Key words: Death toll hits 81 after earthquakes shake southwest China, Beauty contest nipple rule gets nippy response from Chinese media

Death toll hits 81 after earthquakes shake southwest China

Two earthquakes hit the border region between Guizhou and Yunnan Provinces on Friday, resulting in 81 deaths by press time and affecting over 740,000 people.

Apart from reporting on the 5.7 and 5.6-magnitude quakes, media focused on the humanitarian efforts being conducted, while attributing the heavy damage caused by quake to the regions' underdeveloped economies and lack of quality control in construction. 

We should first comfort those affected by conducting visible rescue and relief efforts everywhere, said the Beijing Times, adding that such reassurance from near and afar will provide the necessary determination and confidence among earthquake survivors to overcome the disaster.

Other media outlets chose to focus on regional development. News site Caixun.com pointed out how the tragedy revealed the economic disparity among regions in China, linking the heavy damage from a relatively low-magnitude quake to the underdeveloped regional economy.

Hopefully this tragedy has alerted other countries in the world experiencing rapid development, Caixun said, asserting that governments should increase subsidies to poverty-stricken areas and more closely monitor the quality of construction in underdeveloped regions. 

A Global Times editorial commented that China is still "completing its modernization process" and many parts of the country are still not strong enough to handle disaster.

The editorial considers that China should pursue quality over quantity during construction, at the heart of which is safety. Improving the overall safety of housing, bridges, food, and facilities is a necessary step in China's path to modernization.

The Global Times also commented that safety is not only a way to spend money, but rather creating a new and profitable industry.

Beauty contest nipple rule gets nippy response from Chinese media

Beauty contests for college girls, or xiaohua ("campus flower") as they're known at Chinese universities, became a thorny issue online recently after one contest required participants in Hubei Province to have nipples that are at least 20 centimeters apart.

Campus Model, the website behind the contest, also plans to measure other unusual proportions, such as the distance between the eyes and mouth.   

The rule not only triggered anger among the public, but also criticism from Chinese media.

"Is this competition about choosing campus flowers or breast models?" asked news site Caixun.com, commenting that the contest is less about expanding standards of beauty and more about finding pairs of fine breasts.

The site admitted that although every man has his own standards of beauty and men often size up beauties secretly, writing up requirements and measuring ladies with rulers is simply a joke. 

Fashionable women and those who refuse to be evaluated are both beautiful, the paper continued, however the latter can be even more popular for refusing to be judged and evaluated as objects.

The contest rule also enraged the Shandong-based Jinan Daily, which chastised the so-called beauty contest as merely an excuse for indecent behavior, and the requirement goes beyond the limits of privacy and dignity.

But even though the requirement is ridiculous and degrading, women will enter the contest to satisfy their vanity and their desire to make a name for themselves; any "campus flower" known for great nipples will always get extra attention.

Jinan Daily also blamed the universities for allowing the contest and failing to protect their student's rights and interests, accusing the schools of being in bed with the organizer.

And the Changjiang Daily pointed out that this exposed today's beauty contests for what they really are - a showcase for the female body. The newspaper continued that though many competitions take inner beauty and talent into consideration, they are nothing more than empty gestures to prevent criticism.

Changjiang Daily also noted that establishing ideal bust, waist and hip measurements, as well as head to height proportions, means that the female body has been quantized and the criteria of beauty set in stone.

This creates a division among women's bodies - those fit for the stage, and "everyday" women. As long as there is a desire to be included among the beautiful people, there will be need to consume skin-care products, face-lifts and body-sculpting services.