When appearing in public, she often wears the tiniest of nano-shorts and a crop-top revealing a slice of under-boob. At pool parties, her bikini consists of little more than strings.
Naomi is intentionally stirring the interfaces between Makers, engineers, culture, sexism and more. She has many goals in her life, but the one that fascinates me most is her goal to level the playing field for everyone, female and male, young and old, newbie and expert, both as Makers and in life in general.
I support her on Patreon, and I want to be clear about the reasons why.
- She's a female Maker pushing her way into a global phenomenon still dominated by white Western sexist male culture.
- She's a talented self-taught Maker who works in multiple areas, from software, to 3D design and printing, to wearables, to work tables and shelves.
- She's a Maker on the inside of the Great Chinese Firewall.
There is one enormously important item missing the above list:
- Inspiring Makers of all ages, especially female Makers, to pursue their interests despite gender-based or age-based resistance.
I'm making it sound like it's all about Naomi Wu, SexyCyborg. It isn't. It's also about me. It's about how I view Makers and how I view women, and how confused I used to get when both appeared in a single package.
I always thought of myself as an unbiased person, free from common prejudice. But Naomi arrived like a stick in my eye, jumbling my perceptions, causing me to uncomfortably flip between "Wow, cool Maker" and "Wow, hot woman" as if they were two different things.
I can't count the times Naomi has made very clear the differences between how people in Shenzhen respond to her appearance compared to Western males. The charming videos with kids and "Aunties" were one thing, but the lack of drooling, leering looks from Shenzhen males when she walked in public finally made the point clear to me. The only leering looks I can recall in any of her videos came primarily from the Western expats at her pool party modeling gigs.
So, what's the difference between Shenzhen men and Western men? Is there a difference I can find, understand, learn from, and put to good use? Well, I'm far from Shenzhen, and don't speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, so direct research is difficult. I started by rewatching Naomi's videos, and well as videos by other Asian vloggers, both locals and expats.
I was most impressed with the videos by Western expats who had chosen to live in China long-term; had built a career; had married a local; had started a family. How their videos changed from the earliest to the most recent. And how they and their spouses reacted during trips to the West.
Then I viewed Naomi's videos again, especially her 360 videos, where I could look at all the folks around her. I noticed how she got about as many looks from Chinese women as she did from Chinese men, and for about the same brief length of time, with no major facial reaction other than, at most, a small smile, never a frown. Many of the expats had the same behavior, though there were several very obvious exceptions who stared and leered, turning their bodies when their necks reached a limit.
After a while I finally started to understand something. Perhaps it's not the full picture, but I think Chinese and Americans view beauty, especially female beauty, in very different ways. It may come down to the perception of beauty itself.
For example, to a Westerner, a beautiful building, a beautiful garden, a beautiful song, and a beautiful woman are likely thought of as representing distinctly different kinds of beauty. To the Chinese, I believe they are seen as parts of a continuous whole, free of sharp distinctions, sharing more commonality than differences.
Western males judge women according to their perceived beauty, attributing to them attributes that are unrelated to appearance, such as personality or intelligence. Western women are not immune to similar judgments concerning each other and men.
I believe the Chinese view physical attributes as simply a means to recognize someone from a distance, and not as a representation of who they "are". The Chinese also view identity a bit differently, not residing entirely within the individual, but also being diffused into family, friends, associates and even society. To get to know someone in China I believe it must be just as important to spend time with others who know them in addition to individual time.
I believe it does come down to identity, both its definition and perception, particularly in how and when appearance becomes a factor. And, perhaps, how there is an intentional Chinese cultural emphasis on similarities over differences.
China is a communist country, a "People's Republic", that has been undergoing great social and economic upheavals over the past 40 years, causing stresses that, after a period of easing, now push the government to become more authoritarian, with increasingly invasive public and private monitoring. The underlying ethos was and is: "we are all in this together, and must work for the common good".
China is also a region with a long dynastic history massively dominated by the Han culture and race. In China, all of the non-Han taken together are a surprisingly small part of the population (under 10% of the total), with explicit government policies having the goal to absorb and diffuse formerly separate races and cultures into the Han-dominated society. An example of this is the ongoing government-supported Han migration into Tibet.
