Hula & Entanglement of Gender and Economy

 From Sociological Images


Hula is a prime example of the power of advertising in a consumer culture.

The way most mainlanders perceive hula-- sexy ladies in grass skirts swaying their hips-- was essentially invented for the purpose of advertising. By the late 1800s, Hawaii had been colonized by the US, and their economy became largely dependent on tourism. US mainlanders who witnessed hula-- then still widely a male-dominated religious dance-- thought it would be way sexier to watch women do it. They'd even pay to see it.

So "hula girls" became poster children to draw in the (wealthy, white, mostly male) mainland tourists. The association of hula dancing with femininity was so strongly imposed that even today, it's considered odd to imagine men dancing the hula. What started as an advertising stunt wound up impacting gender roles for people in Hawaii.

I came across this article posted earlier this year on Soc Images that talks more about the racist and sexist motivations behind using women of color "to embellish a place or experience" for the pleasure of (again, mostly white male) tourists.

There is also a wonderful documentary about men who are working to reclaim hula's place in Hawaiian masculine identity called Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula.