Beauty is subjective because not everyone can find the same things attractive and that people have their own different opinions and preferences on what is beautiful.
However, beauty is also objective, in which some people do look better than others. In this case, beauty becomes objective when the majority of viewers come to the same conclusion.
And this is what exactly happened on the internet, when netizens 'publicly forgiven' Xing Chengbo only because of her looks.
It all happened when Xing Chengbo made several mistakes when covering Chinese national footballers.
The mistakes were fatal, but her sex appeal saved her.
The article she wrote was meant to cover China’s challenge against Japan in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship held.
But in her article that was published by Ban Dao Du Shi News, the reporter spelled 15 out of 23 of names of the Chinese national footballers wrong.
For example, she wrote Zhang Xi Zhe’s (张稀哲) name as "Zhang Xian Zhe" (张贤哲), and used the wrong Chinese character for Wei Shi Hao’s surname (魏, when it was supposed to be 韦).
Initially, and just like expected, Chinese netizens reacted swiftly.
They harshly condemned the mistake, and criticized Xing for her fatal mistake, blaming it all to her carelessness and lack of ability as a reporter.
"She was assigned a job even with such a (low) caliber? The criteria are too low," one person said.
"Why aren’t the editors dealt with? Are they simply responsible for eating (and not doing anything)?" another commenter said.
Things go bad to worse when netizens realized that she was previously a reporter for a number of major games, like the 2014 Asian Games and 2018 FIFA World Cup.
However, netizens started having a change of heart after some revealed more information about her.
When some online users on Weibo started sharing more of Xing, as well as her social media accounts, and in particular, photos of her using a tight, red dress, many of the circulating online opinions started favoring her.
After finding out how the reporter looked, their anger dissipated.
People were actually mesmerized by her looks, in a weird fascination kind of way.
It's only after many of the commenters saw her photos, most of the online opinions shifted.
Only by looking at her photos alone, netizens started marveling Xing's looks, and began posting comments in her defense.
"After looking at your Weibo, I believe you’ve made the mistakes on purpose. I stand by you!" one commenter said,
"With that butt alone, what a shame to be a sports reporter!"
While many people started favoring her, the disturbing thing here is that, many of those online users are actually making their comments because of of Xing's looks, and use those as a reason to express their certain opinions.
Many people consider Xing's sexual appeal, and has it affect their perception of her professional life.
Whereas the comments on her work performance are unnecessarily mean, the comments about her looks are also unnecessarily lewd.
As a result of the online backlash, the reporter was demoted to being a trainee reporter.
However, because of her appeal and how the internet perceived her, Xing was not fired.
Her looks simply saved her career.
Regardless, the publication apologized for the errors and promised to work harder to produce content for its readers.