Chinese dama

Historically, the Chinese phrase "dama" (simplified Chinese: 中国大妈; traditional Chinese: 中國大媽), or "zhongguo dama", had a favorable connotation.[2][3] Prior to its receiving international attention in 2013, "dama" had two common meanings according to the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary.[2][4] The first meaning was an aunt, a woman married to the older brother of a person's father.[4] The second meaning was to deferentially refer to a married woman between 40 and 60 years old.[4][5] The commonly held historical belief was that damas were honorable and modest housewives who devoted their time to cooking, homemaking, keeping track of household expenditures, and bartering with shop owners.[4][6] Xing Wen wrote in China Today, "To Chinese people, dama is an affectionate term, as they are always considered the most hospitable and trustworthy of people."[7] Women were called dama as a term of endearment and to reflect that they as older people were not familiar with the latest trends.[8] Traditional Chinese customs profoundly shaped the damas' outlook and behavior.[4] A third meaning of "dama" was a man's first wife in the historic era when men could have concubines.[9]

In the middle of April 2013, China's bull market, which had been going on for a while, seemed on the verge of ending.[1] The global gold price dropped from US$1,550 to US$1,321 per ounce.[7] The falling gold prices largely were caused by the belief that the Federal Reserve would taper off on quantitative easing in 2013 owing to the American economy's improvements after the financial crisis of 2007–2008.[10] In reaction to the dropping of gold's price on 6 April, many Chinese people but middle-aged Chinese women in particular hurriedly bought large amounts of the metal.[1][11] Rushing into stores in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, the women caused the gold price have the highest one-day growth that year, shooting up to US$1,462 per ounce on 26 April 2013.[7] The excitement to purchase gold affected countries outside of China including India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but analysts found that Chinese investors were the primary cause of the gold prices spiking up.[7][12]

Currency Wars author Song Hongbing in 2013 originated and popularized the new meaning of the word "damas" as referring to the gold-purchasing women in China.[1][13][14][15] In an interview published on 1 May 2013 by China National Radio, Song said, "It's not just China's damas who are fighting [to purchase gold]. I estimate that the entire world's damas are fighting. The price of gold was not as predicted by Goldman Sachs at the time. It will fall to 1,100, and physical buying around the world may play a major supporting role."[14] Song jested that with regard to the global gold market, the damas were vying with experienced Wall Street investors.[1] Within a short period of time, Chinese media and blogs participated in overpraising the middle-aged women.[1] Using poorly cited material, they asserted that investment giants like Goldman Sachs had been defeated by the damas.[1] On 12 August 2013, The Wall Street Journal released a video reporting on the damas' actions. The American newspaper's video was among the first times that a significant English-language publication had referenced "dama".[11] It was the first time that "dama" was used as an English word to refer to women who purchased gold.[2] The Wall Street Journal defined damas as "bargain-hunting middle-aged Chinese women" who "keep a tight grip on the family purse and an eagle eye on gold prices".[16] Chinese netizens avidly discussed the newspaper's remark about damas on social media.[17] The news media outside of China published headlines like "Chinese dama won the Wall Street predators" and "Chinese dama dancing in front of Louvre".[6] The media previously had paid little attention to damas until their gold purchases.[17]

Damas spent hundreds of billions of yuan to purchase gold in 2013.[12] Their massive buying of gold generated a bubble, leading to a steep drop in gold prices and a concomitant shattering of the damas' reputation. The news media turned on the damas. Having recently lauded the damas for being an exemplar of China's rise, the media began mocking the damas for being sheeple who lacked economics knowledge. Throughout China, the damas were mocked as being aged women who were entertaining themselves in a fun activity they had no proficiency in. Numerous people in China thought the damas' boorish scramble to purchase gold had shamed their country. Their behavior showcased how China was prone to go on illogical buying sprees as a country newly rich in the worldwide arena. In a 2014 paper, the Chinese author Jiang Fangzhou summed up the situation, "Patriots held up Chinese damas as national heroes capable of conquering the financial giants of the West, but the image these women projected on the international stage was not altogether an impressive one."[1] In the Journal of Hengyang Normal University, two Chinese scholars wrote in 2015 that Westerners consumed negative coverage of damas as being greedy, ignorant, and unworldly.[11]

The damas' gold purchases led to China purchasing 41.4% more gold compared to the previous year. This caused China to pass India in becoming the biggest purchaser of gold in 2013.[18] In subsequent years, the price of gold stayed down which forced the damas to have their money stuck in a poorly performing investment.[19] The word "dama" was included in the economic section of the "Spring-Summer China Mainstream Newspaper Buzzwords" list that the Beijing Language and Culture University's National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center released in 2013.[8] In collaboration with the media, the center published a "Top 10 Cyber Words of 2013" list that included "dama".[8] Zhang Weiwei, a professor at Fudan University, said "dama" was "a little bit analogous to" Susan Boyle.[20]

The damas were motivated to fervently invest large sums of money into gold owing to social and economic factors. In China, a predominant belief is that gold is a prized entity that will always retain its value. Chinese people, both historically and contemporarily, have viewed gold as being a fitting gift for their descendants. Although expert investors generally do not consider gold coins, gold bars, and gold jewelry to be solid investments, Chinese society finds them to be must-haves. When Chinese people get married, customs dictate that gold is essential for the dowry and bride price. When the damas observed the gold price decline, they viewed the situation as a perfect time to secure the discounted goods which they saw as impeccable presents for their daughters and daughters-in-law.[7]

Women in a large number of Chinese households, particularly those in the middle-class, make decisions about how money is spent.[7][21] Their husbands hand over their wages to the women who return a small amount for "cigarette money".[21] The damas' ability to purchase a large amount of gold was a consequence of Chinese households' sharp increase in disposable income. Between 2000 and 2013, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew from CN¥10 trillion (US$1.2 trillion) to CN¥57 trillion (US$9.1 trillion), while the urban per capita income exploded from CN¥6,000 (US$700) to CN¥27,000 (US$4,400). As women become older and are closer to or are at retirement, they get more careful about how money is spent. Economic factors spurred the damas to spurn other investment options and instead embrace gold. The damas found that bank accounts had interest rates lower than the cost increases for everyday good and services. Noticing that the real estate market had increased rules, the damas viewed the sector as having a lower risk–return tradeoff. The stock market's feeble performance led numerous retail investors to have less money. After observing the current economic conditions, the damas began buying gold with their discretionary income, viewing the metal as a conservative investment that would better ensure their financial peace of mind.[7]

Damas came from the first generation of Chinese women who "enjoyed equal rights as men", according to China Today. Through employment, the women took on the joint duty of financially providing for their households. Through work, the women broadened their social network which increased their opportunities to hear about anything new. As their nation underwent transformations, the women kept up and were courageous enough to try activities they had not previously done.[7]

Years after the gold purchases, the "dama" moniker persists despite the dimming from society's consciousness of the damas' 2013 scramble to buy gold. South China Normal University professor Teng Wei said that the term's durability is likely owing to its providing a convenient nickname to refer to middle-aged Chinese women who contravene societal expectations of being maternal and refined. The women are blamed for numerous social issues. They are repeatedly depicted as completely tactless, self-centered, and fond of spreading rumors. Any defiant older woman is likely to be branded as a dama.[1]

"Dama" has morphed into a term with a more expansive meaning. The media wrote articles with the headlines "After gold fever cools down, Chinese Dama catch the emerald fever", "Chinese Dama rush to buy houses overseas", and "noisy square dance of Chinese Dama invite US police officers" to reflect the damas' interest in other investments.[8] The term's wide use led to a surge in purchases of the Lao Gan Ma sauce since the brand's name means "dama".[8] "Dama" has "mixed connotations". According to Renmin University of China scholar Qin Li, news organizations frequently feature unfavorable coverage about damas which are more broadly disseminated than affirmative stories.[8] Li cited two extensively reported examples of how the media "distort[s] the Dama image". The first story took place in a Beijing street in 2013 when a dama was widely and unfairly criticized for allegedly trying to extort a youthful man who was from another country for making her fall.[8][22] It turned out that the man had engaged in wrong-way driving and red light running and had exploded in an anger at the dama he had struck who had been obeying traffic laws in crossing the street.[22][23] The second story took place in a Wuhan subway in 2015 when a dama struck a young woman. Li speculated that individuals refer to the dama with a disdainful and mocking tone since they despise the wealthy and want to protest against wealth inequality.[8] The term has grown into having unfavorable overtones.[2][3] The media has used "dama" to disparagingly refer to older women who on overseas trips acted disorderly and improperly as well to women who blare music when square dancing and brawling with others over their use of public spaces.[2] Damas are viewed as provocateurs by some people owing to the negative media coverage.[2] Writing in The New York Times, editor Wang Junling said that it was incorrect to stereotype and there is not even a "clear definition" of what a dama is. Wang wrote, "The various deeds of the aforementioned damas have no logical connection. As long as middle-aged and elderly women in China do something different, they can be labeled as such."[23] Netizens attacked the writer Fang Fang as unpatriotic and called her "Fang Dama" (Chinese: 方大妈) in response to her writing of the Wuhan Diary about the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. By invoking the word "dama", the online commenters aimed to discredit Fang's diary, portraying her as being like the "annoying, unfashionable and uncultured middle-aged women".[24]

