Annotation 3

Annotation 3 – Commodification of Showgirls

In the exhibition, we can see a lot of companies selling their products; and beside the various products, there are something that catches our eyes even more, showgirls. They are the center of the spotlight; the lights, the cameras, and the customers’ eyes are all on them. Comparing to the products companies meant to sell; showgirls are more like the products on the shelf waiting to be picked. People look at them for their youth, pretty faces and sexy bodies. Showgirls’ beauty is like a commodity that can be browsed and bought, as if their value is based only on their flesh. This is called the commodification of female bodies.

A few years ago, there was a TV commercial featured a young girl “Yao Yao” that shook her breasts and made sweet voices during this commercial. And this immediately became the most controversial topic people discuss at that time. Some people thought that she was the innocent victim because she was just trying to make money and did what the company made her did. And others saw her as a girl who sold her body and created a sexual image out of herself. Either statement shows that women have no control over their own bodies and sexual desires; instead, they’re dominated by the commercial system, in which the girls have to degrade themselves (exposing body parts in front of the camera, for example) to cater to some male customers. When the target customers are male, companies often use sexual images of women to make the customers notice their products. To put it simply, they are objectifying female to gain commercial benefits. The relationship between showgirls and the businesses seems to be mutually beneficial, but if we see behind this objectifying, we can understand that showgirl is a kind of career that is manipulated by chauvinism and capitalism.

Capitalism made most of the young girls desired material things more than before; and being a showgirl means they can make their way quicker to the grown-up world and enjoy all the material things. In the process, however, these girls also became the materials being exploited. They were manipulated by chauvinism. Girls were often taught either to “please” men, or to dominate them; they established their confidence by the approval of men or overpassing men, both of which still under the dominion of patriarchy.

Although showgirl may seem like a glamorous and dream-like career, and they may seem to have sovereignty over their bodies, they’re actually constrained in the system of commercial interest and patriarchy.

Resources:

http://forum.yam.org.tw/bongchhi/old/tv/tv94.htm

http://blog.youthwant.com.tw/fk1955/hc1151/1235/

Annotation 2- Revised

When we see showgirls in the exhibition, we can see that they have some same traits. One is that they’re all very slim, and the other is that the clothes they wear are very tight and do not cover much of their body; the skirts and shorts they wear can barely cover up their butts. At first, showgirl’s function is to dress pretty and introduce the product and interact with the customers. Now that showgirls are paid with great attentions by the press, and customers will compare one showgirl’s appearance to another’s; showgirls were asked to wear less and use their body to “seduce” customers into buying their products.

        When we see showgirl from economic aspect, it is no doubt a successful commercial strategy. It’s true that companies can profit more than before because they hired these beautiful girls to attract customers. And it’s a win for showgirls too, because they can make a living out of it. However, the whole process of this career, from auditioning to when they’re actually at work, there are a lot of inappropriate things going on. A row of girls with fabulous bodies and faces stood there, and some man from the company looked at them from head to toe, then he picked out some of them; this is basically how the audition went. Those who weren’t picked out, when rejected, would start to think that it’s because they’re not thin enough or not as pretty as the others. When young girls see showgirls showing their bodies; and surrounded by the press and males, they will think that if they want to get attention, they have to be as thin, as pretty, and dress as showgirls do.

This piece of news’ headline goes: Furniture Exhibition Giving out Ice, E-cup Girl Fed in Person. Being a showgirl isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but when media stress on their sexual body traits, their ignored the professional skill of being a showgirl.

From this example we can see that showgirl can affect society’s point of view strongly. Everyone should be satisfied with the way they look, but when every day there all kinds of news reports about women’s bodies, we will think that this is what matters most, and gradually become very insecure about how we look. Although showgirl can boost the development of economy, they can affect society’s point of view very strongly. So using showgirl as a commercial strategy will damage the younger generation, and some men will disrespect girls for using their bodies to make money, although this is not showgirls’ intention.

sources:

http://140.119.187.23/conference/paper/000007385752312012.pdf

http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20120810/34429358/applesearch/%E5%AE%B6%E5%85%B7%E5%B1%95%E9%80%81%E5%86%B0E%E5%A5%B6%E5%A6%B9%E8%A6%AA%E9%A4%B5

Transcript 1

Hello, everyone, I’m Niki. Today we’re going to talk about, um, our topic is, is it appropriate to use showgirl as a commercial strategy? And I’m against it.

