'On Nov. 5, a Chinese blogger posted three photos of a young man in spiky hair for his 1.6 million followers on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter. “Caught a live shamate on the street today,” he wrote gleefully, adding that their hairstyles “look like the molecular structure of some virus.” Meanwhile, a music video called “Shamate Meets Wash-Cut-Blowdry,” a reference to the group’s often-maligned hairstyles, featuring leggy girls gyrating to the tune of Korean pop-singer Psy’s song “Gentleman,” has received more than 2.4 million views on Youku, China’s YouTube. (Predictably, comments to the video poked fun.) These shamate are the young migrants lost in China’s great urbanization push, a subculture whose numbers are unknown, but surely growing.
'To hip Chinese sensibilities, shamate — named after a deliberately nonsensical transliteration of the English word “smart” — are anything but. Baidu Baike, China’s Wikipedia, describes a shamate as a young urban migrant from one of the tens of thousands of podunk towns scattered across China. These men and women are in their late teens or early 20s, often with middle-school educations and few marketable skills, working low-paying jobs in the big cities, like a barber, security guard, deliveryman, or waitress.
'A shamate’s single most distinguishing (and derided) feature is his or her exaggerated hairstyle: curly perms, shaggy blow-outs, or spiky do’s, all held together with considerable abuse of hair coloring or wax. Clothing bought from a street market, some body piercing, and an off-brand cell phone often completes the look. Shamates usually linger in the social purgatory of small hair salons, smoky Internet cafes, or street market stalls in China’s big cities, not quite fitting into the world of shiny office buildings and expensive department stores that surrounds them.
'Shamate’s outré fashion choices reflect something much deeper: collective alienation, a byproduct of China’s massive urban migration push and the country’s widening class divide. While roughly half of China’s 1.4 billion people live in cities, the consultancy McKinsey projects the number of urban residents to grow by more than 350 million in 2025; more than 240 million of those new additions will be migrants.
'Of course, it’s nothing new for a subculture to shock the general public with its unconventional fashion sense — think Goths in the United States or Shibuya girls in Japan. Indeed, the shamate trend reportedly began as early as 1999 as a half-baked imitation of unorthodox getups donned by certain Japanese youth. But shamates face special challenges in China. Not only is conformity expected and education highly prized, but young migrants in cities are less likely to have the parental supervision or community support that would enable them to exit the underclass. That’s partly why China’s urban yuppies and educated elite — overrepresented in popular micro-blogging platforms like Sina Weibo, film and book discussion communities like Douban, and social networks like Renren — feel safe in mercilessly mocking shamate.
'In one viral blog post, a writer with the web handle Evil Cat Y describes spending a year “undercover” as a shamate. The post depicts a “highly organized” coterie where longtime members are given titles like “technology director” or “CEO.” Serious shamate often try to outdo each other with thick makeup that might resemble a U.S. punk rocker, living by their noms de guerre like Ghost Monster or Leftover Tears. According to Evil Cat Y, women outnumber men, and often look for mates in online shamate groups.
'The shamate phenomenon has grown large enough that its boundaries have blurred. For some members of the subculture, being a shamate is a part-time gig, an eccentric skin that can be willingly shed for job interviews or other formal occasions. But most casual observers are unlikely to make the fine distinction between a consummate shamate like Ghost Monster and a delivery boy with dyed hair — they are both called shamate because they are both young migrants perceived to occupy a low rung on the social ladder.
'The end result of this cumulative disdain is the widespread online shunning and jeering of shamate, remarkable in a country where Internet life has traditionally provided a haven for outcasts. Evil Cat Y observed that, because of cyber-bullying, serious shamate have “retreated” from China’s major online communities to QQ Space, a social networking site comprising private groups popular in small cities, and have even imposed waiting periods or approval processes before admitting new members in order to sniff out harassers. As a result of their mockery and resultant seclusion, Shamate have become a silent group in China’s normally noisy Internet discourse.
'As China continues its relentless urbanization, alienation and displacement will continue to plague its growing migrant population. If these big-city migrants further disengage from mainstream society — or fail to find meaningful ways to integrate — the shamates’ spiky hair and body piercings may no longer be a laughing matter to their neighbors.'-- Tea Leaf Nation
Gallery
'A while ago a thought came to my mind: Where have all the "MK people" (Mong Kok people) gone? The so-called "MK style" was oft-mentioned five years or so ago, but it suddenly disappeared. The emergence of a narrative of "mainland style" at the same time suggests that it has replaced the city's former concerns about the MK style. If the boundary between the MK-style and the mainstream local culture is demarcated by class, the narrative of "mainland style" - highlighted by examples of children urinating in the public and other "uncivilized" demeanors exhibited by mainlanders - assumes a single, unified "Hong Kong-style." With mainlanders possessing all the "otherness", our internal differences no longer matter.
