"The objectification of women, the objectification of men — neither is fully comfortable when you look at it directly." - I should say so.... two wrongs making a right? For myself, I've felt "Asian" media has been boring for some time. Every actor or model is being slowly converged on the same look. I'd like to see a birthmark or a scar, something individual. Anyway, like you say, its what we've collectively decided sells, now we ride it to the end.
The convergence toward a single optimized look is something I've been thinking about a lot too. You're right that it applies equally regardless of who's being objectified. The birthmark, the scar, the specific face that doesn't fit the algorithm — those get filtered out precisely because the system is optimizing for what sells at scale, not what's interesting. There's a post I'm working on about looksmaxing that goes directly at this: when appearance becomes a primary survival strategy rather than a secondary one, the pressure to converge intensifies. The insidious part to me though isn't the objectification itself, it's that the optimization has been internalized. People are doing it to themselves now, voluntarily, because the conditions make it rational. More on that soon, thanks for reading! 煙雨
So true! And clubs for women where waiters and stripper are men are on the rise in Japan and Korea. Women have money, so now they have power. How do you guys feel about being treated "like a piece of meat"?
That's such a good point, I forgot about Japanese (and now Korea has them too??) male host clubs! I wonder what they're like, but I fear my social anxiety will prevent me from ever going to one haha. But maybe for science and research 😉
"The objectification of women, the objectification of men — neither is fully comfortable when you look at it directly." - I should say so.... two wrongs making a right? For myself, I've felt "Asian" media has been boring for some time. Every actor or model is being slowly converged on the same look. I'd like to see a birthmark or a scar, something individual. Anyway, like you say, its what we've collectively decided sells, now we ride it to the end.
There's something insidious here, the removing of individuality, another form of commodification of human appearance.
The convergence toward a single optimized look is something I've been thinking about a lot too. You're right that it applies equally regardless of who's being objectified. The birthmark, the scar, the specific face that doesn't fit the algorithm — those get filtered out precisely because the system is optimizing for what sells at scale, not what's interesting. There's a post I'm working on about looksmaxing that goes directly at this: when appearance becomes a primary survival strategy rather than a secondary one, the pressure to converge intensifies. The insidious part to me though isn't the objectification itself, it's that the optimization has been internalized. People are doing it to themselves now, voluntarily, because the conditions make it rational. More on that soon, thanks for reading! 煙雨
Looking forward to that! ☺️🙏
Nice article! I have been scouring Substack for my Asian diaspora writers! Great to connect. 🫶🏼
So glad you found your way here 🫶🏼 welcome!
looking forward to the looksmaxxing piece from you
and, as a lesbian, i rarely get what makes attractive men *attractive*, but zhang linghe made me pause…
Thank you! And that’s when you know Zhang Linghe is the real deal 😉
We got there first!!!!! That makes me happy.
So true! And clubs for women where waiters and stripper are men are on the rise in Japan and Korea. Women have money, so now they have power. How do you guys feel about being treated "like a piece of meat"?
That's such a good point, I forgot about Japanese (and now Korea has them too??) male host clubs! I wonder what they're like, but I fear my social anxiety will prevent me from ever going to one haha. But maybe for science and research 😉
Research for a piece. Legit.