Modified Bodies, Material Selves: Beauty Ideals in Post-Reform Shanghai

A comparative analysis of body politics, selfhood, and the pursuit of consumer-based agency

Thin body, white skin, and big eyes. Such beauty ideals are ubiquitous across Shanghai, where salons and weight-loss clinics offering an array of products and treatment options beckon city dwellers with promises of a "better life." Set against the backdrop of China's post-reform era, Modified Bodies, Material Selves compares the radically different attitudes of middle-class Chinese and Western women l...