'The term Mong Kok-style can be used for many different things. It is about the way you dress, style your hair, move and speak. "In this absurd trend," a blogger says, "bisexual young men groom their hair in a combination of mullet/comb-over, dress and apply makeup to imitate hedgehogs and pubic hair, and chain-smoke even if they hate tobacco. They wear tight, dark-colored trousers, numerous small silver necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, a fake leather jacket, and most importantly, a black shirt with white-lettered English slogans that don't make any sense. This style suggests a continuing love of things foreign. Strangely, no foreigner is actually doing things like this."
'Unfortunately, the mainlanders cannot escape the same kind of reasoning. They are calling their poorer cousins "shamate", a transliteration of the English word "smart". But while smart means stylish or clever, shamate is used as derogatory term, referring to young people from rural areas "with weird hairstyles, weird clothes, heavy makeup, and a strange attitude." Both Hong Kong residents and mainlanders believe that there is a hierarchy of styles. If "MK people" are kids trying to imitate a Japanese style but not quite making it there because they lack the financial resources to purchase the high-end stuff, "shamate" are village people not culturally sophisticated enough to adopt the urban fashion convincingly.
'Zhang Tianpan wrote in Nanfengchuang, a Guangzhou-based magazine, saying that the style of shamate is "the result of the semi-urbanization and incomplete modernization of individuals and groups". In other words, this group of people is too poor or stupid to acquire the "ultimate style", whatever that maybe. If we are to believe people like Zhang, the less well-off youth are either not aware of the mainstream culture, or something went wrong in the process of them acquiring the mainstream fashion. It has never occurred to Zhang that rural youth might have preferred the masculine punk look to the gender-neutral Korean look, and there is nothing inferior with this preference. We should not be talking about one culture and its degraded variants, but different cultures equally "modern" and "urban".'-- China Daily
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'Photos with Chinese teens wearing ridiculous hairdos, make-up and dressed in bizarre outfits have been spreading around social media sites for a while now, but the actual purpose or the origins of the pictures were quite unclear until now.
'Shamate is a new phenomenon in China. It represents a group of young Chinese who are around 20 years old and have strange hair style. Most of the trend's followers have low education level and don't have jobs. Because of lacking skills to survive, the Smart usually live in big cities with low income. It is hard not to recognize a shamate as their distinguishing features include incredible hairdos with an abuse of color and wax and vampire-like make-up.
'Shamate is transliterated from the English word smart. But the definition is completely different. Because of their cheap clothes, exaggerated hair style and odd make-up, the smart are thought to be the representitives of philistinism. Their particular fashion style is both fascinating and disgusting, painful to the eye and with a guaranteed wow-reaction. The trend has grown considerably in the last months, and it formed something similar to a secret society, hidden and highly organized.
'The shamate phenomenon has spread across the country, rumored to have almost two million members that communicate through their own chat room. How can we treat this phenomenon? According to the statistics, the migrants will be larger and larger in the future. And the group of Smart will be stronger and stronger. What should we do to help them to find the right identifications?'-- Ideology and Culture in China
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p.s. Hey. ** les mots dans le nom, Hi. Well, your hard work has had a great pay off. No rush, of course, on the gift. I'm off to Japan a week from today anyway, so, even at a rush, I wouldn't get it for a while. Thank you! I'd never seen those Ken Price Japan plates before. Fascinating. I'll pore over those heavily later today. Thank you again! ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you so much again, David. It was a true honor. Everyone, Mr. E follows up his generous weekend here with a suggestion/ reminder, in his words: 'Be sure to listen to all four segment's of The Firesign Theater's classic "Don't Crush That Dwarf -- Hand Me The Pliers" after reading "High School Madness." The order of "Don't Crush That Dwarf" is as follows: One, Two, Three, and Four.' ** Steevee, Hey. Pippolo's book on Bresson is very, very interesting and useful. It has stuff that's written almost nowhere else. I think it's problematic, and I don't personally agree with some of his assumptions and opinions, but it's quite a valuable tome, if you're into Bresson. I think Jonathan Rosenbaum's read on the book is pretty spot on. I'll be curious to learn what you think. ** Cassandra Troyan, Hi, Cassandra! Oh, shit, blurb, Christ, my memory. I will get that to you today, and thank you for the nudge, and my apologies for making you nudge me. 