sexist? or just discrimination?

as reported in China daily and other newspapers, a restaurant in Wuhan posted an advertisement in its window stating it would pay "ordinary looking women 3 yuan (36 US cents) per hour, beauties receive additional pay".

needless to say, the women there were up in arms, they viewed it as gender discrimination and an insult to them but the restaurant defended its actions.

having been in Beijing for a while, I'm not that surprised. This is an reflection of the employers market situation here, probably not just in Beijing but elsewhere in China. There are tons of people waiting for jobs, so the employers will not just pick and choose, but also implement what might seem to us as exploitative rules. Many employers will dock their workers pay for minor infractions, like taking leave (good grief) or not hitting sales quota. Not that they are being paid a lot in the first place.