I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that my presentation is over.  If anyone has any advice on things I need to work on for future presentations, because I know that I get severly nervous and have a tendency to say ummm and speak really quickly.  In addition, does anyone think that I need to focus on anything else for my paper?

I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that my presentation is over.  If anyone has any advice on things I need to work on for future presentations, because I know that I get severly nervous and have a tendency to say ummm and speak really quickly.  In addition, does anyone think that I need to focus on anything else for my paper?

“Come on, lets go in.  Give me a hundred yuan and I’ll buy the tickets.  The twenty yuan change can buy me an ice cream.  I won’t ask for any more after we’re inside.  I’ve said one hundred up front, and that’s it.  If you have a good time and want to give me more, that’d be very nice.  If you don’t have a good time, you don’t have to give me any extra.  I won’t complain.  We were meant to meet.  It’s up to you whether you give me more or not.  You’ll soon find out how good I am.  I’ve got a great body, satisfaction guaranteed. I work this cinema every day.  It’s no scam.  I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.  This is Shenzhen after all.  The first place to have an open door; we’ve got the most experience when it comes to trade and fair play.  We have professional ethics, too. 

You want to go somewhere else to talk? Where? It’s too dangerous hanging around the hotels.  I don’t want to go there.  They’re swarming with police, and the local mafia is in there as well—they don’t like you bringing your own girl in.  If you don’t take care of things beforehand, you might get past the cops, and then you’ll be fine, but the girl could land in big trouble.  Bars and cafes are even worse.  They’ve got their own hostesses to look after the customers.  I operate out of this cinema, and that’s it.  It’s no good trespassing on someone else’s turf and stealing out of their rice bowl.  If you don’t want to see a film, all right, treat me to a meal, then. 

Shenzhen is inGuangdong
Province, so everyone speaks Cantonese.  You have to speak it, even if you’re not fluent.  The clients don’t always understand Mandarin, and if they’re unhappy they’ll make trouble.

I work days on the assembly line.  I couldn’t really tell you all the things we make.  It’s always changing.  They’re all circuit boards, all different sizes…My job is to slot in the components.  The pay is okay as long as I do it right.  I don’t really care what they’re called.  It’s hard work though.  If you don’t mess it up, you can earn over a thousand a month.  That’s not much by Shenzhen standards, but it gets me a Shenzhen ID.

You know how it works.  The cinema doesn’t want to know what’s going on in the lower booths.  All they care about is turning a profit.  They set up booths so that people can grope.  If they tried to control what you did in there, they wouldn’t make any money.  Anyway, it’s me that’s being groped, not them, so why do they care?  Once someone has paid, they can feel as much as they like.  Or we can go somewhere else and have sex.  But that has to be arranged beforehand and paid for in advance.  That doesn’t happen every night.  Most of the guys who turn up are workers, or people on business from the inland provinces.  They’re all pretty tight with their money.  They can’t bear to spend all that money on a fuck, so they usually settle for a hand job.

Look—even this late, there are hookers out waiting for customers.  It’s not easy working this strip.  There’s less than a hundred of us.  Just a few dozen really.  Going in, scoring twenty yuan, coming out again…I don’t let them keep their fingers in me forever.  I wait till they’ve got such a hard on that they can’t stand it, and then I ask if they want to go somewhere and fuck.  Guys from the inland are penny pinchers, and they won’t spend the extra for a fuck.  They workers who have been in Shenzhen a few years know the ropes, so when they want a fuck they go straight to the barbershops, saunas, or brothels.  It’s safe and cheap.  They only come to the cinema for cheap kicks; they check out a film, have some tea, get a hand job, and go.  Men can’t argue with their pricks”

By a few of these pieces from my primary document you can see a bit of how the business works.  I find it interesting that she is trying to get the interviewer to sleep with her.  And if he doesn’t want to then he needs to pay her for her time because she could be making money.  I also find it interesting that sex only occurs in private places and in many instances many prositutes on the street do not perform intercourse regularly, but sell more sexual acts.  But in a time where money is crucial and hard earned, many men do not want to pay for full intercourse if they can get off with other sexual acts.

The film “Blind Shaft” today showed how prevalent hookers were in this time period.  They went to a KVT (Karoke bar with private rooms) where they only enjoyed the company of the women.  But for sex, they had to return to the hotel room or a secluded place.  In my guess, it eliminates the chance of getting caught by the police or authorities. 

