Found in translation episode 13 - DAMA

Found in translation episode 13 - DAMA
ShanghaiCityGirl May 19, 2015 11:13

Ok, laowais! Let’s have a quiz to check your knowledge of this unique country we live in. The Chinese calendar symbolizes this year with which animal? “Nobody really knows”...correct! Weishenme is it ok to drive a pink Ferrari wearing a gold Gucci sweat suit as ‘Xiao pingguo’ rumbles from the silver speakers? “Just because ‘yǒu qián rènxìng,and you shall never question the fashion choices of the true tǔ hāo !'... fantastic, right answer again! Now – who is the REAL leader and ambassador of China? No, I am sorry – it’s not Yao Ming or Jackie Chan. The power is in female hands here. And although they haven’t made it to commercials yet, you HAVE seen them on daily basis. The facekini fashionistas and square dancers! World famous Bitcoin traders and Wall Street suppressors. The ‘driving force in the global gold market’. One in the same! To those of you still scratching your heads and asking ‘Yyyyyy- shenmeee?’ - ladies and gentlemen – it’s about time you officially recognized and appreciated China’s one and only - Dà mā - 大妈 .大 is dà and means big and 妈 is the character for mā which is mother. So how do we recognize Chinese ‘ big mamas’ and how did they become such a powerful group?

Dà mās are usually middle – aged women in their 50s or 60s.The charismatic ladies that ‘wanna dance with somebody’ every night on numerous squares across China. Well, actually across the world, seeing as they already conquered some European cities, putting the local elderly women to shame with their spirit. Big mamas are in fact a bit like Shanghai - an amazing clash of Chinese tradition and modern lifestyle. On one hand they are still influenced by their culture and proudly serve their households: their bargaining skills are top notch, because they still remember the poverty and hunger of yore so keeping a tight grip on the family purse is their priority. But! They also use Wechat , write micro blogs, read about their favorite celebrities on Weibo, and buy things on Tao bao. And most importantly that on April 2013 Dà mās made headlines and probably got themselves at least one page in history when they bought 300 TONS of gold worth 100 BILLION YUAN. Why? Well, from April 12 to 15 in 2013 the global gold prices fell from $1550 an ounce to $1321 . Since in Chinese culture gold - the color or the metal - represents the emperor or the endless wealth, and collecting gold means collecting peace, luck and wealth, the resourceful dà mā gang took action the moment they observed such a bargain! That’s how they gained reputation for defeating the Wall Street as their purchase made the gold prices surge and steady for a while. But the Damas’ influence on world’s economy did not end there…Later the same year the South Korean Ministry of Land and Traffic got overwhelmed with the invasion of Chinese dà mās coming to see properties for sale. Finally, guess who made inroads into Bitcoins – an online currency which can be exchanged for any national currency worldwide? Yes, not a difficult one – the dà mās. The fearless ladies bought and sold 10 MILLION RMB worth of bitcoins PER DAY before journalists could finish explaining what bitcoins are.

Oooff, pretty impressive, huh? It’s not surprising that The Wall Street Journal borrowed ‘Dà mā’ as a term for this group of people prone to ‘panic purchase,’ also referring to the ‘rush to purchase’ phenomenon. So whether they want it or not, dà mās seem to be world famous Chinese celebrities. But after all, what can they and all us women do? Life is hard, especially for a woman. So, as one dà mā of the pop stage sings, ’Cause everybody’s living in a material world and I am a material girl, you know that we are living in a material world and I am a material girl’. 

Tags:Language & Culture