`Sexy' part-timers courted at gyms

By Lee Kyung-min

Kim, 25, a student from a women’s university in Seoul, recently signed up for a part-time job at a gym in Mapo, central Seoul.

According to the contract, she will receive an hourly payment of 10,000 won ($9.7) if she only shows up at the gym and works out hard for two hours a day.

Her work there is part of the gym’s strategy to attract new, or retain current male customers by having young, attractive women nearby.

In the gym’s online advertisement, it was specifically looking for “young and slender” — women who were born between 1986 and 1997, are 165 centimeters in height or taller, and 50 kilograms in weight or lighter were eligible to apply.

Kim, 167 centimeters in height with an athletic build, called the gym, had an interview and got the job for two months.

“Considering the state-set minimum wage of less than 6,000 won, I thought, ‘Why not?’ Making money while working out? It’s a win-win,” Kim said.

Many other gyms also seek such attractive young women in their 20s on a number of online websites for part-time jobs.

Young women, especially university students, take such jobs as quick and easy sources of income during summer vacations. Amateur fashion models often take these positions as well.

While some men say that the measure is tacky, others say it is quite smart in terms of its effectiveness.

“I can understand if the gym owners are criticized for their blatant PR. But isn’t it part of their strategy to stay afloat in this harsh economic situation?” said a man, 27, who refused to be named.

“Besides, not only men but also women can be encouraged to work out harder. Don’t you think?” he added.

However, some claim that such PR methods may aggravate the commercialization of human body.

“This ultimately degrades women as they are recognized as commercial goods, something that doesn’t have human dignity,” Ewha Womans University gender studies professor Chang Pil-hwa said.

“The more the society condones such practices, the more likely it is for women to be treated without respect,” she said.