'THEM' is awesome, for sure, and I hope it lasts at least a while. It's much needed and really well done. Your 2013 favorites? No, I didn't see that. Was it a late comment on the list day that I missed in my posting haste? I'll go see if I can find it. Thanks again, and much love to you too. ** Gary gray, Nice thoughts on Mr. E's chapter, and thank you a lot for them. Oh, that Mark Leckey work kicked off your story idea? Interesting. 'Fiorucci ... ' is strong. Wow, a movie by you, a seeable movie, no less. Dude, 'a fan video for Rivette' is a seductive phase/blurb or word-based trailer, to me at least. I will glue my eyes to that as soon as I get this blog's glue out of my eyes in about, I don't know, half an hour, 45 minutes? Cool, thank you, G! Everyone, We get the big treat of watching a film by Gary gray. I'll let him tell you about it: ' i burnt a "movie" i made while in la. when i say movie i mean it's recorded, long enough, has a script and a ending. it's not any good. it's like a fan video for Jacques Rivette. but i guess it really a fan vid. fan vid of alot of things. but it was a byproduct of staying up for a week watching his films. anyways, i do like it 15 mins in. i think i dance better when the acid kicks in. but, yeah. i burnt copys to be sold at head shops. i know a lot of people watch stupid shit as background. this is background for people getting really high/drunk. oddly enough i've sold a few. it's all very silly tho.' Go there, yes? And I'll go find out how your #1 album of this year and next effects my currently open #1 position. ** Keaton, Hi. I like glancing at Twitter once in a while. I can't imagine ever tweeting. I think I'd just post a link to the blog every day. I don't think I'm wordy enough for Twitter, despite what my doing the p.s. would indicate. I heard the new Motorhead is a highlight. I'll find out. Cool. Why wouldn't it be? 2014 could easily be the year of the novel. The horizon does seem unusually literary. Oh, you snuck in a Keaton special at the very last minute. Man, you're up early! Everyone, Keaton has newly piled up some Emo-inflected pictorial sexiness as only he can do, and the pile has a name -- 'A Thousand Ways To Cry (Fuck 2013)' -- and, without further ado, ...** Tomáš, Whoa, Tomáš! How cool to see you! How are you? Yeah, I'm still in Paris, or most of the time. I'm a big adventuring traveler these days, but, yeah, I'm still lodged here. What's up and going on with you? ** Allesfliesst, Hi, K. No, I never liked alcohol very much. I only ever drank either to lightly kill my nerves or to take the edge off whatever drugs I was on, and, otherwise, I had a couple of stints in my earlier of drinking too much for brief periods when I was deeply depressed. That's it. Just don't like the alcohol high. It doesn't agree with me. Hm, great that that novel is filling your bill, agreeing with you, etc. I had very little luck finding info in English about that writer unfortunately. But I did find intrigued me. ** _Black_Acrylic, 'Rack my brains for a hot idea' is a great phrase. I'm sure you'll find hotness using that password. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant. Wow, that's a resource if I ever saw one, or, in this case, intend to see one/it asap. Let me click over there and bookmark it. Hold on. Done. Now I'll pass it along to the fine, deserving folks around here and to the quiet readers out there. Everyone, Here's something you need to click and bookmark instantaneously. It's ... well, I'll let its maker, Mr. Grant Maierhofer, tell you: 'i collected every nonfiction thing i've written from 2012-2013 and posted them all on my tumblr with brief excerpts from each cos i wanted to use this to move forward or something. here it is. have at it if you'd like.' And do 'have at it'. Grant is one monstrously heck of a nonfiction writer, as at least some of you already know.' Thanks a ton, man, and a very happy New Year to you too! ** Creative Massacre, Hi. I can totally imagine that vibe from just looking at that one photo. You're really making me want to go there. Maybe I can put it on my future adventures agenda. Thanks a lot, Misty, and that was such a beautiful description of it! ** Misanthrope, I like Taco Bell for cheap, quick stuff when I'm lazy and happen to be driving by one. I don't know. It's all right. Or the vegetarian things are all right. My favorite of the cheap quickie Mexican drive-through place is Del Taco, though. I don't know if it's a West Coast only chain. Baja Fresh is pretty good among the slightly more upscale but fast places. The French do have both McDs and KFCs to fuck them up gastronomically here. Never eaten at any of their outlets, as you can imagine. Okay, well, I think I can easily get him both Japanese Yen note, obviously, and that Squirtle plushie thing. I've noted those things in my little notebook that I carry around with me, and it's a done deal unless Squirtles are rare in Japan itself or something. ** Okay. Go find out about Shamate today, why don't you. See you tomorrow.