Lunatic Endeavor

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When the 1911 Revo- lution overthrew the Qing dynasty， the excruciating tradition of foot binding that had endured for Chinese women for perhaps more than a thousand years was finally abolished， though it took several decades for the practice to be fully wiped out.

This change in fashion， similar to the throwing off of the corset in Europe and America， soon led to an unprecedented avalanche of advances in the field of women’s rights. Women were given the right to receive a formal education and to engage in politics， though female politicians remained a rarity until the mid-20th century. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949， a new wave of reforms inspired by the Soviet model saw women enter the workplace in record numbers， obtain the right to divorce their husbands， and gain access to birth control. A 2011 Newsweek survey placed China 23rd in a global list of the “best places to be a woman，” ahead of more economically developed Asian nations like Singapore， South Korea and Japan.

However， a thousand years of rigidly misogynistic values and traditional practice in political， economic and social arenas survived the Chinese civil war to continue to affect the subconscious of both modern Chinese women and men. Discrimination in China is often unconscious， driven by deeply-rooted prejudices which can go back millennia， and thus often goes as unnoticed by its victims as by its perpetrators. In a commercialized society with opaque power structures， discrimination is often a part of life， and one kind often looks very much like another. Indeed， it is often difficult for a Chinese individual to determine whether they are even a victim of discrimination based on anything other than the top-down nature of the system.

On the surface， relations between men and women in China appear to be and are widely described as fair and equal. Dig a little deeper， however， and a patriarchal hierarchy remains in politics， the workplace， the home， the schoolroom and even in the law.

The liberation of a group of people， many of whom are unaware of their second-class social status， takes time and a lot of education. While nominal “women’s rights”could be bestowed by the authorities， attaining true gender equality requires far broader and deeper societal change starting with every Chinese individual， whether male or female. China’s early feminists were inspired to seek educational enlightenment much in the same way as their European and American peers， influencing society by advising policymakers or conducting research. In recent years， however， a new generation of post-Reform and Opening-up feminists and gender equality activists has decided to take to the streets and to the Internet to make their point. For them， change begins with establishing the state of current gender politics in China.

People who march in the vanguard are likely to attract attention， and， particularly in conservative China， become the primary targets of criticism. To many outsiders， the actions and theories of many self-described feminists are incomprehensible and even dangerous. Many label feminist activists “lunatics.” But even debate over the motivations and beliefs of these extraordinary activists can engender a more constructive discussion exactly how equal are the sexes in today’s China， and is feminism a solution to the problem of establishing gender equality？

Young Feminists

Xiong Jing’s shaven head is usually the first thing about her that attracts attention. Born in 1988， she speaks gently and politely， with a tendency to giggle. Few would recognize her as the figure who appeared in an iconic photograph from an online demonstration against domestic violence， in which she appeared stripped to the waist and daubed with scarlet hand-prints， her features contorted in a silent scream.

Xiong organized both physical and online demonstrations in 2012 to draw attention to China’s estimated millions of victims of domestic abuse. She collected photos and signatures from supporters across the nation to launch an online awareness campaign which lasted for six months. In that time， Xiong gathered more than 5，000 images and signatures. Supporters hoped that the demonstration would change legislation on domestic violence.

Xiong was born an only child in Jingmen， Hubei province. At home， she felt her father was a little chauvinistic and liked to control others. Growing up under the slogan “sons and daughters are equal，”Xiong claims that she did not encounter any discrimination before college. She just felt that sometimes boys had more real freedom in life than girls did.

After studying feminism in college， Xiong realized discrimination against women in China was often hidden behind aspects of life which people took for granted， particularly in the home and in the world of work. “For example， people believe women are more suitable teachers. This is employment discrimination，” she told our reporter.“People also believe that it is normal for women to cook at home， but that only men can become excellent chefs.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree， Xiong enrolled in the Chinese University of Hong Kong， selecting feminism as her area of research. She said that she regularly asked herself， “What can I do for gender equality in China？” After graduation， she went back to the mainland and joined the Media Monitor for Women Network（MMWN）， a feminist NGO.

MMWN was established in 1996 to advocate gender equality in media institutions and champion women’s right of access to mass communication. The organization founded the website GenderWatch. cn and a feminist weekly magazine called Women’s Voice. More recently， MMWN has become highly active on social media.

