Comments on: Exotic sex: diversity, ethnicity, whiteness and local prices

By: JP Roberts

JP Roberts — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:12:24 +0000

My questions: do the customers make choices based on the ways the women are advertised too? How does the supply/demand axis get played out in reality? There’s so much to think about, and so many ways we can interpret this ad ; its origin, its consequences and its effect on the setting and on the wider social scale.

By: Leon

Leon — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:48:36 +0000

Number of possible explanations: the pricing may somewhat reflect the Chinese “racial hierarchy” i.e. “white” on top, the “yellow races” in the middle, the “brown races” in the bottom. Prejudice against Malay, Filipino and Indonesian women does exist in Hong Kong as they are thought of as a “lower race”, working for baser jobs (as servants and maids). Perhaps it’s supply and demand; the clientele may prefer others over Malays and Filipinoes. On the other hand, the pricing could reflect something else entirely: Malay and Filipino women who work as prostitutes in Hong Kong could well be illegally staying in the city, and thus whoever controlled and exploited these women could cut down the amount of money they pay these women — though this would also apply to the “gentle girls up north” (i.e. mainland Chinese), also very likely to be working and staying illegally in Hong Kong.

By: laura agustin

laura agustin — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:05:47 +0000

Your comment illustrates the fantasy aspect of the marketing, its irrationality. It’s almost as though the person making up the tags was just stringing together random words associated with sex and beauty.

By: Cycads

Cycads — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:37:12 +0000

I’ve seen this photo on another blog which asked why Malay women do not command a higher price considering our relative ‘exoticity’. I happen to be a Malay woman and women like myself do not look anything White at all. Also, why would whiteness make up for our supposed lack of desirability?