为什么中国女性如此热爱自拍修图？
Why Chinese women are using 'plastic surgery' apps to whiten their skin
Chinese girls were taking selfies way before the West had even heard of them – and probably even before the word 'selfie' had been invented in English.
在西方国家的人们还没听说"自拍"这个词的时候,中国女孩就已经开始玩自拍了,甚至在还不存在"自拍"（selfie）这个单词的时候就已经开始了.
And so, while the world embraces the selfie revolution – young Chinese women are again one step ahead, editing their pictures in a way the rest of us can only imagine.
之后,当世界开始"自拍革命"的时候——中国年轻女性又领先一步,用我们只能靠想像的方式,开始编辑她们的自拍照.
We're not talking about adding a few flattering filters on Instagram here. The augmentation of facial features – using phone apps such as Meitu Xiu Xiu – is becoming so widespread and powerful in China that it's become fashionable to say online that they work better than plastic surgery.
这里所说的图片编辑不只是在Instagram上添加一些好看的滤镜那么简单.调整面部特征——使用手机应用程序,如美图秀秀——在中国变得如此的普遍和有影响力,网上盛传这比整形手术还管用.
These hugely successful, homegrown photo editing apps specifically target two distinct psychologies of Chinese women: the unabashed posting of selfies (often a whole series of close-up pictures with different expressions) and the desire to look whiter than they really are.
这些极其成功的国产照片处理应用专门针对中国女性的两大明显的心理特征：一是可以随心所欲地晒自拍（通常是一系列的特写照片,只有表情不同）；二是希望自己看起来比实际更肤白貌美.
Such apps play to Chinese women's fantasies of achieving a 'Westernised' aesthetic - whiter skin and bigger eyes.
这类应用也使中国女性实现了她们所追求的"西化"的审美观——皮肤白皙、大眼睛.
Photo enhancements are nothing new, of course and Photoshop has been readily available for a long time. But simple-to-use photo-editing apps, which create the same effect as Photoshop on your phone, are a relatively new invention.
当然,美化照片并不是什么新技术,Photoshop这样的图片处理软件我们已经使用了很久.相对而言,操作简易、功能与Photoshop相似的手机应用软件却是一个新发明.
In China at least, the phenomenon has become an integral part of the online culture. Most of my female friends edit their faces before posting pictures on social media – it's a must-do, ingrained step.
至少在中国,这种现象已经成为网络文化的一个必不可少的组成部分.我的大多数女性朋友在社交媒体发布照片之前一定会先美化这些照片,这已经成为发照片的"必经之路",成为一个根深蒂固的习惯.
This is more than a digital 'touch up' – the likes of which are growing more popular in the Western world, too. Such apps play to Chinese women's fantasies of achieving a more refined––or more 'Westernised'––aesthetic that specifically lies in having a more streamlined facial contour, whiter skin and bigger eyes.
