INTERVIEW WITH EMILIA

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Emilia is currently a Law student from CUHK, thus she often put her emphasis on the legal aspect of the issue. The whole

interview can be divided into three aspects, the service provider, the service receiver and the public perception.

For service provider, Emilia tried to explain the display of body figure and face by PTGF. She claimed that if sex services is provided, showing body figure and faces is rational as it is the selling point of the product, which is PTGF themselves in this case. She also compared other body figure related jobs such as models and explained that it is perfectly normal for women or even men to show their body figure if their body figure itself is the selling point of the product(or services) that they are trying to provide. Emilia also used her knowledge on Law to analysis this issue, she claimed that the public always ask for restriction on PTGF or prostitution but no one even bother to shed the light on the protection for them. Being a emotional labour or sex service provider, PTGF in particular, is a risky job since they need to have intimate and close contact with their customers, who they have only met online. If people are asking for restriction on this business , there should be protection from the law as well. Emilia tried to view the issue in a more general sense and she thinks that the whole phenomenon will always remain as an underground business as emotional labour that are related to sex or intimacy is always a taboo in modern society. However, the sexual or emotional desire from people will never vanish, and when there is demand , there will always be supply. Thus, the whole PTGF phenomenon will be a taboo that many desired. As a result, PTGF will remain as an underground business.

 

For the service receiver, Emilia analysed the reason for men to look for PTGF. One of the main reasons why men look for PTGF is to try out new things, as a matter of fact, some customers of PTGF actually have a real girlfriend. Nevertheless, they still look for PTGF because they are bored of their regular girlfriend and would like to try something fresh and new or even in some cases, try out something that their regular girlfriend refused (e.g. kinky sex). Another reason that Emilia mentioned is that customers would like to enjoy the girlfriend experience without any trouble that real life relationship causes. Since PTGF can provide companionship, intimacy and sex that a regular girlfriend provided, men can pay for such experience without any emotional attachment or any hard work that it has to take to pursuit a real girlfriend. It may be an ideal type of relationship for some men as they do not have to be responsible.The third reason is that PTGF provides an instant and fast-paced service. Customers would have sexual or emotional desire all of a sudden and these desires has to be satisfied instantly, and only with a click on instagram, they can ask a PTGF out and satisfy their desire. Emilia claimed that the whole phenomenon is related to the fast food culture of Hong Kong people as they always ask for efficiency, everything has to quick and new, and most importantly, without any attachment and responsibility. And this culture also applied to love.

 

For the public perception. Emilia view the public perception and media coverage generally. She claimed that the Law and the social norms are interrelated. If the society thinks that services like PTGF is forbidden, there should be law that will restrict this kind of business. Nonetheless, the public doesn’t have a unified opinion on the issue, some of them may support this kind of business as it lower sexual crime rate by satisfying male’s (or female’s) sexual desire. Therefore, what the law should do is to cooperate with the social norms and set up restriction and also protection for PTGF, cause after all, they are still citizens that deserve to have their rights. Emilia expressed her opinion of  gender in sexual issues too.  She thinks that female are mostly being morally condemned in sexual issues as the media will always shape female as a “slut”. She explained that the reasons for such phenomenon is twofold. firstly, it is attracts more attention if the media put their focus on female in sexual issue, thus males are always neglected in the report. The focus on female makes the public put more emphasis on female at the same time, forming a vicious cycle that women will always be morally condemned in sexual issues. The other reason is that male are often punished by the law, thus the society will think that they have already got what they deserved so they will put the focus of the moral condemnation on female as female are often “innocent” in sexual issues and they are always the “victim” of it (in a legal and law sense). Emilia said that it is forming a sort of balance between the two gender in sexual issues, male will receive law punishment and female will receive moral condemnation. Although it is not always the case, but this dualistic structure is a common phenomenon in Hong Kong.

 

In conclusion, Emilia analyzed PTGF as an phenomen and gave a lot of unique and valuable opinion on the issue. She concerned both the restriction and the protection of PTGF which is definitely an issue that has to be dealt with. She also viewed the issue in different perceptive which is very helpful to the project as it help us form a bigger and also more comprehensive picture of PTGF.