Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

"Is she real?" This was the shocked reaction of a friend to whom I showed photos of Weibo celebrity Lee Hee Danae. The-Henan based social media user became an online sensation after posting a stream of sexy photos and videos of herself online - behavior which in itself is not so unique in China and elsewhere around the world. But what caught my eye about the story were two things - her extreme cartoon character-like plastic surgery and her age. According to her Weibo page, she's just 15.

China's blogosphere had declared that she had undergone radical surgery to get back an ex-boyfriend, subsequently receiving an avalanche of praise from an army of adoring online fans who likened her to a "snake spirit" and described her as being "too beautiful to look at."

She currently has more than 600,000 Weibo fans subscribed to her postings of edited selfies, poses in barely-there outfits, as well as photos showing off her enviable luxurious life.

There's something unsettling yet mesmerizing about looking into those gleaming big eyes and shiny rubber-like thighs. But something disturbed me when I read about her stardom. I don't believe in cosmetic surgery for children, but judging from the images I'm not convinced that 15 is her real age.

What disturbed me was the admiration. Sure Lee was the target of criticism, but many seemed to celebrate rather than condemn her. Was her in-human look something people really aspired to? Was she a model for Chinese female success? What a bleak thought.

But then I read another seemingly unrelated story in the media which helped ease my confusion. Last week, the South China Morning Post published a story about lifelike sex dolls which were being sold to lonely Chinese men. The article said, "Lifelike sex dolls fit the bill for Chinese men unwilling to cheat on their wives or see prostitutes, or who are simply looking for a temporary love."

Besides the quirky photos of these sex dolls sitting up on ordinary workers' beds, the article explained the wider societal issues of urban migration and massive gender imbalance that had given rise to the dolls' popularity among a small niche group of men. The SCMP quoted the owner of the Micdolls manufacturer saying "Many young men in China have difficulty finding girlfriends or socializing with women."

Suddenly I realized what had been bothering me. There was very little difference between what Danae was making herself to be and what these dolls offered customers. Both were one-dimensional representations of women, consumed by men who were unable to attain or get within distance of the real thing.

Like many hyper-sexualized celebrities in the West and across the world, Lee's Weibo profile wasn't projecting an example of an ideal woman. In fact, her images sprawled on her bed served the same purpose as the dolls featured in the SCMP article - cheap and easy-to-swallow superficial and sexual-gratification. More mirage than reality.

I asked more of my friends what they thought about the story. Female friends were generally shocked, or ambivalent about another clearly unhinged person using the Internet for publicity. Male friends ogled momentarily, then giggled, clearly not taking the images seriously. Bemused one said, "she obviously worked hard to earn all the attention! But I think she represents the extreme of everything wrong with China's beauty ideal." Another added, "she looks like someone you'd want to have sex with, but not much more." Another said, "well, she was actually pretty attractive before all the surgery."

As for the friend who asked "is she real?" "Sure." I replied. But in no way, a "real woman" - at least not in what we see on Weibo. At best what is observed in those scantily clad photoshopped images is an intriguing shadow or lingering scent of femininity, but not the substance of it.

So how to distinguish between person and caricature? Well, usually reasonable amounts of maturity and depth will do the trick. But sometimes those are in short supply, as another female friend pointed out. If the growing number of cosmetic surgery advertisements in Chinese cities is anything to go by, this confusion between fantasy and reality doesn't seem to getting any clearer. An increasing number of men and women are buying into this obsessive pursuit of physical perfection to appease employers or partners who have been brainwashed into kowtowing to a standard which is unrealistic at best and sick at worst.

And the consequences? It would be easy to say that real women, like my friends whom I know to be admirable, strong, intelligent, deep, big-hearted etc, lose out in the face of those who misjudge breast cup-size for character. For them, the fight is a frustrating and at times unfair one. But actually, the biggest losers are Lee and those who aspire to be like her. Who make the mistake of thinking that the fiction is more worthwhile than fact? Don't get me wrong, beauty is something to always be admired, but hopefully it's only the beginning of who we are and how we are perceived, and not the end of it.

The author is editor/co-founder of Beijing Blend. Follow her on WeChat: BeijingBlend. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn