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  • female + gemini + hippie artist
    = 3 types of crazy
    = you lose.

    like an asian version of frida kahlo
    minus the old balls cheating husband .

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  • hostess bar

    2009-02-20 9:54AM / 標準BLOG / 會員可以看
    10個評論

    last night, i worked for aaaza as a johnny walker girl at a hostess bar. it was my very first time in a hostess bar, and i was apprehensive for a few things: one, i was afraid of the area because it was in gang territory; two, i was afraid that some guy would try to come at me and i would have to break his face; three, if i broke the guy's face, he'd probably try to stab me... that or i would have a tiff with aaaza... but aaaza has seen me get in someone's face for disrespecting me, so they know how i am. nevertheless, apprehension. i was relieved to find that the actual job for promoting the product was extremely laid back -- we found that customers dont like to be bothered, so we "sampled" the product and reminisced with our clients. honestly, i was ancy -- like making a child with adhd sit still. to amuse myself, i people watched.

    i took the night in as a cultural experience: the bad music, drunk kareoke, the young girls and elder men. it was pretty much all dark -- it was actually lighter outside the club even though it was in the middle of the night; i guessed they did this more or less so they couldnt see what the girls looked like or how old the men were.  a friend at the table broke down the culture for me: men in the household, have all this money but no one to talk to because no one listens to them at home. their wives are too brutally honest and neglect the man's word. instead, men go to a hostess bar where somebody will listen. i said that was sad, because to me, i would assume in a romantic partnership, people should be there for each other. the person i was talking to disagreed. it amazed me that this was a way of life. i understood hostess bars as establishments for socially acceptable sexual harrassment/assault, but i didnt comprehend the idea as little emotional band aids to stick onto hum-drum marriages. to me, why even get married? besides the fact that it is engrained in conventions of most cultures, but whats the point when you need outlets...perhaps thats just me as a romantic, or maybe you can blame it on my generation. i was also told that these girls can make up to $600 a night... it made me want to cry. there's a story about a woman who owned a hostess bar for about twenty five years. she had daughters that go to uc berkeley, one of them is a doctor, the other a pharmacist. when they work at a hostess bar, they dont want to go back to medicine because they make too much money a day at the bar. amazing. at the rate that im going as a starving artist, and just for a second, i wanted to sell a little piece of my soul. but as i looked over, i watched a drunken man smushing his face of a girl over half his age. the man next to them was talking into a girl's ear, while she placed her hand on his thigh. on second thought, i know i cannot be bought.
    in american culture, we dont really have those types of outlets, except for bars, strip clubs, etc. what do women get? to meet men through online communities (mmmMMM virtual cheating!),  lifetime movies and maybe about five in the afternoon they can rush over to pick their kids from summer camp but they take their time just so they can stare at the almost legal boy next door counselors. not a fair trade, but i guess its something? i dont know.

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  • AsiaEng
    藝術家空間 
    留言於2009-02-20 8:42PM
    i wrote it on stephen's wall, im not saying what i think is right, im just throwing out my personal feelings. because who am i to say hostess bars are wrong? im not god. im not saying that, im saying its not a culture i would like to see myself apart of. sympathy goes out to both sexes... i wouldnt want to pay someone to listen to me, and i could never put a price on my body and to have a stranger grab my breasts or touch me up my skirt. but again, thats me. at the same time, i dont have a lot of quarrels with the sex worker industry. everybody has different perspectives, different backgrounds, and as a female, as an american of chinese descent, as a person who is exposed to different cultures....thats how i see it. no big. pretty surprised that this blog has so much attention though, i think vigorous discussions from different people of different backgrounds are quite refreshing, no? :) its all about learning and growth <3
  • rottendoubt
     
    留言於2009-02-20 5:01PM [举报]
    hmm, they have these all over asia....
  • stephen
     
    留言於2009-02-20 4:47PM [举报]
    hmm... i don't think it's a matter of "selling your soul" because both the girls and the men are grown adults, participating consensually, and are aware that it's all fantasy. it's really up to the guys whether they want some artificial stroking of their egos and pay for it through the nose. noone is doing anything that they don't want to.
  • lamommusic
    留言於2009-02-20 4:16PM [举报]
    So, is there a point to all this discussion??!  I guess I am dense or something; I am not familiar with that kind of life either. After reading your "essay"  Mark (he!he!), you are right about one thing, THEY ARE ALL WORKING IT.

    BUT, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!

    Asia is both street smart and book smart, while the "other girls" are street smart only.  In the materialistic world of "Hollywood", where money has the power of making almost "any dream " a reality, I think Asia values her "soul" and integrity even more.  So, you may have a point, but there is a difference.

    BTW, I said I am making $1500 a day;; but I never said "how" I am making it nor did I say "where" I am making it. So, do I qualify myself as street smart or book smart or a combination thereof; (hhmmm.. things that make you go hhhhmmm!!). Once again, hat's off to U, girlfriend !   WORK IT!
  • justicevancho
    藝術家空間 
    留言於2009-02-20 3:57PM [举报]
    The way you explain hostess bars sounds like host bars to me heh.  I still want to make a host bar, but I think in the US girls wouldn't pay for hot guys to flaunt on them like they would in Japan.  In US girls just need to go to put on a small skirt and go to any bar to get guys to flaunt all over them...so my host bar fails again...booo.

    And uh uh, Mark's got a point hehe.
  • stephen
     
    留言於2009-02-20 2:42PM [举报]
    i could see how a hostess bar in the US (even if it's K-town) would be really creepy, but i've learned to accept it as a part of life here in most parts of asia... not so much about sad sack guys spilling their hearts as it is about an expected part of doing business or entertaining a client, etc... the way you make it sound, though, that place really sounds funky...
  • MarkAllen
    藝術家空間 
    留言於2009-02-20 2:25PM [举报]
    I think there's a lot of gray area here.  Basically - the girls are there to lure the guys, right?  So - this is basically like "girls get n for free" - except in this case - the girls have an opportunity to make some money if they're friendly with the guys.  But... realistically, you're there to make money too, right?  Obviously no guy has his hand on your knee - but from what I understand the girls are in control and they don't have to allow that if they don't want it.  At any club in LA, you have guy buying girls drinks or whatever they want to get they're attention.  Maybe they're spending less money - but is it really that different?  Is the only difference that the girls are genuinely not interested in these guys at all or.... do girls sometimes maybe take the drinks eventhough they don't like the guys in these clubs as welll?   You know - I live in a cave, so I really don't know much.  I've never been to a place like this, never been to a strip club... so obviously i have a pretty outside point of view of this.  But I've met you, you're smart (and very talented by the way) - I just think you need to factor your own presence there into the equation - because everyone is making money off the same thing in that place.
  • lamommusic
    留言於2009-02-20 11:59AM [举报]
    Wow, a beautiful girl with brains! What a rare find !  I make about $1500.00 up in Reno. (he!he!) BTW, just curious, how much did you make that night as a "johnny walker girl" ?!
  • mellydurham
    藝術家空間 
    留言於2009-02-20 10:44AM [举报]
    That is really sad :(
  • dmiles
    藝術家空間 
    留言於2009-02-20 10:35AM [举报]
    Damn, that sounds ghetto! I'm glad you didn't have to break some old bastard's face. Hehe! ;D

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