I found this source extremely helpful in relating the economy with the works of prostitutes.  She describes that with the changing market economy men and women are not dressing the same anymore, therefore, there have been an explosion in sexual practices because of the change in visibility of the different sexes.  She discusses why prostitutes and their clients want to buy condoms on the market instead of receiving them free of charge from the state.  In many instances, prostitutes are not living in legal locations, therefore, they are able to protect themselves without aid from the state.  Even though, most prostitutes understand that condoms will protect them from STD’s and AIDS many will not use them if their client does not want them.

 The article also discusses the use of hair salons and massage parlors as places for prostitutes to give their services.  In many massage parlors, a massage is code for a hand-job, and in the hair salons, the owners will often ask a client if they want to go in back and have a private session with one of the girls.  However, many of the acts performed in the salons and parlors do not amount to full intercourse.  If a client wants sex, he must take the prostitute to a different location, and in many instances the prostitute has the right to accept or decline the offer, much to the dismay to the brothel owner. 

After watching the beginning of China in the Red, I began to see some connections between the economy and my research topic of prositution.  It really struck me when a woman said, it does matter what you do as long as you make money, the government really likes that.  I find it ironic because it appears that you are able to do anything you wish, however, the government still limits what you can do, and how you do it.  Prostitution is still illegal in China, however, it is a way that many women make ends meet and can flourish in an openning economy.  In addition, the government limits who can live in the city, which causes many peasants to move into the city illegally, putting more strain on the economic system. 

I also finished reading the documents on pbs.com about China in the Red, and I found it very interesting to read that a decade ago, urban centers in China did not contain a large amount of poverty, because the “iron rice bowl” was in place, which guarenteed permanent work and health care.  However, in 1998, economic reforms were put in place to modernize many of the factories, forcing them to lay off a significant amount of workers.

In my primary source, the hooker worked at a factory during the day because she did not make enough at the factory to save any money. However, in 1998, working as a prostitution would suppliment her even more because she may have been laid off and could soley rely on prostitution as a main source of income.

I just finished Red Sorghum and I all I can say is I feel like I was impalled by a bayonet myself.  There was so much bloodshed (I bet that is what it was like during the Japanese War) that in many instances I had a hard time reading it.  However, quite a few things caught my attention in the book.  There is a scene in which Commander Yu is speaking to Five Troubles, a member of the Iron Society, about which the Nationalists and the Communists.  Both men believe that neither political group is a good one.  In fact, Five Troubles wants to reinstate an emperor because he believed that China continually flourished under one.  As a writer from the Fifth Generation, I believe Mo Yan is speaking after the Cultural Revolution.  Considering the nationalist party was not successful in their attempts at controlling China and had to flee to Taiwan, and the immense failure of the Communist party during the Cultural Revolution, the author is showing that many people did not care about either party.  The War over Japan was a uniting factor for many people, and Mao used it in his “Talks at Yan’an” as a uniting factor that artists should represent when making their art.  

Another interesting scene is at the very end, when the Communist Party is in control, I believe at some point during The Great Leap Foward, and one of the War veterans survived being bayoneted 18 times, but dies of hunger because he was not allowed to receive any more rations of grain.   

Yellow River appears to be more blatant in its attempt in showing the goodness of the communist party, especially for women.  The daughter wants to escape her marriage by joining the army.  She believes that she will be of especially good help because she can sing and therefore, motivate the army in continuing their tasks. 

I am glad that I have a few ideas to run with for paper number 1 though!

Through additional research, I have found that prostitutes are often linked with other groups; each in pursuit of economic prosperity.  Prostitutes would often work with gangs in China.  Gang members would select girls to work in Hong Kong for low wages to appeal to the locals, and when they returned back into the PRC, the gang members would take their money and then turn them into the authorities.  Gangs never had an issue finding new women to send to Hong Kong, because many females were interested in earning a quick dollar. 

In addition, I read a source about a college student who worked as a prostitute to make it through school.  She made more money as a prostitute than in any other job.  However, she worked in a hotel, in which her manager knew her other job, and would offer her out to clients.  She was often ranked as a number one because of her education.

My primary source also talks about working as a prostitute in a bowling alley.  It appears that many other businesses do not care about prostitution, especially if it provides them with further income.   Economic pursuit appears to be the main goal of many chinese, and they often do not care how they achieve their goals.  One source discussed the advantage of legalizing prostitution in China.  If prostitution was legal then the government would be able to not only regulate the amount of STDs spreading throughout the country, but also be able to control the amount of women doing it. 

