24-year-old May May
said she once locked herself at home
because she felt she was too fat to go out.
But now, she’s under the spotlight as a plus-size model.
How did she make the leap?
Is body positivity becoming a thing in China?
Hey guys, it's Venus.
I'm in Guangzhou in southern China.
And I'm here to find out
You’re looking at videos from China’s TikTok.
These plus-size models are posing
and dancing to sell clothes for online shops.
We’re going to meet her now.
May May does this for a living.
She’s livestreaming on Taobao,
China’s largest online shopping platform,
where millions shop and tune into the latest feeds
from streamers like her.
For each five-hour-long livestreaming session,
May May talks nonstop to her audience.
She describes her body and clothing fit in great detail,
so viewers can imagine themselves in her outfits
if they’re of a similar shape or size.
Her audience asks her questions in real time,
and she answers them immediately.
They can also click on her links to buy what she’s modeling.
The boom in online plus-size clothing
and, by extension, modeling
stems from a very real need.
I went inside a mainstream clothing chain
to look for extra-large clothes,
and May May was right.
They were nearly nowhere to be seen.
Is this for kids?
Oh my God.
It’s a bit small.
What is it?
This is a large!
This is extra small.
Let’s see.
Yep, it’s for kids.
They don’t have extra large.
I find that a bit surprising
because the market is actually not that niche.
As China’s wealth expands,
so do its people’s waistlines.
In the ‘80s, when China’s economy started to improve,
only a small percentage of the country’s adults was overweight.
Obesity rates for adult men and women were under 1%.
Just one generation later,
the numbers have jumped,
and now about 5% of the population is considered obese.
Percentage-wise, the figures are still lower than that of the U.S.
But China also has the highest number
of obese children in the world,
at 15 million.
While mainstream brick-and-mortar shops
are slow to address this need,
competition online is heating up.
To learn more, we met up with Tang Tang,
who’s been selling plus-size clothes online for 11 years now.
Her shop has 1.1 million followers.
I’m watching some of May May’s videos.
Let’s see what people say about her online.
A lot of the comments here
actually say she doesn’t look as heavy as she claims to be.
Occasionally, you get mean comments like
“Oh, I thought she’s pregnant.”
May May says she tends to ignore negative comments online.
But she also admits she’s gone through a dark period
during her three-year modeling career.
So how did you pull yourself out of this?
Is body positivity becoming a thing in China?
I don’t even know how to translate “body positivity” in Chinese,
but I’m going to get my colleague’s help over here.
Hey Daisy,
Hi.
How do you translate “body positivity” in Chinese?
We don’t have that term in Chinese.
It can be
"a positive attitude toward your body shape."
Do you really talk about it in your everyday conversations?
It’s more of a Western talking style,
but in China, usually when you talk with your friend,
it’s more likely you’d say,
“You’ve lost weight. You’ve gained weight.”
That can be harsh.
Sometimes.
There’s this Chinese saying called,
"A good woman doesn't pass 100."
So a good woman doesn’t weigh more than...
More than 50 kilos.
And just a few years ago,
the A4 Paper Challenge took the Chinese internet by storm.
Some women showed off how slim they looked
and posted photos of their waist
disappearing behind a sheet of A4 paper.
Here we go.
A4 Challenge.
I can do it if I do this.
Or if I do this.
Stupid challenge.
There’s some online pushback against the A4 Paper Challenge.
But it’s not uncommon to hear women
who don’t look overweight complaining about their bodies.
As for guys, many say they prefer slimmer girls too.
I asked Tang Tang what advice she would give
to younger women.
The pressure is real.
May May says it is her parents
who make her feel most anxious.
Today, May May feels a lot more confident about herself.
But she is swimming against the tide
in a society that still often thinks
being slim is the pinnacle of beauty.
For May May,
the job is more than just a job.
It allows her to be proud of being different.
Next up.
What's it like to go zero waste in China?
And who are the people dealing with the mountains of
trash in China's cities?
Stay tuned for the next episode
and subscribe to Goldthread.