Pinang xi shi

Pinang Xi Shi is a kind of profession particular to Taiwan, undertaken by scantily dressed, sexy young females on the roadside displaying their bodies while selling Areca catechu.

Taiwanese Betel nut culture

Pinang refers to the seed of Areca catechu, or Betel palm, which, like Cocos nucifera (or the Coconut palm), belongs to Arecaceae (the palm family) and is a kind of evergreen tree whose trunk can grow as tall as twenty meters. The word Pinang originated from Indonesian. Pinang was initially used as a kind of herbal plant, although in modern times it is mostly taken as a kind of pick-me-up.

Pinang chewing enjoys widespread popularity in Taiwan. It is conservatively estimated that over a hundred billion New Taiwan Dollars are spent annually on this so-called “Taiwanese chewing gum” by the “red-lip clan” (people addicted to pinang chewing). According to the Council of Agriculture, as many as seventy farms have joined this lucrative pursuit by planting pinang trees, which makes pinang the most important economic crop in Taiwan since the nineties. However, the upsurge of pinang planting causes problems with soil and water conservation on the hillside land. It was also found that the Taiwanese way of consuming pinang significantly enhances its potential to cause cancer. Although the cons far outweigh the pros, chewing pinang is still a prevailing custom in Taiwan to this day. It is used by both the working class and professionals, by both men and women. Because of the high consumption values, vendors of pinang soon came to occupy every possible spot on the streets of Taiwan. Vigorous competition eventually led to the creation of “Pinang Xi Shi” culture.

Definition and distribution

In a general sense, Pinang Xi Shi refers to any female pinang saleswoman wearing seductive clothing.

Flamboyant pinang kiosks decorated with flashing neon lights are a common sight on the north-south highway in the west of Taiwan and on its suburban roads. The primary targeted customers are lorry drivers who use pinang to keep from dozing off in long distance driving. Some shop owners started to hire girls dressed in sexy outfits to grab customers’ attention in this highly profitable competition. Rivals followed suit. As the level of competition got higher, fewer clothes were worn by the female vendors.

Apart from being scantily clothed, some Pinang Xi Shi’s also allowed customers to touch their bodies, putting them on a par with sex workers. However, this special kind of service was believed to be available only to customers who had purchased a certain amount of pinang. Rumours had it that some Pinang Xi Shi’s would even have sex with customers.

Leaving aside the fear that these practices would generate crime, the presence of Pinang Xi Shi also distracted drivers and caused more car accidents. There was an instance of driver being prosecuted for murder for this reason.

The crack down

In 2002, local governments in Taiwan started to impose laws or regulations covering the dress code of Pinang Xi Shi, prohibiting the wearing of over-revealing clothes. Taipei city was the first to initiate the change. This was then followed by Taoyuan county and metropolitan cities like Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, until Pinang Xi Shi all but disappeared. Nowadays they can only be found sporadically in the suburbs and around motorway interchanges. Even there, the clothes they wear are no longer so revealing.

Some Pinang Xi Shi’s are high school drop outs and their job represents the principal source of income for the family. Most have difficulty finding a job in a convenient store because they lack an educational qualification or because of age restriction; some choose to enter this profession for its higher pay.

Two extremes of opinion from women’s organisations

Some women’s organisations defend Pinang Xi Shi’s use of sexual appeal as a means for improving their economic condition. However, this view is controversial. According to them, the sexy images of international models, film stars, and car show girls are not considered inappropriate by society. They condemn a social convention or a legal system which closes its eyes to the sexy appearance of models and stars but unambiguously condemns the dressing style of Pinang Xi Shi as a from of social class discrimination.

A sound biological principle says men should not be exposed to scantily clad females when they need a high level of concentration on another task (seeing such pictures causes men’s decision-making ability to deteriorate). The contention is that such stimuli should not be provided when undivided attention is required of a man. By the same token, sexy pictures of models and stars should also be wiped out from billboards.

Finally, some criticise the media for popularising the negative image of Pinang Xi Shi, laying more important social and economic problems aside. Anti-sexual exploitation organisations such as the Garden of Hope Foundation, are pessimistic about the independency of Pinang Xi Shi. To them, Pinang Xi Shi looks more like a child labourer exploited by the owner of the pinang shop or by her own family.

References

* This article translated faithfully from http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AA%B3%E6%A6%94%E8%A5%BF%E6%96%BD on 27 March 2008