The primary source tells me a lot about prostitutes in China.  Shenzhen was one of the original “special economic zones” in China.  It recounts a women who uses the movie theatre as her avenue to get men for business.  She is from the countryside therefore not worth as much as the women from Shanghai.  The women from Shanghai get better business because they can speak different languages, therefore, be able to work with a wider clientele. 

She discusses the different prices that she charges for different sexual activities.  Working as a prostitute is not her main job, she works in a factory as well, but does not get enough money working there to save anything.  When she first arrived she learned early about what to do and how to do it.  She discusses her worries about returning to the Hengyang countryside because no one will want her as a wife.  The longer she is a prostitute the less amount of money she will make because people will not believe that she does not have an STD.  In addition, prostitution is the type of job where you need your body to be young to make good money.  She describes it as “If your selling ginger, the older the better; if your trading *******, sell it young.  However, she does not want to stay in Shenzhen forever, she does eventually want to go home and settle down and get married.  According to her, she can become a virgin again for 500 yuan. 

 This narrative is not for the faint of heart.  It goes into graphic detail of the life of a hooker.  She, however, discusses the dangers in being a prostitute.  You can’t trust anyone, even your female friends because you can always be turned into the cops.  The woman knows that a hotel is a dangerous place to go, which is why she stays at the cinema in the booths.  If men decide they want to pay her for sex, then there are places they can go.  However, it is important for her to maintain her body image because it is her capital.  Her using the term capital to describe her body shows the changing economic system in China.  The idea of capital is related to capitalism, which during the Cultural Revolution was the enemy of Communism.

Barme, Gereme, “Time as Money: A Shenzhen Hooker” in China Candid: The People on the People’s Republic of China (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).

This photo came from http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/poster/PictPow2.html website.  I think that this poster encompasses the belief behind the cultural revolution.  Mao is in the forefront of this photo and looks very approving of the progress of the peasant farmers.  He is working alongside the peasant farmers as well showing that he believes that they are essential to the progress of the revolution.  However, this photo makes it appear that Mao spends a lot of time going into the countryside meeting with revolutionaries.  As we learned in class the other day, most revolutionaries never saw or heard Mao speak.  In addition, the poster shows the progress of the Cultural Revolution, because in the background there are, what appears to be, tractors which would mechanize the countryside. 

Prostitution in China was a problem before the CCP took control of China.  However, during the Mao era, prostitution was on a decline, most likely because of the idea of a shared cultural goal.  Everyone was supposed to work together as a society and no one class was considered higher than another.  Essentially, the bourgeoisie was eliminated and the popular masses: peasants, workers, soldiers, were the main elements of society.  However, during the mid 1980s, Deng Xioaping openned China up economically which openned the door to the idea of individualism again.  It was at this moment that prostitution began to resurface. 

I found it quite interesting while reading through some of my sources that many believe prostitutes are to blame for the increase of STD’s in China.  Doctor’s are considered a special group within the government that work as informants to the government to tell which citizens have STD’s and how they contracted them.  If the person is considered a prostitute then they are forced into treatment and are sent to a “rehab” area, where they are educated about the wrongness of their lifestyle.  Prostitutes who have been working for more than 3 years are considered vagrants.  However, if a prostitute changes their life they are not categorized as one, and therefore not considered extremely low among society. 

The difference from prositution from the 1990s and the pre-Mao era is prostitution is not limited to the lower echelons of society.  Many prostitutes in the 1990s view their line of work in terms of a business and often go through a cost-benefit analysis.  Money is quickly earned as a prostitute which in many females mind’s outweighs the dangers of their job.  Many prostitutes work with foreigners, upper class men, and lower class.  Many times massage parlors are used as a cover up for their line of duty.  Interestingly enough, many daughters of government officials are have said to enter the profession because the money is good and quickly earned. 

 However, while reading through many of my sources I came across Chinese prostitutes in Thailand.  It appears that many of the brothels run in Thailand are run by Chinese owners.  Many Chinese prostitutes are forced to Thailand to work as prostitutes.  Throughout my research I hope to learn more about this trend and why it is occuring. 

 I still have not figured out exactly what I am going to analyze yet for my paper.  But I think I want to examine how the increase of economic independence brought about a resurgence of prostitution, and why many women are chosing this “profession” over others that are “more respectable.”