Julie Kleeman, an Oxford University Press project manager for Bilingual Dictionaries, said in 2013 that the term "dama" could be added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[7][25] Kleeman said the British public were following China as demonstrated by the use of the terms "dama" and "tuhao" but that the OED had to monitor their usage longer before making a decision on inclusion in the OED.[26] By 2015, "dama" had still not been added to the OED.[27]

"Dama" is an English loanword of Chinese origin.[6] It is the pinyin representation of a Chinese phrase that refers to middle-aged women.[11][28] The term is a concatenation of the word "big" (Chinese: 大) and the word "mom" (simplified Chinese: 妈; traditional Chinese: 媽).[7] Although the literal meaning of "dama" is "big mother", "big mom", or "big mama", a more accurate meaning is "auntie" though it has no precise English counterpart.[7][29][30][31] The English-language press adopted the term for that reason and as it can be pronounced without difficulty.[21] The male analogous to "dama" is "dashu", meaning uncle.[21] The Cantonese version of "dama" is "dai ma".[31]

In the Journal of Leshan Teachers College, the scholar Wang Shuang said it is a Chinglish phrase that demonstrates the increasing influence of China and argued that it is fine for Chinese learners of English to learn English with Chinese attributes instead of aimlessly trying to learn the "authentic" Standard English spoken by those on the BBC and Voice of America.[28] In the Journal of Hengyang Normal University, two Chinese scholars said that as a country achieves greater influence in the global economy, it also has a large influence on language as demonstrated by Westerners' adoption of the term "dama" to refer to the middle-aged Chinese women whose purchases had a strong impact on the gold market.[11] The academic Jiang Jing lamented in Overseas English that the adoption of the "dama" loan word was negative.[6] It led to damas' forming a reputation both at home and worldwide for being impulsive and irrational, subjecting them to a lot of mockery, she said.[6]

While damas have received significant attention for their gold investments, they have invested in disparate sectors. Damas thronged the 2014 Beijing Spring Real Estate Trade Fair. In China, numerous older people in the middle class like to sightsee. When they visit provinces like Hainan and Yunnan, they are captivated by the southern areas' mild climate. The cost of housing in these regions is substantially more affordable compared to the high prices in the metropolises of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. By purchasing housing in the southern provinces, the damas could fulfill two goals: purchase a vacation home and secure a conservative way to invest their money. Damas were interested in international housing including in the United States and Jeju Island in South Korea.[7] Their interest in owning property in Jeju Island was rooted in how ownership would help them secure permanent residency in South Korea.[32] Damas invested in the Chinese stock market which at the time had been performing remarkably well before becoming turbulent in 2015.[33]

Damas began acquiring antiques and exploring bitcoin and peer-to-peer lending.[7] In reference to their bitcoin investing, they are known as "bì mā" (simplified Chinese: 币妈; traditional Chinese: 幣媽), an abbreviation of "biquan dama" which is defined as "coin-circle aunties".[33] Damas comprised 40% of the investors who in 2013 spent more than CN¥10 million (US$1.7 million) on Huobi, the biggest platform for trading bitcoin at the time.[18][29]

Older square dancers at Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing, 2014

China's square dancing grannies frequently take over public spaces to do spontaneous dancing.[1] Square dancing refers not to a particular dance form but to doing the activity in a public square.[2] There are roughly 100 million individuals, largely women who participate in the dancing.[30] Not all damas square dance, and not all females who square dance are damas. Square dancing is frequently called "dàmā wǔ" (simplified Chinese: 大妈舞; traditional Chinese: 大媽舞), which literally means "dama dance" owing to the deep connection between damas and square dancing.[30][34]

