Hire a girlfriend. Something is wrong with this short phrase: rent. There is a transaction there, whereas in general, normally, friends are born from a common hobby, or from a compatibility of thoughts, or from a sense of security and comfort that arises from the interaction between two people.
Okay, but you’ve probably seen a lot of people looking rent-a-girlfriend this is in terms of ethics, morality, ‘eastern etiquette’, and so on. This issue has also started to decline in popularity on social media timelines, that’s why this article appeared: to remind you that the problems related to this service have not been resolved and still need to be resolved.
What is the problem? In short, this article will discuss the relationship between service users, service providers, and those who employ service providers. Because there are transactions taking place here, therefore many factors that apply to other industrial relations can also be applied here. In other words, I will briefly explain how our systems and social framework make this kind of business model reckless and irresponsible.
However, once again, I would like to emphasize that this article will hardly make any ‘ethics of couples’ or ‘lonely issues’ arguments. I think that while there is some truth in them, these moral opinions keep us away from the more imminent danger of those who are directly in the business: the danger of savage men.
The Main Problem of a Boyfriend Rental Business is the Man
Kazuya, the one who hired Chizuru to be his girlfriend in the series Kanojo, Okarishimasu! who introduced this business model to Indonesian otaku, did so because he is a jerk who wants to have a girlfriend but doesn’t want a business, because he is lonely but doesn’t want to talk to women, because he feels life is unfair because he doesn’t give him a girlfriend. So, he chose a shortcut, the way of money.
From here, we can see an initial picture of the target market of this girlfriend rental business. But of course, I’m not saying that all buyers who have and will transact are the same as Kazuya. They can also manifest as men who are easy-going, forced sexual services, or physically or psychologically abusive. This point needs to be elaborated a bit more before we come to a conclusion.
First, the tenant man can be light-handed. Because they feel they have paid, they then feel that all their wishes must be fulfilled, even if it is explicitly outside the service or things that make workers uncomfortable.
Second, the client can insist on asking for sexual services. Although this is explicitly not allowed and testimonials say that this service is only ‘just-for-fun’, this does not close then later on there are clients who ask for more.
Third, like what happened with Chizuru, workers can terrorized later by clients who forget or force to forget that their rental boyfriends are only one day’s girlfriends, which are not even friends.
Fourth, clients run away or take workers to closed places that are not accessible to the public.
Fifth, clients can commit harassment to sexual violence.
These five things are what I think are the types of clients that could ‘show up’ in this type of business. Of course other possibilities can be discovered at a later date, but I hope not, I hope the business closes before these things happen.
Moving on to the next aspect, with so many bad -tempered men roaming among us, where is the agency’s responsibility as a service provider? If there is a misfortune that befalls the talent, workers, from the mildest such as humiliation to the most serious such as sexual assault, what is the agency going to do? Maybe this question is wrong: what is can done by the agency?
Let’s be honest. It is impossible for us to report to the police for things like this, and it is useless to ‘viral’ the case, because what will get the public’s attention is: “why is there a dating rental?” So, for this matter, safety net only in the hands of the agency. The question is, what can they really do? Obviously impossible tracking on-time existence talent-each. It is also not possible to simply put in place rules (this will be explained further in the next section) and expect that everyone will comply with them, without concrete mechanisms for enforcement and punishment.
I’ll go straight to the example. Someone ordered a girlfriend rental service, then his hand moved in an indecent manner to talent. Then then the client insists talent to give him sexual services. The workers don’t want to, then the client then uses violence, insults and demeans as well as beats the workers. Workers go home. What are agencies willing and able to do?
Have those who provided this service thought to this level? This scenario is not an exaggeration, since there are so many male predators around us. The cases that I mentioned above often happen even to women in general, especially those who are given time and place with a man she doesn’t know to give affection for a certain period of time.
For me, as long as the agencies don’t want to know or don’t even know about this possibility, then they are irresponsible people who are endangering the lives of others.
Woe to Women Who Reject Men’s Invitations
So, in the case above, why don’t the workers just refuse the client’s request?
For misfortune befalls women who refuse men’s invitations. There have been many writings, testimonials, and opinions telling that women who don’t say no do it to save themselves, so that nothing bad happens later. Something study it has even been compiled which proves that resisting male urges is not as easy as one might think, and is fraught with danger.
I add this section to briefly explain that we must not then shift the burden of protecting ourselves onto the workers who accompany lonely Indonesian otaku men. If by your moral standards they are lousy people who sell affection for money, I do not forbid you to think so, although I do not agree.
But it is more difficult for you to argue that this mindset is relevant when faced with the real threats these women face. Moreover, plus the many cases of people in our local scene molesting and harassing the women around them, it only takes one incident of a savage person ordering a dating rental service for us to lead to disaster.
Finally, because the popularity of this topic is starting to decline, I would like to invite us to direct our hands to the agencies that are still operating: will they be held accountable? What are their mechanisms to protect their talents? What will they do if a client exceeds the limit?
If this agency can’t answer the questions above concretely, then I think the solution is simple: just disband! Delete this business immediately, before there are women in the community circle otaku we are the victims of unwanted actions! We don’t need to add any new homework in our still very troubled community.
–
