Hiring bridesmaids is China's latest wedding trend
Brides are turning to professional assistants to save friends from sexual harassment, say critics
Professional bridesmaids are being hired to perform wedding duties in China because amateurs are finding the tasks demanded of them too demeaning or vulgar.
Reports suggest that the role has changed significantly in recent years.
"A bridesmaids' job went from accompanying the bride to gradually being asked to light cigarettes and feed fruits to guests to having physical contact with guests and even being asked to take off their clothes in front of everyone in some rare cases," reports the Chinese news website, China.org.cn.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
These increasingly demeaning and humiliating tasks "have scared away the real bridesmaids who usually used to be friends and relatives of the bride", it adds.
The practice has come under scrutiny following a viral video showing the treatment of a bridesmaid at the Bali wedding of Chinese actor Bao Beier.
Bridesmaid Liu Yan is seen being seized by several celebrity groomsmen who then tried to throw her into a pool, ignoring her protests.
Critics say this is sexual harassment and highlights the plight of bridesmaids at Chinese wedding ceremonies.
"Liu was definitely sexually violated, whether she said it is true or not," Luo Ruixue, from the women's right group Women Awakening Network, told the Global Times.
"If we dig deeper, in China, the teasing culture in weddings shows men collectively harassing women," she added.
One professional assistant, Vision Peng, told the Financial Times that by hiring bridesmaids, a bride was effectively doing her friends a favour.
"Professional bridesmaids like me are tougher than amateurs," Peng said. "Some best men will tease bridesmaids or be fresh with them. Professionals like me can solve the embarrassment easily and quickly. That's one reason I think why people hire me, to protect their friends."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Christmas quiz 2024
From the magazine Test your grasp of current affairs and general knowledge with our quiz
By The Week UK Published
-
People of the year 2024
In the Spotlight Remember the people who hit the headlines this year?
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: December 25, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published