JGeropoulas
The Living Force
A Smashing Good Time -- Angst-ridden women in China have found a new way to vent
by Abigail Haworth
Marie Claire magazine
Here's a novel way of recycling: A shop in northern China is snapping up used TVs, furniture, and gadgets-so women can pay to smash the items to smithereens. At the "frustration-venting" store, located in a mall in the industrial city of Shenyang, women can unleash their anger over everything from cheating boyfriends to career problems, says Jingyu Wang, the mall's manager.
The shop, which opened its doors to coincide with International Women's Day this past March, is divided into zones such as a living room and a bedroom, to make women feel "as though they are in their own homes, but without any inhibitions about wrecking their property," says Wang. Customers don motorcycle helmets and gloves as protection, then wield hammers and baseball bats to trash the breakable items to their hearts' content. Well, almost: There's a one-minute time limit per person to prevent stock from running out.
The shop is especially popular among female office workers and college graduates who are unable to find jobs amid the global recession, says Wang. China's unemployment rate is an estimated 9.4 percent, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with skilled women much less likely to find work than men. "Women are the first to suffer in 'rust belt' cities like Shenyang, where state-owned factories are closing and the private sector isn't nearly as vibrant as elsewhere in the country," says social commentator Lijia Zhang.
by Abigail Haworth
Marie Claire magazine
Here's a novel way of recycling: A shop in northern China is snapping up used TVs, furniture, and gadgets-so women can pay to smash the items to smithereens. At the "frustration-venting" store, located in a mall in the industrial city of Shenyang, women can unleash their anger over everything from cheating boyfriends to career problems, says Jingyu Wang, the mall's manager.
The shop, which opened its doors to coincide with International Women's Day this past March, is divided into zones such as a living room and a bedroom, to make women feel "as though they are in their own homes, but without any inhibitions about wrecking their property," says Wang. Customers don motorcycle helmets and gloves as protection, then wield hammers and baseball bats to trash the breakable items to their hearts' content. Well, almost: There's a one-minute time limit per person to prevent stock from running out.
The shop is especially popular among female office workers and college graduates who are unable to find jobs amid the global recession, says Wang. China's unemployment rate is an estimated 9.4 percent, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with skilled women much less likely to find work than men. "Women are the first to suffer in 'rust belt' cities like Shenyang, where state-owned factories are closing and the private sector isn't nearly as vibrant as elsewhere in the country," says social commentator Lijia Zhang.
