The Zeal of Sensuality

By Huang Liangqi

According to a guy who plays a ghost in a local haunted house, it is easier be the female ghost,because “All you need is to moan and wail.” A wailing ghost woman is hardly sexy; she just leaves you cold. In love, bitching and moaning are not the way to be sexy. Just like the whining girl ghost, a woman always moaning and wailing is like taking a cold shower. That’s not what sexy is.It’s not cold, it’s hot. Hot, hot heat.

Heat makes things expand and cold makes them contract. Cold is the terminator of sex appeal,which holds true for both men and women. While on the other hand,“Hot” is a synonym for “sexy.”

You can feel the heat when you watch the film adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ novelThe Lover. Set in a hot tropical atmosphere, the burning desire is palpable in the hot and sultry air that blows a white silk dress gliding over the heroine’s feminine curves.

一個在游樂場鬼屋里扮鬼的男生說，女鬼好演，只要凄切地長哭就可以。在愛情里，哭或哀傷不是一個特性感的招兒，如同女鬼，給人的是一種異樣的冷。林黛玉是不性感的。性感的最大特征是熱，是燙。

天冷了，熱脹冷縮。冷是性感的致命傷。冷會銳減你的性別魅力，男女通用。

反過來，熱情似火就是性感。

電影《情人》拍得很性感，那種熱帶的氛圍營造得很成功：女主角男式的帽子，風一吹就貼身的絲裙，熱帶地區炎熱、黏稠的空氣。在這樣的大背景下，情欲總是蠢蠢欲動。“陽”氣十足，即性感。陰冷對應的是冷感。

中外藝術家常常喜歡拿粗辮子來表現性感，粗辮子如同男生的濃眉、劍眉，是一種強大生命力的表征。小說《洛麗塔》兩次被改編成電影，女主角的麻花辮很搶眼。杜拉斯的《情人》，女主角第一次出場，也梳著麻花辮。麻花辮給人以朝氣、生命力，那是一種熱度。

Pigtails have been used by both eastern and western artists alike to express sensuality. The girls’thick braids are like the boys’thick, sword-shaped eyebrows;both of which are the symbols of strong vitality. InThe Lover, the heroine wears her hair in pigtails in her first appearance. In the film adaptation ofLolita, the titular character also have twisted pigtails. Pigtails convey a sense of youthful energy and vitality,and you instantly feel the heat.Things associated with heat are brightness, smiles, willfulness,and even impetuousness, which are all the characteristics of sensuality.

In other words, sensuality shows a kind of “positivity,” like a ray of sunshine. Some people say what separates the modern western sensuality from its traditional eastern counterpart is just one thing—the smile.For example, a very important standard in selecting the “angels”for the Victoria’s Secret show is their warm smile. There’s nothing sexier than a beautiful girl who knows how to smile.

I think Eastern and Western people can agree on the perfect female form. However, the expressions of such perfection are different. Western sensuality is the art of “showing,” and the eastern sensuality is the art of“hiding,” which leads to different views on the subject.

Though views on sensuality are largely the same around the globe, there are some key differences between traditional eastern sensuality and the modern western version. In the East, sensuality is sometimes equated to softness, which is often confused with weakness.Feminine weakness is delicate and arouses within the man the desire to protect. For example, “delicate beauty.” It’s a rather passive brand of sensuality.

In contrast, western sensuality has a lot to do with self-con fidence and can even be downright aggressive. According to research,in role-plays, the top three favorite roles Western women love to play are, the policewoman,the stripper and the housewife.Whereas in Eastern countries,roles such as the school girl(wearing a school uniform),the innocent nurse (sucking a lollipop), and the Manchurian princess (wrapped in full palace regalia) are deemed more charming.

(FromShenzhen Youth,February 2018. Translation:Wang Xiaoke)

與熱情相關的是明亮、笑容、率性，甚至沖動。這些都是性感的表征。

換言之，性感是一種“積極性”，一種陽光。有人說，傳統中國和歐美性感的區別，突出表現在一個字上：笑。看看維密秀就知道，選拔天使們的一個很重要的標準就是微笑。性感是一個人身上的光芒與熱能。

傳統東方性感與西方性感有一些區別：東方性感是遮的藝術，西方性感是露的藝術。總體來說，對好身材，中西、南北的審美都差不多。東方性感里有一點是比較“落后”的，那就是性感里的“弱”，常常與“柔”混為一談。所謂“弱”，無非是想激起他人的保護欲，如“嬌弱”，是相當被動的一種性感，本質上是在展現自己的依附欲。

相對而言，西方標榜的性感更大方，和自信有很大關系，甚至有一點攻擊性。據調查，西方女人最愛的角色扮演前三名是：妖嬈的女刑警，熱烈的脫衣舞娘，成熟的有夫之婦。再看看東方的性感，往往帶有男人的喜好，比如“穿水手服的純純女學生、含著棒棒糖的無辜女護士，或更慘烈的——把自己裹得像粽子的清代格格”。