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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jo Smith Finley
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of a book chapter that has been published in its final definitive form by Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) Press, 2022.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
In the context of PRC state-sanctioned violence committed against Uyghur women since 2016 in the name of 'de-extremification', I present case studies of five Uyghur hostess girls from Han-dominated Ürümchi, urban capital of Xinjiang, who made their living in the 2000s by ‘accompanying’ Han Chinese male clients in the city’s karaoke bars. Through detailed analysis of ethnographic interviews conducted with the girls as well as individuals from the broader Uyghur community, I explore the ethno-politicisation of the act of hostessing by Uyghur observers – particularly men - as they strove to protect (male) national honour by condemning (female) national shame. Ethnicity (group loyalty) and Islam (gender norms; morality) figured large in community judgments of hostesses’ actions, while hostesses themselves employed the same frameworks to assess - and ultimately justify - their choice to engage in this example of ‘undesirable entrepreneurship.’ Unlike previous studies on the hostess industry in China, which focused on urban-rural inequalities or gender hierarchies in majority Han areas, this chapter considers ethnic and religious aspects of hostess culture on the north-western periphery, where ongoing Han in-migration clashes awkwardly with the socio-cultural practices – influenced by various strains of Islam – of the local Uyghur people. Here, Han male consumption of Uyghur female company is construed as a deliberate, ethno-political act, expressed in terms of Han domination and Uyghur slavery, and condemned by the Uyghur (male) community as a betrayal of both Islam and the Uyghur nation.
Author(s): Smith Finley J
Editor(s): Aysima Mirsultan, Eric Schluessel, Eset Sulayman
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: Community Still Matters: Uyghur Culture and Society in the Central Asian Context
Year: 2022
Pages: 188-202
Print publication date: 01/07/2022
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Publisher: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) Press
Place Published: Copenhagen
Notes: Festschrift for Ildiko Beller-Hann
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9788776943158
