Focus

Male MCs popular with brides, grooms

By Qin Zhongwei and Yang Wanli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-04 08:00

Zhang Guilan/ For China Daily

Wang Ziwen is among the thousands of male weddign MCs in Beijing, who are generally favored by their clients.

As well-heeled brides and grooms are willing to pay nifty sums for memorable weddings, masters of ceremonies for hire are as popular as ever.

But it is a Chinese characteristic that male MCs are far more popular than their female peers, as measured by the number of the employed or their fees, according to insiders.

"The phenomenon has been quite prevalent, especially in Beijing," Shi Kangning, director-general of the committee of China Wedding Service Industries, told METRO.

"Traditional wedding ceremonies in the past were more like a happy gala, where MCs are expected to be humorous, sharp, sometimes making fun at the new couple and even making some adult jokes to warm up the atmosphere. People used to think men are good at doing these," Shi said.

"It is actually a stereotype that passed down generation after generation. Unfortunately, men still dominate the market."

In Beijing alone, according to Shi, there are about 100 professional MCs, and far more MCs working part-time. Among them, only 5 percent of them are female.

In the eyes of Wang Jia, the percentage is similar. Purple House, a well-known wedding planning agency in Beijing where he works as a sales manager, has collaborated with many MCs.

Wang told METRO that when brides and grooms come to discuss details of their weddings, female MCs are usually their "last choice".

With hundreds of family members, friends, and colleagues invited to the ceremonies, male MCs are seen as being better able to keep control of the atmosphere, Wang said.

Top male hosts are booked as long as a year in advance, he said.

The "gender prejudice" is also reflected in the income gap between male and female hosts.

Wang told METRO that a professional male MC could usually earn 800 to 5,000 yuan for a wedding ceremony. In comparison, the female MC could earn 2,000 at most.

"The male MCs definitely outnumber their female counterparts as far as I can see, and they earn a lot more, too," Shi said.

Yang Chenxi, a former television host who now works as a professional MC, said she faced any setbacks simply because she is a woman.

"Some of my clients told me that they are afraid beforehand that the female MC will 'steal the thunder' of the bride," Yang told METRO.

"Concerns like these are really unnecessary, as we certainly know that the bride is the only glamorous woman who should be under the spotlight on the wedding day." After working as a professional MC for more than eight years, she can finally shrug off her past struggles.

Over the three-day May Day holiday, she had a packed schedule, hosting three wedding ceremonies. A groom in Tianjin even called her to host his wedding there, but she declined as she did not want to be too tired.

As more couples dump the old style of noisy and informal wedding ceremonies, romantic and elegant ceremony events with MCs are all the rage.

Yang said she believes women are actually better at doing this job.

"From a female perspective, who knows better than men what 'romance' means, and therefore can better understand what brides want?" she said.

"It is just that the market has not figured that out."