The damas' activities generated a lot of noise, leading to conflicts with people living close by, which the media enjoyed writing about. In a 2018 dispute, a man was said to have died following a heart attack that stemmed from a dancing granny's vehement altercation with him. In another dispute, a man set his three Tibetan Mastiffs on the damas after he discharged his shotgun towards the sky. Describing the dama dancers as having more clout than the local government, the social commentator Zhang Tianpan said the women were like warriors, "They are invincible, and people flee before them." According to Teng Wei, the scholar, the media was exaggerating the dancer conflicts, which builds on the dama lore. She bemoaned that older women who were merely seeking friendship and physical activity were being baselessly cast as "a malignant social force that everyone — even officials — must tiptoe around".[1] An opinion piece in China Daily noted that someone had purportedly taken a picture of damas doing a square dance outside the Louvre and if the image was authentic, the damas "have indeed given the group dance form with Chinese characteristics a bad name".[35] During the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference in 2014, damas danced for free to the Phoenix Legend song "The Hottest Ethnic Trend" at a company's booth at the company's invitation. Holding a banner with the words "Enjoy the game, but remember to keep everything in moderation", the damas delivered a message to both video game fanatics and overenthusiastic square dancers about moderation.[36] The damas sparked controversy after three images were shared online of them dancing on a Sichuan expressway as their bus had been halted because of a collision. A member of the traffic police that patrols the expressway said, "No matter how long the traffic jam lasts, dancing on the expressway is illegal. It's too dangerous."[37]

In the largest protest against damas in Hong Kong, 1,800 protesters demonstrated at Tuen Mun Park and on the nearby streets on 6 July 2019. The protesters alleged that the damas had blared music from loudspeakers to accompany their dancing, were scantily clad, had sex with people who went to the parks, and received tips in the form of red envelopes from old men.[38] A protest coordinator, the Tuen Mun Park Sanitation Concern Group, said that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) was not doing enough to prevent the damas' noise pollution and panhandling.[31] According to the LCSD, in the preceding half-year, residents had filed 342 grievances regarding the Tuen Mun Park dancing in which 80 percent were related to noise.[38]

Damas previously spent a large amount of time watching television. One common saying was "The remote control of Chinese Dama can influence the decision-making of TV stations".[39] The women moved to spending a substantial amount of time on social media as advances in technology led to an increase in the number of easy-to-understand mobile apps.[40] They enjoy using WeChat to exchange data with their family, and WeChat with its free video chat feature allows them not to have to send text messages or make phone calls.[41] On WeChat, they post images of their dogs and ask their acquaintances to watch over the dogs when they are not near their houses.[42] Damas who take care of children discuss children's birthday presents and schooling in the WeChat groups.[42] Using WeChat, they advertise, buy, and sell items such as baked rolls through Internet stores.[43] They prefer using WeChat, particularly the Moments feature, which has access controls and is more private than Sina Weibo and microblogs.[44] To see information posted by the damas on WeChat Moments, people need to have been explicitly granted access.[44] As people new to the digital world, damas are at risk of being scammed by online organizations selling inferior goods.[45] The academic Qin Li said, "The use of social media by Chinese Dama can be observed as a benchmark of social change more generally. ... Social media will play an irreplaceable role in shaping a positive image for the Dama and fostering the sound development of society in the future."[45]

Damas are subjected to contempt even when not being mocked for stubbornness and boorishness. When older women swung silk scarves back and forth and shared the images online, primarily men vloggers mocked them as being "silk scarf grannies".[1] Damas received positive coverage in China Today which noted that in numerous areas, they offer to sanitize public spaces and do other altruistic work such as make social calls on senior citizens.[7] During the opening ceremony of the Reproductive Health Industrial Expo held in Xi'an in 2014, damas demonstrated at the event. Lobbing eggs at models and entertainers at the event, the damas spoke passionately against eroticism as detrimental to society and in favor of the chastity as a traditional Chinese value.[46]

Damas frequently take photos with each other and make wide use of selfie sticks. Instead of being examples of conceitedness, the photos represent their companionship.[30] According to the scholar Qin Li, the women's activities have many parallels to what happens in a WeChat group. The women are deeply into card playing and talking about the different items they have purchased.[47] When tourists go on shopping visits in China, damas make up a huge contingent of the group.[48]