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F-commerce and lonesome
shoppers celebrate
Singles’ Day in China

Elliot

Chan

Opinions Editor

“bs opinions@theotherpress.ca

 

hile Canadians spent
November 11 paying
respect to those who fought
for our country’s freedom,
China celebrated the joys of
bachelorhood with Singles’
Day. The holiday targets those
without boyfriends, girlfriends,
or life partners. Even though it
might sound like a hoax to those

lonely individuals, Singles’ Day
is becoming a very popular
event in China—a country
burdened by the bachelor
generation, the direct cause of
the one-child policy introduced
in the late “70s.

Instead of pouting, whining,
or crying, the Chinese singles
have found a silver lining
to their pathetic situation.
Singles’ Day is now officially
one of the largest shopping
days of the year, and if there
is acountry that is able to buy
happiness, it might as well be
China. Although in previous
years the holiday has slipped
North American retailers’ radar,
this year they jumped at the
opportunity to reach out toa
loveless audience. And what an

about yourself

audience it is: in a single day,
the world’s largest populated
country spent approximately
$5.7-billion.

Dreamt up by some college
students in the ‘90s, Singles
Day is an upsetting concept to
many Westerners, including
myself. Materialism is, above
all else, an addiction. Most
shoppers will tell you that they
often feel a high when they
make a purchase, especially if
it was something they really
wanted. They pay for it, bring it
home, and bask in the euphoric
sensation until the product gets
old, collects dust on a shelf, and
is ultimately forgotten.

Sure, online shopping
comes with a bit of novelty—the
product you purchase arrives at

your doorstep weeks after you
order it, making it a surprise
present to you from someone
who cares. I think this very
concept is poison, and the fact
that the Chinese are promoting
this cultural behaviour will be a
devastating blow to their social
morale. But if we know anything
about our beloved friends to the
east, they don’t care much about
a healthy population as long as
the economy is prospering.

The fact that Singles’ Day
exists is fine with me. There
should be a day to celebrate
those living an independent
life, the same way there’s a day
to celebrate those in romantic
relationships, i.e. Valentine’s
Day.

But singles, why must it

be a day to selfishly reward
yourself for accomplishing
nothing? Being alone is nothing
to be proud of—anybody can be
alone. Buying gifts for yourself
might be a short-term solution,
but I pity your life if Singles’
Day is the holiday you look
forward to each year.

Celebrate and party with
other single friends, and rejoice
in the fact that you are not
tied down, but don’t allow big
e-commerce companies to take
advantage of your egocentric
nature. Have some control, my
dear lonely hearts of China, and
stay strong; your prince will one
day come for you and your new
PS4.

 

Short hair, who cares?

On women and
cropped cuts

Sharon Miki, Senior Columnist

“Tam not my hatr. lam not this
skin. I am a soul that lives within.”
- India Arie

f you fervently follow

celebrity news like I do,
then you're probably aware of
the chop-happy craze that’s
sweeping, Hollywood: pixie cuts.
From Anne Hathaway to Miley
Cyrus to Pamela Anderson,
many famous ladies have
recently shorn their long locks in

her haircut] if she lost 10
pounds. Now, shedding some
Ibs. might not even do it,”
and that “if you’re a woman
in your prime, short hair is an
overwhelmingly bad idea.”

Okay. First of all: yeah,
right, guy on the Internet, I’m
sure you would have been kind
enough to offer Lawrence the
gift of your sexual prowess,
but—drat!—without her hair,
she’s out of luck. She’s probably
really devastated about that as
she continues winning in Hunger
Games and taking selfies with
her Academy Award.

But beyond the
ridiculousness of this one man’s
view, statements like the one

a lesbian b) a man-hater, or c)
having a mental breakdown.
News flash, boys: I can be and
do all of these things even if
my head hair is so long that it’s
tickling my femur.

And, as men vocalize
these opinions and act as if the
unattractiveness of short hair
is an incontestable fact, more
women who have short hair
because they like it, or because
they need to keep their hair
short for work, or because they
have lost their hair to illness
may feel like they are less of a
woman or like they have less
self-worth.

Making broad and vocal
assumptions about the so-

Making broad and vocal assumptions about the so-called universal
unattractiveness of a style or hair or colour of skin or shape of features Is a
subtle way to make people feel marginalized.

favour of hip, low-maintenance
short hairstyles—and every time
it happens, we're barraged with
waves of male complaints. Case
in point? Jennifer Lawrence cut
her hair this month, and the men
of the Internet are losing their
erections over it.

Lindy West at Jezebel.
com summarized the post-cut
reaction to Lawrence, citing a
particularly snide article on the
subject from MyBonerlsCrying.
com arguing that by cutting
her hair, the 23-year-old Oscar-
winning actress is no longer
sexually attractive: “[Guys
would] only bang her [before

dissected on Jezebel echo the
cave-person-like idea that we
so often hear used casually by
(mostly) men: girls with long
hair = good, while girls with
short hair = bad. I understand
and agree that everyone is
allowed their own opinions
about what looks good to them
and what they find attractive.
For whatever reason, many
people automatically equate
long, flowing hair with feminine
beauty. Fine, whatever, great.
What bothers me is the
weird and commonly accepted
phenomenon wherein people
assume that if a woman cuts
her hair short, she is either a)

called universal unattractiveness
of a style or hair or colour of
skin or shape of features is a
subtle way to make people

feel marginalized. If you don’t
like a celebrity or a friend’s
haircut, that’s fine. But don’t
tell me that short hair is always
a bad idea, because it’s an
individual's choice. Besides,
judgmental dudes: have you
ever considered that awesome
women might be cutting their
hair to weed out assholes like
you from their lives?

 

Jennifer Laurence | Photo courtesy of wwwlaineygossip.com

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