Taipei, March 7 (CNA) Taiwanese women should fight against the standardization of beauty which is being forced upon them by the beauty industry and male criticism, a women's group said in a press conference Tuesday on the eve of International Women's Day.
Awakening Foundation (AF) has announced the launch of a contest offering a NT$10,000 prize to create a slogan that presents "a new option for Taiwanese women."
"Modern Taiwanese women -- whether young or old -- are under an unprecedented amount of pressure to 'look pretty.' At the same time, they are confronted by public criticism by men every day," said Fan Yun, Vice President of the AF.
Today's ideal of feminine beauty is becoming a set image: slim, light-skinned and chesty. The beauty industry -- which includes beauty salons, plastic surgery, cosmetics companies and fitness centers -- are responsible for most of the blame, said Fan.
"It [the beauty industry] forms an alliance with popular culture, and uses products and advertisement as weapons. Its objective, ultimately, is profit," said AF Managing Director Hu Shu-wen.
In response to the beauty industry's advertising tactics, the AF countered popular commercial slogans like "Perfect is a good idea" and "There are no ugly women but lazy ones" with "Stop diet, go play" and "Trust me, it's OK if you don't make it."
A male-dominated society and the media can't be allowed to shy away from their responsibility, said Fan.
"And it's time to liberate women from the standardization and singularity of beauty, which is fundamentally a form of gender discrimination."
"Don't get us wrong. We are not opposed to beauty as an individual value. We are trying to say that Taiwanese women have the right to define beauty in their own way, " Hu noted.