Narcissism produces cyber celebrities

By Li Qian (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-11-22 17:04

Another Sister Furong has made an appearance in cyberspace as narcissistic amateur celebrities continue to flood the cyber world. The Beijing Youth Daily took a look at these people on November 20.

Self-proclaimed 'Guoxue (national studies) Spice Girl' Bai Luming recently attracted attention from Internet users by posting her coquettish photos taken in front of the Confucius statue at Guo Zi Jian, the Imperial College of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, onto the web.


'Sister Furong' (L) and 'Guoxue Spice Girl' pose in the undated photos. [cri.cn/xmnext.com]

'I'm charming, because I'm a beautiful girl. I'm proud of my fabulous shape," Bai wrote in her postings.

The nineteen-year-old senior claimed to be highly civilized-reciting ancient poems at one, chanting lections at four, learning all kinds of musical instruments at five and performing folk, hip hop and tap dancing at six.

She also claimed to be the 53rd descendant of the great Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) poet Bai Juyi, but Bai Jian, secretary general of the Bai Juyi Descendant Commission, announced on November 19 that she was not.

Most netizens, however, didn't care about Bai's civilized life, it was her madcap remarks that interested them.

'I'm the best at attracting men. I could even attract Confucius," she wrote. "Confucius, are you lonely? I feel alone too." The young girl even claimed to be worth 100,000 yuan for a one-night stand.

The girl's daring behavior incurred fierce criticism from netizens, who accused her of sullying Confucius and of trying to use her sexy talk and photos to become famous.

China Youth Study editor-in-chief Liu Junyan said that "loving yourself is good as long as its within reason. Unhealthy displays of private opinion or one's body is not civilized social behavior."

The Guoxue Spice Girl is just one in the long line of 'cyber celebrities' that began to appear before the new millennium.

Mu Zimei showed off her thin figure and recorded her numerous romances with men on her weblog. Sister Furong was well known for posing like the letter 'S' in photos and dancing while shaking her portly body.

'February Girl', 'Nasty Swallow', 'Tianxian Sister', and 'Megranate Brother' soon followed. Despite their differences in many aspects, they have a common characteristic - narcissism.

 



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