条是吸引力的必要条件。似乎人们对于肥胖有着很深的害怕甚至厌恶。当中国明星长胖了一点，他们马上就会被无情的网民嘲笑甚至批评。女明星也会被无情地与她们的同龄人进行比较，体重也被步步紧盯。因此，我们见到的明星总是瘦得不切实际，比谁更瘦的比赛也经常出现在公众视野中。
A disturbing saying goes like this: “You can either be skinny or be dead.” In the face of health problems, we really need to reflect on whether this crazy trend of weight loss is desirable.
有一句令人担忧的俗语说道：“要么瘦，要么死。”在健康问题面前，我们真的应该反思这种对瘦身的狂热追求是否可取了。
Date:2020-3-5
Author:Huang Linjing
