He moved from Massachusetts, where he studied gender theory at Brandeis University as an undergraduate. The 23-year-old was pursuing a Master’s degree in Sociology at Columbia University. Looking at the Caucasian faces surrounding us, he said, “If I hadn’t known about the Chinese feminist groups here, I might have felt powerless coming to an event like this one all alone. His parents had given him the overtly masculine name Pengfei, which means “flight of the roc,” but he now went by the more gender neutral Wushuang (“unparalleled”), a name he had given himself. Wushuang at Women’s March in New York City, January 19, 2019.Īt the march, I met a young Chinese man, a self-proclaimed feminist. They held aloft bilingual protest signs that read “#MeToo in China,” supplemented by various translations of #MeToo in Mandarin and local Chinese dialects, and emojis and phrases used to circumvent censorship, most notably #米兔 ( mitu), a close homophone of “me too” in Mandarin that means “rice bunny.” In January, at this year’s comparatively modest Women’s March in New York City, a squad of Chinese students trudged, chanting against the whipping winter winds. Thanks in large part to the Internet, they are helping to rekindle and fuel the efforts of their friends back home, keeping alight ideas and campaigns that China’s government has sought to extinguish. Today, though their numbers are relatively small, they have succeeded in cultivating a vibrant expatriate community of sympathizers and activists who are committed to raising awareness of assaults on Chinese women’s rights and fighting against them. A small number of the movement’s influential thinkers and organizers have relocated overseas, in search of an environment more hospitable to their activism. Some find it more productive to wander abroad. “They kick us like balls from one city to another, from one district to another. Now, “whenever you plan to organize something, the police knock on your door in no time, or force you to move out of their jurisdiction,” says Xiao Meili, who has been an activist since 2011. At least eight key activists lost their full-time jobs with non-governmental organizations, and were forced to turn to work in other fields to support their increasingly risky volunteer advocacy work. Under the tight monitoring of police, activists were effectively no longer able to demonstrate or call for gender equality in public spaces. The Chinese government has since shuttered at least five non-governmental organizations advocating for women’s rights. In March 2015, activists known as the “ Feminist Five,” (Zheng was one) were arrested. Guangzhou-based activist Zheng Churan, who’s better known as Datu, or Giant Rabbit, calls 2012 “Year one of China’s feminist movement.”īut three short years later, perhaps unnerved by the organizing prowess and media savvy of its leaders, the Chinese government came down hard. They toured universities and communities across China to present their work and advocate for gender equality. Activists collaborated with gender and law scholars, as well as female officials, to push for policy changes that related to women. Feminist Voices, an independent feminist publication and a social media account, became the vanguard of gender equality punditry. Young feminists staged visually provocative protests on public streets in big cities, calling out infringements of women’s rights. outside a small circle of sympathizers and women’s studies scholars, in China their activities command large audiences among supporters of the cause who might be championing the same ideals if their political surroundings didn’t make it so dangerous.Ībout seven years ago, a vibrant, nimble campaign to fight gender discrimination and sexual violence was crackling to life in China. And while Liang and her fellow activists may be little known in the U.S. The Guangzhou native is one of the key leaders of a loose coalition of Chinese expatriates organizing what they describe as a “Chinese feminist movement” in the United States. Liang’s confidence stems in part from her belief in the importance of her mission. “If I’m in it,” Liang replied, “I promise that at least some people will see it.” The show’s host, Hasan Minhaj, asked if anyone in China watched his show. Liang, who now resides in the U.S., talked about her efforts to combat discrimination and sexual harassment in China and the threats from police her family received when she once tried to host a feminist salon. In February, an activist named Liang Xiaowen appeared on the widely-watched American comedy show Patriot Act to talk about China’s battered #MeToo movement.
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