Nowhere girl
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Nowhere girl or Mei Nü (Chinese: 沒女; pinyin: méi nǚ) is a neologism used to describe women perceived to lack money, employment, education, prospects, looks, friendships, or sophistication.[1] The term carries strong pejorative connotations and is used to characterise women who refuse to conform to male expectations and are therefore perceived as unattractive by men. The pronunciation of "nowhere girls" is homophonic[a] with "beautiful girls" (Chinese: 美女; pinyin: měi nǚ) in Mandarin Chinese.[2]
The term may be a calque of a South Korean term,[citation needed] though it spread to Hong Kong via China. It became popularised through a reality show called Nowhere Girls, broadcast by Television Broadcasts Limited, which sparked considerable public debate about the term and its implications.[3]
Description
[edit]In the TV program Nowhere Girls, women called "nowhere girls" are depicted as lazy, selfish, short-tempered, rude to others, unfashionable and self-deluded.[4] They supposedly:
Causes
[edit]Family
[edit]Low birth rates in Hong Kong have led to a rise in single-child families.[7] The program revolved around exemplifying supposed only-child daughters depicted as pampered, spoiled, and uncommunicative with their working parents.[8][9]
Media
[edit]TV programme
[edit]Nowhere Girls (Chinese: 沒女大翻身) was 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 program received great controversy stemming from wide perception of sexism and prejudice against the so-called "Mei Nü" and its core messaging that "makeovers, working with fitness trainers and life coaches can lead to better lives".[11]
The show was suspected of hiring paid actors to depict the seven "nowhere girls" and staging the footage that was aired.[12] The behavior of a guest counsellor Wong Hoi-man, a clinical psychologist, raised concerns of medical malpractice and may have impacted the professional image of psychologists and qualified therapeutic techniques in Hong Kong.[13]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "TV show Nowhere Girls is nasty name-calling dressed up as entertainment". South China Morning Post. 18 August 2014.
- ↑ 呂, 書練 (4 September 2014). "獨家風景：大家都是沒女". Wen Wei Po.
- ↑ 徐, 詠璇 (11 October 2014). "「沒女」有道義?". Hong Kong Economic Journal. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ↑ "沒女大翻身簡介". TVB.COM.
- ↑ Siu, Jasmine (11 August 2014). "Hit reality TV show blasted". The Standard. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
- ↑ "甚麼是「沒女」". U Beauty. 29 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024.
- ↑ Speed, Barbara (30 September 2014). "Hong Kong's low birth rate blamed on women's "sexual problems"". CityMetric.
- ↑ "Hong Kong kids". 28 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Chow, Vivienne; Nip, Amy; Lau, Jessie (8 August 2014). "Discrimination turns critics off TVB 'reality' hit". The South China Morning Post.
- ↑ Wu, Alice (18 August 2014). "TV show Nowhere Girls is nasty name-calling dressed up as entertainment". The South China Morning Post.
- ↑ Chow, Vivienne; Nip, Amy; Lau, Jessie (8 August 2014). "Discrimination turns critics off TVB 'reality' hit". The South China Morning Post.
- ↑ Siu, Jasmine (11 August 2014). "Hit reality TV show blasted". The Standard.