檳榔西施 Betel Nut Girls
Perhaps many of you have passed by the freeway exit near National Central University and have wondered about those pretty girls sitting in small, beautifully-decorated transparent booths. You can't miss them: they usually wear tight-t-shirts and super mini-skirts or sometimes even only bikinis. Even when the temperature is 15℃ in the cold winter, these girls still dress very little in those brightly lit booth to attract customers.
Yes, they are the so-called "betel nut beauties," a unique phenomenon in Taiwan. As they prepare the betel nuts and take them to passing drivers, their dress code is also challenging Taiwanese society and forcing everyone to rethink the following question: where do we draw the line between a woman's right to sexual expression and the society's standard of morality?
Personally, I think the problem has a lot to do with our education. Our teachers may have taught us something about our body and sex; but it is only limited to the anatomy and the function of our
reproductive organs, and then they conclude that we should keep ourselves from anything sexual until we are married. These are shallow lessons that do not lead to any real discussion about the proper treatment and respect to our bodies and our sex. That is why people always have such a fascination with the body and sex as taboo subjects; and some even satisfy their needs by invading other's people's privacy through installing hidden-cameras in the ladies restrooms or in the love hotels. Then businessmen also began to make money by manipulating young girls' power of sexual attraction. That's why there are more and more betel nut girls, 
or other scantily-dressed girls who work in special teahouses and so on.
Taiwanese are just beginning to learn about our bodies and to learn to respect other's sexuality instead of treating them as "commodities." I hope someday the betel nut girls would switch to other more fulfilling jobs.
Perhaps many of you have passed by the freeway exit near National Central University and have wondered about those pretty girls sitting in small, beautifully-decorated transparent booths. You can't miss them: they usually wear tight-t-shirts and super mini-skirts or sometimes even only bikinis. Even when the temperature is 15℃ in the cold winter, these girls still dress very little in those brightly lit booth to attract customers.Yes, they are the so-called "betel nut beauties," a unique phenomenon in Taiwan. As they prepare the betel nuts and take them to passing drivers, their dress code is also challenging Taiwanese society and forcing everyone to rethink the following question: where do we draw the line between a woman's right to sexual expression and the society's standard of morality?Personally, I think the problem has a lot to do with our education. Our teachers may have taught us something about our body and sex; but it is only limited to the anatomy and the function of our
reproductive organs, and then they conclude that we should keep ourselves from anything sexual until we are married. These are shallow lessons that do not lead to any real discussion about the proper treatment and respect to our bodies and our sex. That is why people always have such a fascination with the body and sex as taboo subjects; and some even satisfy their needs by invading other's people's privacy through installing hidden-cameras in the ladies restrooms or in the love hotels. Then businessmen also began to make money by manipulating young girls' power of sexual attraction. That's why there are more and more betel nut girls, or other scantily-dressed girls who work in special teahouses and so on.Taiwanese are just beginning to learn about our bodies and to learn to respect other's sexuality instead of treating them as "commodities." I hope someday the betel nut girls would switch to other more fulfilling jobs.