Taken together, these factors provide a context that encourages specific social traits, especially among the overwhelming Han majority. While Westerners may view some some of these traits with disdain, the simple fact is that equality is much more a default assumption within China, particularly among the Han. And I'm saying "more equal", not "totally equal": China still has many cultural stereotypes related to sex, age, and particularly race, but they are much less noticeable than the equivalent Western traits.
I believe this Chinese equality particularly extends to sexism and judgments based on appearance. For example, personal style is both accepted and appreciated in China, but not judged by its absence or extremeness. My perception is that fashion and style are much more about expression and entertainment rather than anything about identity.
A Western comparison may be our taste in music: We sometimes want to listen to Jazz, other times Pop, but our favorite may be Country. We seldom judge people by what they are listening to in the moment or by their general music tastes, at least not in any way close to how we judge people based on their appearance.
So, I've chosen to try to view the external physical beauty of people more like how I suspect the Chinese do, more like a beautiful song or flower, rather than something that should inflame my hormones.
And it's working!
But I must admit I did have a bit of a head start: Decades ago I was a semi-pro photographer (which means I took gigs only when I wanted a new piece of equipment). As a photographer, I saw whatever was in the viewfinder as part of the picture, something to be properly framed, lighted, and composed. This applied equally to people, places and objects. I was photographing beautiful things, but it was more about the beauty they shared, and abstract beauty. I took particular joy in revealing the beauty in things often not thought of as beautiful.
I gave up photography because I had let the camera isolate me from life on the other side of the lens. I had become increasingly shy in social situations. Things get quite bad before I realized there was a problem, getting to the point where I rarely when anywhere without my camera. I quit cold-turkey, which helped immediately, but only decades later did I realize I had also given up the equality of the viewfinder.
The more I try to see "beauty as beauty", the more I see the world as potential photographs.
When I see images of Naomi in minimal clothes, I find I now look first to see if a Maker project is also in the image. Because that is who Naomi is to me. See the list at the beginning of this post.
Don't get me wrong: I don't appreciate Naomi's physical beauty any less than I did before! I now appreciate it as part of the beauty of the greater whole; the Maker, the programmer, the model, and the many other attributes of Naomi Wu, SexyCyborg.
I also view those around me differently. I like having less of a Pavlovian response to attractive women, less being shy and tongue-tied in their presence, more interested in the rest of who they are. Most notably, this affects how I interact with female bar and restaurant staff, whom I now seem to adopt as sisters independent of their attractiveness.
And, finally, I must admit to the changes being ongoing and incomplete. For example, I have come to fully understand just how rude it is to openly stare at people. So I now do it covertly, behind sunglasses, from the corner of my eye, with my nose pointed straight ahead, with my face neutral.
My journey may not yet be complete, but I can at least try to act as though I'm further along the path. As most Shenzhen folks do.
One day, one step, one person at a time.
I always thought of myself as an unbiased person, free from common prejudice. But Naomi arrived like a stick in my eye, jumbling my perceptions, causing me to uncomfortably flip between "Wow, cool Maker" and "Wow, hot woman" as if they were two different things.
I can't count the times Naomi has made very clear the differences between how people in Shenzhen respond to her appearance compared to Western males. The charming videos with kids and "Aunties" were one thing, but the lack of drooling, leering looks from Shenzhen males when she walked in public finally made the point clear to me. The only leering looks I can recall in any of her videos came primarily from the Western expats at her pool party modeling gigs.
So, what's the difference between Shenzhen men and Western men? Is there a difference I can find, understand, learn from, and put to good use? Well, I'm far from Shenzhen, and don't speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, so direct research is difficult. I started by rewatching Naomi's videos, and well as videos by other Asian vloggers, both locals and expats.
I was most impressed with the videos by Western expats who had chosen to live in China long-term; had built a career; had married a local; had started a family. How their videos changed from the earliest to the most recent. And how they and their spouses reacted during trips to the West.
Then I viewed Naomi's videos again, especially her 360 videos, where I could look at all the folks around her. I noticed how she got about as many looks from Chinese women as she did from Chinese men, and for about the same brief length of time, with no major facial reaction other than, at most, a small smile, never a frown. Many of the expats had the same behavior, though there were several very obvious exceptions who stared and leered, turning their bodies when their necks reached a limit.
After a while I finally started to understand something. Perhaps it's not the full picture, but I think Chinese and Americans view beauty, especially female beauty, in very different ways. It may come down to the perception of beauty itself.
