China has made it clear that hiring strippers at funerals is not an acceptable thing to do.
The Daily Mail reported the following:
Families in China have been told not to hire strip dancers to give erotic shows at their relative’s funerals.
The unusual trend, mostly seen in rural villages, has come into being because many families hope scantily-clad showgirls could help make the ceremony more successful – by drawing more mourners.
Now the Chinese government is hoping to give a send-off to the ‘obscene, pornographic, and vulgar’ phenomenon after trying to stop it for over a decade.
Personally, I wouldn’t want strippers at a funeral. I’m more of a crack-a-few-cold-beers-and-tell-some-good-stories type of guy. But I really don’t think the government of any country should be telling its citizens how to properly grieve.
Is nudity at a funeral strange? It most certainly is, but it should it really be up to the government to decide whether or not hiring a stripper is proper form? There are probably people who think we shouldn’t get smashed while regaling tales from our fruitful pasts as we say goodbye to a friend or family member. I have no doubt there are people out there who disagree with our choices, but we’re not stopping.
That’s what freedom is all about, which is apparently in very short supply in China. In our beautiful country, you can do whatever you want at a funeral. Want to drink a bunch of booze? Go for it. Host a fantasy football draft? That’s your right. Hire a bunch of strippers? It might be weird, but it’s not illegal.
I’m so glad to be born in a country where the government doesn’t tell us how to send our friends and loved ones into the afterlife. It’s comforting to know we have the options to do whatever we want. China should chill out.