There are four full-time employees at MMWN， all of whom are college-educated women and three of whom were born in the late 1980s. One has a male partner， one has a female partner， and the other two are open about their lack of interest in either marriage or childbirth.

They are， in fact， representative of a new generation of Chinese feminists： young， unmarried， and mostly well educated， these women talk openly about sex， are candid in their support for LGBT rights， and are passionate advocates of queer theory. They claim that there is no “absolute” man or woman but only a specific， living individual， with gender and sexuality constituting a broad spectrum. The reasons behind their feminist activism are rarely a response to discrimination， but rather a reaction to modern feminist theory.

On February 14， 2012 （Valentine’s Day for most people but known as V-Day for many feminists）， Xiong took part in an outdoor event organized by MMWN for the first time. In Beijing’s busiest tourist shopping street， Qianmen Street just south of Tian’anmen Square， she and two other females dressed in white wedding gowns dyed with red ink， as if stained by blood. They held white plates upon which were written slogans like “Love is no excuse for violence.” Their sudden appearance shocked passersby. Some people avoided walking near them， and many more expressed the kind of apprehension familiar to anyone who has attempted any form of public protest in China. However， many cell phone photos were also snapped and were circulating in the Chinese blogosphere before police arrived to move the three women on.

Confident that her message had already gotten out， Xiong felt she had started the debate she had always wanted to have.

Marginal

Following Xiong’s Beijing protest， another was taking place in the southern city of Guangzhou about a very different social issue.

A group of twenty-something women gathered outside a public toilet near the city’s Yuexiu Park and held up a banner that read， “If you love her， do not let her wait” and “More convenience for women， more equality of the sexes.” The demonstrators stood at the entrance of the men’s toilet and asked every man that went in whether they could use the men’s toilet for three minutes. The line for the women’s toilet was too long.

“On the outside， men and women have equal access to toilets， but due to physical differences between them， this superficial fairness is in fact unfair，” said student activist Zheng Churan， one of the event’s planners. In her sophomore year， Zheng began to hear about feminism and gender equality， and her curiosity led her to launch her own campaign.

Zheng also has mixed feelings about the social status of Chinese women. On the one hand， she says， women seem to have outperformed men in many arenas. Zheng argues that， in relationships， women often maintain the upper hand in terms of decision making， are rarely tied to home and hearth and have attained a degree of sexual liberation. However， she feels women seem to have retreated from other sectors， and utterly given up their rights to equality in others.

“Toilets are of course a minor problem. There are more important issues， such as employment， domestic violence and the right to selfdetermination，” she told our reporter.

In 2010， the All-China Women’s Federation and the National Bureau of Statistics issued a joint report that showed that nearly 62 percent of Chinese men and nearly 55 percent of Chinese women believe that “men belong in public life and women belong in the home.”This constituted a respective 7.7 percent and 4.4 percent increase on data obtained in 2000. At the same time， the authorities admit that China’s male-female income gap is also widening. In cities， the average woman earns 67.3 percent of the average male salary， a number which drops to 56 percent in rural areas. This marks a 10.2 percent and 23 percent fall respectively in average female salaries since 1990. Of “high-level female talents，” i.e. China’s highest-earning women， listed in 2010， 81 percent had a college degree （7 percent more than their male counterparts）， but 80.5 percent felt that high-level positions were “all occupied by men.”

Zheng’s demonstration attracted significant media attention. The Guangzhou municipal government responded with a pledge to put a bill before the city’s people’s congress. The government proposed increasing the number of women’s toilets by 1.5 times， purportedly in response to the protest.

However， when discussing the feminist movement in contemporary China， Professor Wang Zheng of the University of Michigan is not optimistic.

“The younger generation is very active and creative. They are good at challenging gender discrimination， and they take full advantage of the Internet to spread feminist ideas，” said Wang. “But compared with the previous generation of feminists， they are somewhat marginalized.”

When researching feminism in China in 2003， Wang interviewed ten comparatively well-known Chinese feminist activists. Aged 40 to 70， most of these women had access to resources in the Women’s Federation and scholastic circles within the political establishment. If they wanted to improve civil society， they could gain access to important people and institutions through their connections alone. Wang believes that the new generation of feminists in the market economy can no longer acquire these resources by themselves. Therefore， she argues， women in Chinese society are likely to revert to being marginalized and inconsequential when it comes to politics.