For example, to a Westerner, a beautiful building, a beautiful garden, a beautiful song, and a beautiful woman are likely thought of as representing distinctly different kinds of beauty. To the Chinese, I believe they are seen as parts of a continuous whole, free of sharp distinctions, sharing more commonality than differences.
Western males judge women according to their perceived beauty, attributing to them attributes that are unrelated to appearance, such as personality or intelligence. Western women are not immune to similar judgments concerning each other and men.
I believe the Chinese view physical attributes as simply a means to recognize someone from a distance, and not as a representation of who they "are". The Chinese also view identity a bit differently, not residing entirely within the individual, but also being diffused into family, friends, associates and even society. To get to know someone in China I believe it must be just as important to spend time with others who know them in addition to individual time.
I believe it does come down to identity, both its definition and perception, particularly in how and when appearance becomes a factor. And, perhaps, how there is an intentional Chinese cultural emphasis on similarities over differences.
China is a communist country, a "People's Republic", that has been undergoing great social and economic upheavals over the past 40 years, causing stresses that, after a period of easing, now push the government to become more authoritarian, with increasingly invasive public and private monitoring. The underlying ethos was and is: "we are all in this together, and must work for the common good".
China is also a region with a long dynastic history massively dominated by the Han culture and race. In China, all of the non-Han taken together are a surprisingly small part of the population (under 10% of the total), with explicit government policies having the goal to absorb and diffuse formerly separate races and cultures into the Han-dominated society. An example of this is the ongoing government-supported Han migration into Tibet.
Taken together, these factors provide a context that encourages specific social traits, especially among the overwhelming Han majority. While Westerners may view some some of these traits with disdain, the simple fact is that equality is much more a default assumption within China, particularly among the Han. And I'm saying "more equal", not "totally equal": China still has many cultural stereotypes related to sex, age, and particularly race, but they are much less noticeable than the equivalent Western traits.
I believe this Chinese equality particularly extends to sexism and judgments based on appearance. For example, personal style is both accepted and appreciated in China, but not judged by its absence or extremeness. My perception is that fashion and style are much more about expression and entertainment rather than anything about identity.
A Western comparison may be our taste in music: We sometimes want to listen to Jazz, other times Pop, but our favorite may be Country. We seldom judge people by what they are listening to in the moment or by their general music tastes, at least not in any way close to how we judge people based on their appearance.
So, I've chosen to try to view the external physical beauty of people more like how I suspect the Chinese do, more like a beautiful song or flower, rather than something that should inflame my hormones.
And it's working!
But I must admit I did have a bit of a head start: Decades ago I was a semi-pro photographer (which means I took gigs only when I wanted a new piece of equipment). As a photographer, I saw whatever was in the viewfinder as part of the picture, something to be properly framed, lighted, and composed. This applied equally to people, places and objects. I was photographing beautiful things, but it was more about the beauty they shared, and abstract beauty. I took particular joy in revealing the beauty in things often not thought of as beautiful.
I gave up photography because I had let the camera isolate me from life on the other side of the lens. I had become increasingly shy in social situations. Things get quite bad before I realized there was a problem, getting to the point where I rarely when anywhere without my camera. I quit cold-turkey, which helped immediately, but only decades later did I realize I had also given up the equality of the viewfinder.
The more I try to see "beauty as beauty", the more I see the world as potential photographs.
When I see images of Naomi in minimal clothes, I find I now look first to see if a Maker project is also in the image. Because that is who Naomi is to me. See the list at the beginning of this post.
Don't get me wrong: I don't appreciate Naomi's physical beauty any less than I did before! I now appreciate it as part of the beauty of the greater whole; the Maker, the programmer, the model, and the many other attributes of Naomi Wu, SexyCyborg.
I also view those around me differently. I like having less of a Pavlovian response to attractive women, less being shy and tongue-tied in their presence, more interested in the rest of who they are. Most notably, this affects how I interact with female bar and restaurant staff, whom I now seem to adopt as sisters independent of their attractiveness.
And, finally, I must admit to the changes being ongoing and incomplete. For example, I have come to fully understand just how rude it is to openly stare at people. So I now do it covertly, behind sunglasses, from the corner of my eye, with my nose pointed straight ahead, with my face neutral.
My journey may not yet be complete, but I can at least try to act as though I'm further along the path. As most Shenzhen folks do.
One day, one step, one person at a time.
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