Q as in Cute, that is. The word is universal. It’s a harmless, sweet word; until it is not. Eating disorders in the 21st century are a rampant universal disease. Yet they are anything other than cute. From Sina Weibo “thin” support groups to vomit tubes sold on Taobao, Jessica Laiter writes about this R-Rated viral disease on the rise.

Design by Cui Hanyu (崔翰宇), the 24/ Day Dreamer’s Day Dream Collection — Modeled by Jen Liu. Photography by Lu “Luna” Weijia for Temper’s “The R-Rated Revolutionary Issue”. Copyright ©Temper Media, 2020. All rights reserved
Ironically but literally, eating disorders of any kind eat their victims alive. In the West, they appear in many forms, the two most well-known are Anorexia and Bulimia. Over in the Middle Kingdom, these disorders are to this day referred to as the “beauty sickness”, with anorexia (厌食症| yànshízhèng in Chinese) being translated as the “hate to eat disorder”.
This is, actually, a fairly inaccurate translation given most women or men who suffer from this kind of disorder do not hate eating food. The struggle is loving food but being afraid to eat it for fear of weighing more than what is socially acceptable in order to be viewed as beautiful. Ergo the new nickname: the “beauty sickness”. Question arises…
As eating disorders anno 2020 manifest themselves across China’s first-tier urban landscape — both their physical and digital versions — how far does its social indigestion stretch?

Design by Cui Hanyu (崔翰宇), the 24/ Day Dreamer’s Day Dream Collection — Modeled by Jen Liu. Photography by Lu “Luna” Weijia for Temper’s “The R-Rated Revolutionary Issue”. Copyright ©Temper Media, 2020. All rights reserved
Q To The R
Being cute in China is what it’s all about, it’s how many Chinese women prefer to be portrayed. Cute is often considered the equivalent of sexy. Not only is it because most Chinese women look younger than their biological age, but there is also an undercurrent of male-female social roles that draw from the traditional form of the passive female and dominant male.
This tug of war in China is snuggly related to the culture because it is a “no food left behind” mentality. On the contrary, the media encourage women to be haphazardly thin, setting an unachievable beauty standard.
So the question often remains, is it more important to respect the culture, or to be beautiful and admired by others? The answer? Both.

Design by Cui Hanyu (崔翰宇), the 24/ Day Dreamer’s Day Dream Collection — Modeled by Jen Liu. Photography by Lu “Luna” Weijia for Temper’s “The R-Rated Revolutionary Issue”. Copyright ©Temper Media, 2020. All rights reserved
From Tùzi (兔子) To Tù (吐)
Online communities have developed to serve as a support group to women who love eating but want to remain thin. Those who participate in these online groups are named “Rabbits”, in Chinese, 兔子 (tùzi). The name was derived based on its similar pronunciation to the word for “to vomit” in Chinese, 吐 (tù).
Rabbits are also cute, of course.
Live streaming in China has turned into one of the popularized forms of entertainment. One of the larger channels is hosted by The Big Stomach King Floggers, a group of women who post content on social media of them eating a sh*t ton of food, challenging themselves to excessively overeat, with an implied vomit session post-meal. They have over 7 million followers on Sina Weibo (China’s Twitter-esque platform) and have quite a significant impact on these online communities of struggling women.
Within the aforementioned online communities, women exchange ideas and methodologies for vomiting after food consumption to become the ultimate, well-rounded woman they were born to be. A woman who can eat and be skinny and cute? That’s the dream.
Dramatically enough, vomit tubes are being sold on Taobao — one may enter that search all by oneself. The acid reflux is real. And its future social reflections remain to be seen.
That is just how woven eating disorders are into the fabric of China’s modern urban society.
This feature hails from the latest Temper print pride and joy — “The R-Rated Revolutionary Issue”!
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Featured Image: Design by Ye Limeng (叶黎萌 ), the 24/ Moments Collection — Modeled by Jen Liu. Photography by Lu “Luna” Weijia for Temper’s “The R-Rated Issue”. Copyright @Temper Media, 2020. All rights reserved
WRITTEN BY JESSICA LAITER FOR TEMPER’s”THE R-RATED REVOLUTIONARY ISSUE”
EDITED BY ELSBETH VAN PARIDON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Lu “LUNA” Weijia FOR TEMPER’S “THE R-Rated REVOLUTIONARY ISSUE”, #1, 2020.
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