Nowhere girls

Term for women with few prospects
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"Nowhere girls" or "Mei Nü" (Chinese: 沒女; pinyin: méi nǚ) is a neologism coined to describe women who have no money, employment, education, prospects, looks, friends, or sophistication.[1] The pronunciation of "nowhere girls" is homophonic[a] with "beautiful girls" (Chinese: 美女; pinyin: měi nǚ) in Mandarin Chinese.[2]

The term, which has strong pejorative connotations, is used to characterise women who refuse to conform to male expectations and are therefore thought to be unattractive by men. It may be a calque of a South Korean term,[citation needed] it spread to Hong Kong via China, and became popularised through its use in a reality show called Nowhere Girls, which was broadcast by Television Broadcasts Limited. This show has aroused much public discussion on this topic.[3]

Description

In the TV programme Nowhere Girls, women are called "nowhere girls" because they are lazy, selfish, short-tempered, rude to others, unfashionable and self-deluded.[4]

Characteristics

Causes

Family

As nowhere girls experience distinct family affairs, leaving them psychologically hurt. Moreover, Hong Kong has low birth rates from time to time,[7] leading to single-child families. They become the treasure of their parents. They are pampered and spoiled,[8] which results in weakened coping abilities. In addition, children nowadays engage in less communication with their parents who are always out for work, and thus children receive less parental mental support.[9]

Media

TV programme

Nowhere Girls (Chinese: 沒女大翻身) is a reality show produced by Television Broadcasts Limited. It was broadcast in August 2014 and there are 20 episodes in total. The show focuses on seven women who are described as "have nots" and each of them is said to represent one of "seven deadly sins", including laziness, selfishness, ugliness and being a recent mainland immigrant etc.[10] This programme stirred up much controversy since it discriminated against so-called "Mei Nu" and brought out wrong messages – "makeovers, working with fitness trainers and life coaches can lead to better lives"[11] to the audience.

There were also suspicions that seven women got paid to act and some incidents were staged.[12] Moreover, the show hurt the professional image of psychologists in Hong Kong because Wong Hoi-man, who is a clinical psychologist and the guest counsellor of Nowhere Girls, handled cases in improper ways. It led to misunderstandings towards therapeutic techniques of qualified psychologists.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ See Standard_Chinese_phonology#Third_tone_sandhi

References

  1. ^ "TV show Nowhere Girls is nasty name-calling dressed up as entertainment". South China Morning Post. 18 August 2014.
  2. ^ 呂, 書練 (4 September 2014). "獨家風景：大家都是沒女". Wen Wei Po.
  3. ^ 徐, 詠璇 (11 October 2014). "「沒女」有道義?". Hong Kong Economic Journal.
  4. ^ "沒女大翻身簡介". TVB.COM.
  5. ^ Siu, Jasmine (11 August 2014). "Hit reality TV show blasted". The Standard.
  6. ^ "甚麼是「沒女」". U Beauty.
  7. ^ Speed, Barbara (30 September 2014). "Hong Kong's low birth rate blamed on women's "sexual problems"". CityMetric.
  8. ^ "Hong Kong kids". 28 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
  9. ^ 何, 詩韻 (10 May 2013). "少溝通 損孩子情緒礙發展". Hong Kong Economic Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  10. ^ Chow, Vivienne; Nip, Amy; Lau, Jessie (8 August 2014). "Discrimination turns critics off TVB 'reality' hit". The South China Morning Post.
  11. ^ Wu, Alice (18 August 2014). "TV show Nowhere Girls is nasty name-calling dressed up as entertainment". The South China Morning Post.
  12. ^ Chow, Vivienne; Nip, Amy; Lau, Jessie (8 August 2014). "Discrimination turns critics off TVB 'reality' hit". The South China Morning Post.
  13. ^ Siu, Jasmine (11 August 2014). "Hit reality TV show blasted". The Standard.