Meet the Shanghai Guy Tais, House Husbands With Style

With more women coming to Shanghai on fat expat packages, the city is seeing a rise in trailing husbands, and they're banding together in style. Call them the 'Guy Tais'. Here's why.

Published

6 months ago

Categories

Lifestyle

Topics

Life & Family, Asia, Leisure & Recreation, Job Market

Places

China, Shanghai

Transcript

Meet Devin Silloway. He calls himself Shanghai's original 'Guy Tai'. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHANGHAI'S ORIGINAL 'GUY TAI', DEVIN SILLOWAY, SAYING: "That's a word that I invented 10 years ago because I hated being called a house husband (FLASH) so instead of a Tai Tai I said I'm a guy tai." So what are Tai Tais anyway? Shanghai expat magazine editor Ned Kelly did a cover story on them. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THAT'S SHANGHAI, NED KELLY, SAYING: "I would say they're just ladies at lunch, the classic western phrase so people who don't need to work, just spend their days getting manicures, pedcures, long lunches, lots of booze, gin and tonics from three in the afternoon, shopping sprees, you know, the good life." His high flying executive wife guarantees a good life for Devin. Driver, maid, big house. And in recent years he's finding he's no longer such a rarity. Shanghai Guy Tais now have their own website and a club with well over a hundred members. Eric Johnson is one of them. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHANGHAI 'GUY TAI', ERIC JOHNSON, SAYING: "A guy tai's signature events is visiting factories. So we've been to the ABB robotics factory, the General Motors factory, Baosteel (FLASH) we usually get 15 to 20 guys together and get a tour and then go to a micro brewery afterwards." Some Guy Tais mix with the Tai Tais as well. John Downham. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHANGHAI 'GUY TAI', JOHN DOWNHAM, SAYING: "For the most part, they're happy to be, well I'm happy to be part of the women groups and do most the things that they do, other than shopping." So what's fueling the trend of pampered men in Shanghai? Management professor Lorna Doucet: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT, CEIBS, LORNA DOUCET, SAYING: "There's some reports that men have lost two and a half more times jobs in the US recession than women have. So we would expect that women executives when they're offered to relocate to China for a career that they're going to be more likely to take advantage of that opportunity." Becoming a trailing spouse when you think you're supposed to be the breadwinner isn't always easy. But some, like Devin, are proud. They stand ready to help others slip into their new Guy Tai shoes, and find new adventures in China, not always available to the working man.