Why do some Chinese funerals involve strippers? - BBC News
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43137005
Music blaring through loudspeakers, strippers dancing to the beat and audiences whistling along. In some parts of China, this is what you would see during a funeral procession.
Earlier this year, China renewed a clampdown on strippers performing at funerals, wedding and temples, calling it “obscene and vulgar”.
This isn’t the first time authorities have tried to get rid of the practice but it has proven resilient. Why do people hire strippers at funerals?
According to one theory, strippers are used to boost funeral attendances because large crowds are seen as a mark of honour for the deceased.
Another states the practice could be linked to a “worship of reproduction”. “In some local cultures, dancing with erotic elements can be used to convey the deceased’s wishes of being blessed with many children,” Huang Jianxing, a professor of Fujian Normal University told state-media outlet the Global Times.
One practical theory is that the hiring of strippers could be seen as a sign of wealth.
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“The practice of funeral strippers first caught widespread public attention in Taiwan in 1980,” University of South Carolina anthropologist Marc Moskowitz told the BBC.
“It has become fairly common in Taiwan but in China the government has been more restrictive so many people have never even heard of this.”
