Page 25 - MIN SJA 13 APRIL 2016
P. 25
A10
WORLD NEWSWednesday 13 April 2016
China: Iran and Italy sign
Women getting mixed social signals on beauty, roles several deals over
visit by PM Renzi
DIDI TANG ics still dominate the main- right to choose their way of in China because it’s a NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press stream, and the Internet or life, including one who says topic much discussed, he Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese the new media have mag- she’s happy being single. said. All characters in the TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran
women are being taken nified this proclivity,” said “The campaign really is video — the women and and Italy signed a series of
on a roller-coaster ride by Beijing-based social schol- to inspire women to over- their parents — are non-ac- bilateral agreements dur-
social media, getting bom- ar Wu Qiang. come their limitations, to tors discussing their real-life ing a visit by Italian Prime
barded on one side by ex- Taking the opposite tack make their own destiny,” struggles, he said. Minister Matteo Renzi to
treme expectations about Tehran on Monday, signal-
physical beauty while get- Women’s rights advocates Zheng Churan, left, and Li Tingting talks during an interview about the ing both countries’ desire
ting support for female in- recent SK-II ad about leftover women in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. to restore ties following this
dependence in a society year’s implementation of
where women who aren’t (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) the Iran nuclear deal.
married by their late 20s are The agreements includ-
considered “leftovers.” — and also garnering lots said Markus Strobel, global Women’s rights activist ed plans for cooperation
In recent months, social of attention — has been a president for the cosmetic Zheng Churan said she between Italian electric-
media here has been swept four-minute online ad by a line, which is owned by welcomed the ad despite ity and gas company Enel
by a series of body image cosmetics brand SK-II that Procter & Gamble Co. its obvious commercial mo- and the National Iranian
crazes. The “A4 waist” fad depicts the struggles of un- Since being posted on the tives. Too often, however, Gas Export Company, Ira-
challenged women see married women in their late brand’s official microblog the stereotype of the “left- nian state news agency
how skinny they were by 20s. on April 7, the video has over woman” ignores the IRNA reported.
posting photos of their mid- The video starts with sever- received nearly 5,000 likes struggles of poor, less-edu- Enel said the memoran-
dles to show that a piece al women talking in painful and been shared more cated women, she said. dum of understanding lays
of standard copy paper 21 tones about the pressures than 25,000 times. Alto- “We only see white-collar, out details for possible co-
centimeters (8 1/4 inches) they face from family and gether, the video has been elite women in this ad, but operation involving natural
wide covered their waists. society. A few parents also viewed nearly 10 million an 18-year-old factory girl gas, liquefied natural gas
Then “iPhone knees” tested appear, including one fa- times globally on all plat- pressed into marriage still and related infrastructure.
whether a cellphone would ther who tells his daughter forms, garnering more than has no voice,” Zheng said. The agreement could in-
cover the knees, an indica- he won’t be able to go 3.9 million comments, likes, Fellow advocate Li Tingting clude information-sharing,
tion of slender legs. Most re- peacefully to his grave until shares and reposts, Strobel said the popularity of the studies, analysis and train-
cently, the “100-yuan wrist” she’s married off. But it ends said. video is a sign that Chinese ing, “as well as exploring
had women showing they with the women speak- The company chose to women have become future opportunities for
could wrap a bank note ing confidently about their feature “leftover women” more independent.q long term supplies,” Enel
around their wrists. said.
The online fads — slammed Ali Reza Daemi, deputy en-
by women’s advocates as ergy minister, told IRNA the
unhealthy and emotionally two countries also agreed
harmful to women who feel to build several biomass,
like they don’t measure solar and geothermal
up — come even as Chi- power plants.
nese women are attaining Financial terms were not
higher educational, profes- disclosed.
sional and economic sta- Separately, Italian oil ser-
tus than ever. Yet as they vices company Saipen
try to break old barriers, said it inked a memoran-
women still feel pressure to dum of understanding with
meet cultural expectations Razavi Oil and Gas Devel-
about getting married in opment Company for work
their early 20s, having chil- on the Toos gas field proj-
dren and being the main ect, located 100 kilometers
caregiver — as well as tra- (62 miles) northeast of the
ditional notions equating city of Mashhad. It said the
slenderness with feminine field holds more than 60 bil-
beauty. lion cubic meters of gas.q
“Male-oriented aesthet-
