Okay, so did anybody else see in the news today that during the Friday night opening of the Olympics, the little 9 year old girl singing "Ode to the Motherland" wasn't singing at all? She was lip-synching, because 7 year od Yang Peiyi was deemed too unattractive to have her face on TV and in front of the world. Okay, so I had to google a photo of this little girl. She is completely adorable. Yes, she's a little chubby, yes, her baby teeth are crooked. But she is adorable.

What does it say about our international society that such a thing is allowed to happen. And haven't each of us had our own little mini humiliation somewhere over the years regarding our weight. It is just horrible, and I feel sick for this little girl who had to hide behind a curtain.

Okay, so did anybody else see in the news today that during the Friday night opening of the Olympics, the little 9 year old girl singing "Ode to the Motherland" wasn't singing at all? She was lip-synching, because 7 year od Yang Peiyi was deemed too unattractive to have her face on TV and in front of the world. Okay, so I had to google a photo of this little girl. She is completely adorable. Yes, she's a little chubby, yes, her baby teeth are crooked. But she is adorable.

What does it say about our international society that such a thing is allowed to happen. And haven't each of us had our own little mini humiliation somewhere over the years regarding our weight. It is just horrible, and I feel sick for this little girl who had to hide behind a curtain.

That story made me sick. But the Chinese have always been very concerned about appearance. They think by telling the truth about it up front, it makes it ok. That little girl was so sweet, she said she was just happy to have her voice heard.

I agree - and to tell you the truth, I thought she was cuter than the girl they put out there. She had that baby doll look to her. I hope her self esteem doesn't suffer (though I'm sure it does, poor thing).

A friend of mine who lives in Vietnam has had serious trouble getting a job because she has acne and doesn't look "Vietnamese enough" (she's from the far northern part of the country where peasants of Chinese ancestry live) according to some interviewers. Standards may be different for foreigners there, I don't know.

Things are just really very frustratingly different in that part of the world, not that it makes it alright or anything. I was only living there for a few months and I knew I wouldn't be able to take it much longer than that.

Sadly this is common everywhere including North America. Newscasters who are not hired for their knowledge but rather their 'look', media obsession on looks for actors (are they overweight, do they have wrinkles, etc)...whether we like it or not, looks matter in many industries, areas of life.