A FEMALE friend recently complained about how many women in Singapore have an aversion to appearing strong.

The main cause of my friend E's complaint was that in the gym, women tend to favour cardiovascular activities in an attempt to shed weight, rather than strength training to get toned.

To illustrate her point, E compared the typical Singaporean female to the many female friends she made - many of who were from Scandinavia - while she was studying in a Brisbane university.

"They work out to get strong," she said with admiration. "They revel in the fact that they can lift their luggage, and that they have the ability to carry heavy grocery bags on their own."

In case I thought these women were muscle-bound monsters who were as attractive as construction workers, E hastened to add that they were usually irresistible specimens of the fairer sex whom men swarmed around in droves.

I had to point out to E that it was much worse in Singapore in 2004, when I first moved back from the United States. Then, the thinner-than-thin, my-arms-look- like-spaghetti-strands body type was in vogue.

Today, the Singaporean woman at least is aware that the aforementioned body type isn't typically a healthy ideal.

But I must agree with E on one point: Women here don't seem to see the value in looking as strong as men. They do, however, follow trends that make them look more like damsels in distress, rather than women of power and strength.

It goes against everything a modern woman is supposed to be. Yet, in personality at least, I've found most Singaporean women to be smart, sassy and, yes, strong. So, how come they don't look the part?

E blames the opposite sex.

Her Scandinavian male friends, for example, like their women to match them in strength. Men here, she said, prefer the differences between themselves and their female counterparts to be more pronounced. And women play into that ideal.

Hence, you get women who can barely lift a bottle of Dynamo. I'm not sure I agree. After all, there's a theory that puts Asian and Western women in direct contrast by saying that, since Asian women aren't built like their curvier Western counterparts, they don't compete.

Instead, they choose to go the "cute" route, choosing to look girlish rather than womanly.

Another friend noted that, while Pamela Andersonmay represent a beauty ideal in the United States, it's waifish Jolin Tsai and Namie Amuro who are considered hot in Asia. And women like that - though they can leap around with great enthusiasm and energy onstage - don't exactly come across as Amazonian.

Since the majority of girls here grow up watching such role models, that's who they emulate when they grow up - even when they become higher-powered executives in the workforce.

Still, while looking girlish has its charm, exuding power and strength has its appeal as well. As women here open themselves up to more global ideas - including those of beauty - who knows, perhaps they'll begin to build a little more muscle.

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