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Betelnut Beauties
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Betelnut girls (Binlang Xi Shi) are a
unique part of Taiwan culture. They sit
in brightly-decorated glass booths
wearing skimpy outfits, and sell
cigarettes, drinks and betelnut to
passing drivers. It’s a controversial
trade but not actually illegal. The
question of whether the girls are
exploited is open to debate – certainly
their own perception is mostly that they
are doing a job like any other, and the
less they choose to wear, the more they
sell. For more info, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel_nut_beauty and follow the links to the video and
pictures.
All photos © Tobie Openshaw.
MORE NOTES:
I have had several interesting
questions about the betelnut girl
business, so I would like to offer some
thoughts, to those who are inclined to
read a little and not ONLY look at
pictures :) (This is reworked from a
response I posted on the last pic in
this set)
The most common question is how did I
manage to get the girls (who are
notoriously camera-shy) to agree to me
photographing them. Yes, I have to put
in the time and patience to win their
trust. And still for every 10 there
might be one that actually works out in
the end and becomes a willing subject.
But I have been inspired by girls like
Ada who has been generous in sharing
with me her experience of the job, Sally
who thinks it’s all a lot of fun, and
Amy, who is working in the stall by day
and studying part-time by night.
Next question: "SURELY these
girls are actually prostitutes,
right?" Ok …actually no, I have
never been offered sex by a betelnut
girl. This perception that they are
prostitutes is widespread and I guess
understandable. But this has not been my
experience. Note: I am not saying no
betelnut girl ever turned a trick in her
spare time, or that a career in selling
betelnut doesn’t sometimes spiral down
into gangsterism, drugs and
prostitution… just that the majority of
the girls are quite adamant about their
personal boundaries, and quite frankly
they are stuck in a brightly-lit glass
box for very long hours - hardly a place
for paid sex..
But there are big regional differences
in how the girls dress and act. There
are reports (and I have some video
evidence – not shot by me) of guys down
south paying an extra fee and the girl
either flashing for them or allowing
them a quick grope. Up north where I
live, the industry has been steadily
upgrading its image with well-designed
booths, dress codes, and no visible
hanky-panky. I always ask the girls
about harassment by customers, and the
answer is always that yes, of course it
happens, but that they have strategies
in place to deal with it. They also have
security cameras at most all the stalls
and the word on the street is that
anyone who gives a betelnut girl trouble
is likely to end up having to deal with
her boss and his buddies.
There is anyway a big turnover with
these girls. They stay at one stall for
anything between 6 months or a year, and
then move on either to another area, or
drop out of the business. Like most
people on the fringes, they are (with
some exceptions, such as Sally, who has
been doing it for many years – she’s
over 30) almost all hoping to get out of
the business and move up to something
better. Often, like in the case of Ada,
this means going to work in a gambling
joint or something like that - not much
better, except more dressed. But the
smart ones – and I have met several –
typically dropped out of school early,
are now regretting it, and are taking
night classes or something. Ada wants to
be an accountant, she’s a lovely, smart
girl, and I believe she can make it.
The most obvious response to the
phenomenon is to experience it as pure
sex object ... “a (beautiful) object in
a (beautiful) box” – the design of the
stalls certainly reinforces that and
sometimes that’s what I like to capture
in my photographs … but more
importantly, I also try to capture the
real person, to make the object real and
show that she might be more than you
thought you knew – and she deserves more
respect than she’s getting.
I know this all sounds pretty lofty –
and the truth is this is still very much
a work in progress. But that’s where I’m
at right now. And thanks for your
interest!
101 photos | 77,176 views
items are from between 01 Jan 1980 & 09 Jun 2007.