Beyond the Come-on

Beyond the Come-on
Toumi Say They Can Do Without Snide Talk and Drunks


By Jeong Young-eun
Contributing writer

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On a street corner in Bomun-dong, near Korea University in northeastern Seoul, a water purifier rental store has just opened. In front of the festooned shop two young women are bouncing around trying to attract the attention of passers-by. `` Why don’t you come in our store and have a look? We promise the best quality water,’’ they call out.

In their early 20s, the women are wearing heavy make-up and false eyelashes, big round earrings, heart-shaped necklaces, skimpy lilac tank tops, purple bell-bottoms and high-heeled shoes. They are tanned, extremely thin; long hair flows over their shoulders, and they know how to dance. Outside the water purifier store, noisy pop music is blaring.

For more than a decade it’s been commonplace to find alluring models -- what Koreans called ``doumies’’ or narration mannequins -- enticing buyers to buy cars, electronics and virtually any other product, including water. The philosophy of people who employ doumies is simple: Sex sells.

More doumy agencies appear every year, and the pay is better than most office jobs for attractive young women, agents and the doumies say. The agencies post listings for the positions on the Internet, and, enticed by high wages, largely self-directed work and flexible hours, many college students sign up. The agencies say there is little need for additional recruitment efforts to fill the ranks.

``I can dance, which I love, and at the same time, I can make money,’’ said Moon Hye-jin, a 24-year-old dancing doumy who studies at Hanyang University. ``This is like hitting two birds with one stone. I like my work.’’

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In a country that on the surface regards modesty as a virtue, not everyone looks kindly on the doumies. From their family members to strangers, doumies are often looked down on for what they are: walking, talking and dancing sex objects.

``My mother said to me that every time she sees doumies dancing in the street, she can’t help but be tearful thinking of me,’’ Moon said. ``One day, my grandmother said that she saw two crazy girls who exposed their navels dancing in the street. I thought my grandmother would faint if she had known I was a dancing doumy.’’

The term ``doumy’’ was first used at the Daejeon Expo in 1993 as a reference to the show’s attractive female guides. Nowadays, the word is used widely and variously. There are event doumies that dance when stores or clubs open, racing models, who pose in front of cars, and narration models, who explain companies’ products, among others.

Moon, who worked for three years as a doumy, said the job is not for people who are frivolous or simply like to show off their bodies. ``Many doumies are university students who work for their school fees,’’ she said. ``I hope people realize that we are not just playful girls. We live life hard and diligently.’’

Doumies also put in time during their off-hours, practicing dance moves and preparing narrations. Doumies employed by Best Event Company attend a one-month training session before they begin work, Choi Young-jin, a company representative, said. They are also responsible for their own attire.

``We are just ordinary people,’’ said Lee Da-in, a doumy who is working on a master’s degree at Yonsei University. ``After the show, we take our make-up off, dress unpretentiously and go for dinner.”

``I started the doumy job as a narration model because I thought it would be helpful to being a weather forecaster,’’ Lee said. ``It really helped me to improve my speaking skills. I got paid 150,000 won for five hours a day. It was much better than private teaching.’’

But being a doumy has limits, according to Park Ga-young, who has worked as a dancing doumy for seven years. While her first jobs paid 60,000 won per day, her wages are much higher now. ``We get paid as we work, so some people work every day to make lots of money.’’ But she knows that she can’t do this job after getting married, so she’s planning for a new job.

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The agencies also acknowledge the downsides of the job. ``When the dancing doumies dance in the street, passengers’ reactions to them are quite funny,’’ said Choi, who has been working as an agent for over eight years at Best Event Company. ``Teens steal curious looks at doumies, people in their ’20s look at them just once and leave, those in their ’30s measure up doumies with their eyes, people in their ’40s ask doumies, ‘What’s going on here?’ and those in their ’50s stop walking and enjoy the show.’’ He said he felt sorry for doumies when drunken people grab at them or when older people make snide remarks.

There is no shortage of negative opinion. ``The problem with doumies is that their clothes that are too showy, especially very short mini-skirts, which make me frown. People who pass by are only interested in doumies’ long, thin legs,” said Park Sang-dae, who studies at Chung-Ang University.

An Jeong-suk, who is raising a son in elementary school in Gaebong-dong, thinks doumies’ flashy clothes are embarrassing. ``The more serious problem is that school kids gather to see very showy doumies,’’ she said. ``I don’t think it’s right that doumies dance and sing in a residential street. Also, I wish there were some regulations for the doumies’ attire.’’

Doumies have also become a point of academic interest, and opinions about the phenomenon vary among intellectuals, as well.

``Doumies exist because of modern society,’’ said Cho Hae-jeong, a professor in the sociology department at Yonsei University. ``Extremely developed capitalism and a capital-centered society have commercialized men and women,’’ she said. Many men have traditionally worked labor-intensive jobs, while some women have used their looks, she said. Sensational commercialism and the progress of capitalism will only increase sexually based work, she said.

Andrea R. Bandom, a professor at Chung-ang University, holds a more ambivalent view. ``I was curious about pretty dancing girls in the street, Bandom said. ``I felt sorry for them. But if they use their talents to make money, unless it’s forced by someone, I think it’s OK.’’

``What can get people’s attention quickly except exposure in this bustling society?’’ Yoon Na-rae, a film student who worked as a dancing doumy, asked. ``The criticism towards exposure is inevitable, but I think this whole society has something to be criticized, too. However, I hope people think this is an event that can be enjoyable.’’


nafreta@naver.com
10-12-2006 19:51

Sex sells...

My guess is that racing models were first used in Japan, and the practice has spread everywhere else in E. Asia, most recently to China.