Uh, ok. And now I’m going to express my own opinion and why I’m against showgirl. When we see showgirls in the exhibition, we can see that they all have some same traits. Um, the traits are that they’re all are very slim, and they all are, uh, dress very, uh, they dress less. And, um, the skirts and shorts they wear can barely cover up their butts. And, oftentimes, at the exhibition, the visitors are male for most. And the companies engaged in the exhibition know this kind of phenomenon; so, they hired showgirls to attract customers. And, at first, showgirls’ function is to dress pretty, and, um, introduce the product and interact with the customers. But now that showgirls are paid with great attentions, like the press; and the customers will compare one showgirl’s appearance to another’s. So, um, the company will ask showgirls to wear less, and even to seduce customers into buying the products. Um, I found a news on a Chinese website, and it came out at October second, 20, 2013, this year. And it’s a report about showgirls working at Chinajoy. Chinajoy is a digital entertainment expo in China. It was a very grand exhibition. So there were a lot of companies engaged in it. So, um, showgirls who work there are all very pretty and thin. And, according to this news, showgirls have to wear very tight dress, so, they barely ate before going on stage. Because they, they’re afraid that if they eat something, they will look fat in the dress. So, and they had to wear something that show their abdomen, and a lot of body parts, so they can’t eat, or they won’t show their, uh, best shape. And one professional showgirl, uh, 小雪, said that she felt like fainting during most of the time, um, at work. And, they, showgirls had to keep their body fit, so they spend money on, um, care, body care product, and facial care product; instead of on their meals. And, some even took pills that have very strong side effects to lose weight. And, showgirls’ bodies and faces are their most useful tool, so, they had to resort to these extreme methods to, um, make sure that these tools are perfect. Um, from this example, we can see that being a showgirl is a very unhealthy job. Everyone should be satisfied with the way they look, but showing body parts in public can make showgirl very, um, feel very, uh, they can lose confident easily. And, every day there are thousands of eyes staring at them, and they will receive comments about their body or their appearances. So, um, this will make them very insecure about how they look. In addition, they wear very high heels for several hours a day, and, this will cause a life-long damage to their spine, and, they can no longer devote themselves in these kinds of careers. The physical harm done to these young girls are much greater than economic benefits that companies make. So I think, show, using showgirl as a commercial strategy is totally inappropriate.

Thank you.

Annotation II

When we see showgirls in the exhibition, we can see that they have some same traits. One is that they’re all very slim, and the other is that the clothes they wear are very tight and do not cover much of their body; the skirts and shorts they wear can barely cover up their butts. Oftentimes, those who come to the exhibition are male, and the companies engage in the exhibition are well aware of this kind of phenomenon, so they hire showgirl to attract customers. At first, showgirl’s function is to dress pretty and introduce the product and interact with the customers. Now that showgirls are paid with great attentions by the press, and customers will compete one showgirl’s appearance with another’s; showgirls were asked to wear less and use their body to “seduce” customers into buying their products.

This news I found on the internet came out at 10/2, 2013, and I found it on a Chinese website. It’s a report about showgirls working at Chinajoy. Chinajoy is a digital entertainment expo in China. It was a grand exhibition, so there were a lot of companies taking part in it. Showgirls who worked there were all very pretty and thin. According to this news, showgirls had to wear very tight dress, so they barely ate before going on stage. They were afraid that they might look fat in the dress. And they had to wear something that showed their abdomen, so they couldn’t eat, or they wouldn’t be in their best shape. One showgirl said that she “felt like fainting” during most of the time at work. They have to keep their body fit, so they “spent money on facial care product instead of on their meals.” And some took pills that have strong side effects to lose weight. Their bodies and faces are what they use to make money, so they resort to these extreme methods to make sure these tools are perfect.

        From this example we can see that being a showgirl is a very unhealthy job. Everyone should be satisfied with the way they look, but showing body parts in public make showgirls lose their confidence easily. Every day they are thousands of eyes staring at them, they will receive comments about their bodies, and this can make them very insecure about how they look. In addition, they wore very high heels for several hours non-stop, which may cause a lifelong damage to their spine, and they can no longer devote themselves to these kinds of careers. The physical harm done to these young girls are much greater than economic benefits that companies make, so I think showgirl is really an inappropriate job.

source:                                                
http://news.hsw.cn/system/2013/10/21/051779356.shtml