Let Me Entertain You...At My Funeral

Here at Scott's Spot we have a fairly tolerant point of view. If you want to meow at us, we won't press charges. We are OK with people who want to eat eggplant, so long as it takes place in the privacy of their own kitchens. If people want to stretch their earlobes as big as basketballs, then more power to them.




But we've often wondered about stripteases at funerals. Should we be tolerant of that? Well, apparently not, if we want to follow the lead of Chinese authorities.

Reuters is reporting that striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells, state media reported on Wednesday.

Police swooped last week after two groups of strippers gave "obscene performances" at a farmer's funeral in Donghai County, Jiangsu province, Xinhua news agency said. The disrobing served a higher purpose, the report noted." Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai's rural areas to allure viewers," it said.

"Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honored." Wealthy families often employed two troupes of performers to attract a crowd. Two hundred showed up at last week's funeral. Five strippers were detained and local officials "issued notices concerning funeral management," Xinhua said. Now village officials must submit plans for funerals within 12 hours after a villager dies. And residents can report "funeral misdeeds" on a hotline, the report said.

The Scott's Spot Eastern Studies department is unaware of any similar restrictions in Taiwan, where the custom is also observed. Keep that in mind if you're after a traditional funeral.