A shop owner in China who rose to online fame by wearing revealing outfits at work has been forced to close her business because she was attracting large crowds of mostly men.
Red Star News reported that videos of the woman, who runs a small supermarket in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province, were widely shared on mainland Chinese social media earlier this month.
Footage taken by customers showed the woman wearing colorful, figure-hugging dresses.
In one clip, she bends forward over the counter and reveals a large cleavage in front of a male customer.
“When you wear clothes like that, what man could hold back from doing something?” said one man in a viral video.
The woman, whose identity was not known, was reported to the local municipality and the police because her clothing was considered provocative and inappropriate for her profession.
A complainant, allegedly a competitor, told authorities that the woman wore low-cut, tight dresses to attract more customers.
A community representative said that nothing could be done because the woman had the freedom to wear what she wanted.
Police visited the supermarket but left when they realized she wasn’t doing anything illegal. They did, however, suggest that she might need to pay attention to her clothing.
The woman complied with the request and put on outfits that she considered less sexy.
However, she found that she had even more customers than before.
Again, the visitors were mostly male and hung around, hoping to talk to her and add her to their WeChat contact lists.
Some wanted to take videos of her, but she refused, saying it would be an invasion of her privacy.
On August 17, the woman said on social media that her online fame had been a negative experience.
“Many people came to harass me. One man even hit me so hard that my hand bled,” she said.
According to the report, the man pushed the shop owner instead of hitting her during an argument and the conflict was resolved through mediation.
The woman closed the store on August 20 and hung a note on the door announcing the sale, less than three months after she opened it.
The saga has caused a stir online, with netizens on the mainland expressing differing opinions.
“I don’t see any problems with their clothing. If it’s wrong to show too much skin in public, why don’t the police close swimming pools for pornography because of the skimpy costumes?” asked one netizen on Baidu.
“It is not appropriate for her to dress provocatively while working in a public place. She disregards public order and morality,” another person said.
