Indonesian masseuses told to padlock pants

by Catherine Bodry Apr 11th 2008 @ 1:30PM

Is Indonesia reverting to the era of chastity belts? The country recently implemented a policy requiring its female masseuses to wear padlocks on their trousers.

We all know that for some folks, visiting a massage parlor means they're getting a whole lot more than a back rub. There are specific institutions that cater to these types of customers and I'm certain that those particular "massage therapists" didn't put in 500 hours and get their massage licenses. Working out the kinks in your back isn't their specialty.

So it seems to me that putting a padlock on the masseuses' pants isn't really solving the masseuse-as-prostitute problem, and, as the State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meuthia Hatta pointed out, it makes the masseuse appear to be in the wrong, not the customer.

What do you think?

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Asia, Indonesia

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Apr 11th 2008 @ 2:14PM

Terry said...

I think this is a good idea. Long overdue. At the same time I would like to see the pants of the politicians all be padlocked as well. With these two actions, they could reduce the amount of prostitution significantly.

Apr 12th 2008 @ 1:33AM

Frederik said...

Blah-blah-blah. As somebody who is born and has witnessed the not-so-honest practice of the bureaucrats in Indonesia, I see this as a way for those with power to flex their muscles and show that they can ink regulations into papers. Those so called "plus-plus" masseuses operate in full secrecy and they would not bother about putting padlocks at all.

Apr 12th 2008 @ 4:24AM

World In My Eyes said...

Locksmith classes anyone?

Add your comments

New Users

Name

E-mail

Current Users

E-mail:

Password

Remember Me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Add your comments:

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.</p>