She says that a particularly conspicuous phenomenon is the slow abandonment of legislative and political channels by feminist activists. The new generation， she argues， instead “puts on shows” that are more akin to “performance art” in order to get their message across. Such staged protests， in Wang’s view， “have great visual impact but very limited influence on decision making.”

Five months after the Guangzhou municipal government promised to increase the number of women’s toilets， no action has been taken. Zheng Churan and her friends planned another event called “carrying a toilet to demonstrate.” Sixteen women each carried an oversized fake toilet and paraded in front of Guangzhou’s City Management Department.

However， that event failed to draw as much attention as its predecessor. After a tedious， day-long sit-in， Zheng and her friends left unnoticed.

Feminism 1.0

The obstacles faced by these “new” feminists for acknowledgement were very different to that experienced by their predecessors who fought gender discrimination during the early years of Reform and Opening-up. With little access to contemporary feminist theory， the feminists of the 1980s were heavily reliant on their own research and experiences， and struggled to place themselves within a narrative of global gender activism.

Shen Rui， now a professor at the US Naval Academy， remembers that in her childhood in the 1960s and the 1970s， gender equality was in the newspapers， on the radio， and in textbooks. She believed that it was natural for men and women to be treated as equals.

However， in her experience， such notional equality did not equate to equal pay for the same work or equal job opportunities. Women were encouraged to live and work like men， do heavy labor， and go on long marches， but received less rewards for doing so. Shen used to march 30 kilometers on foot during menstruation in order to prove that men and women were equal.

“At that time every girl had a strong， solid goal： to be as outstanding as a man，” said Shen.

Her first experience of obvious discrimination came at college. She began a sexual relationship with a male student， but broke up with him after discovering he was unfaithful to her. Both sets of parents responded by trying to talk her out of it， claiming that it was “normal”for boys to be unfaithful. “I was 23，” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. I had always been a good girl. I was scared to think that I was not a virgin anymore. But I forgave him.”

This experience shook her belief in the creed of gender equality， but， afraid for her prospects， she went ahead and married her unfaithful boyfriend. One year later， she gave birth and became a stay-at-home mom as was expected. One day， her husband gave one of her Mao Zedong badges to a foreign student. Shen was upset by this， and confronted her husband， which earned her a public beating. Shen still carries a scar on her temple from the incident.

In the spring of 1992， Shen met with British sinologist Harriet Evans， who came to China for research. Evans was a single， independent woman， but she had a son. Shen asked， “Why don’t you get married？”Evans answered， “Any man-woman relationship constitutes a power relationship， and any power relationship cannot be truly equal. I seek true equality， so I don’t marry.”

That conversation led Shen to question the role of women in Chinese society something she had barely considered， despite her own unhappiness.

In 1994， Shen went to the United States to study. In her first semester， she expressly chose courses related to feminism， including classes in the Theories and History of Feminism and Critical Reading of Feminist Literature.

When the head of the Women’s Studies Department asked Shen why she wanted to study feminism， she replied， “Because I am a good woman， a good wife， a good mother， a good daughter， and a good sister. I want to figure out why I have become all these things. I want to understand women.”

Most of the self-proclaimed feminists of Shen’s generation did not seek to rebel or to change the status quo merely to understand it. They had grown up in a society that extolled Mao’s slogan that “women hold up half the sky，” and yet felt like second class citizens. Shen wanted to change herself. She tried to find confidence in her daily activities and express her opinions in conversation. Meanwhile， she had fought against discrimination and has no tolerance for misogyny.

In 1998， she returned to China and had dinner with some acquaintances， among them a handful of famous poets. During the meal someone said， loudly， “Shen Rui is now a feminist！” Shen recalls that this killed all other conversation at the table. A man stood up and said，“Feminism， what feminism？ Women will never have rights because they are always on the bottom.”

In response， Shen quipped， “Always on the bottom？ You must have a boring sex life.”

While refusing to give up， Shen acknowledges that， as times have changed， it has become harder to feel relevant as a feminist in China.“Perhaps the most significant difference between feminists of my generation and those of the new generation is that we felt first and then looked for enlightenment. The younger generation has been enlightened before they have felt.”