https://restofworld.org/2023/china-online-feminist-movement/
"Lying in bed one night in 2021, Zhang Zirui was swiping through Weibo when she
came across a post that gave her pause. The post, by feminist influencer Lin
Maomao, argued that women don’t owe their family any obedience. In others, she
called on women to be selfish, mean, and not care about their partner, their
parents, or anyone but themselves.
The message hit home. At the time, Zhang felt trapped — in her family, her
relationship, and her hometown in Ningxia, an underdeveloped and conservative
inland province. Her parents looked down on her. They had forbidden her to
study physics, her dream university major, because “it is not for girls.”
Instead, she was studying to become a preschool teacher. Her boyfriend, with
whom she had once wanted to start a family, mistreated her and made her believe
it was all her fault.
After reading Lin’s post, Zhang put down her phone and took a deep breath. It
was like she had finally seen a glimmer of light from an outside world. From
then on, “I was reading her posts every day to reinvigorate myself,” she told
Rest of World. “For the first time, I knew women could live differently.”
Through further online exploration, Zhang learned about concepts like misogyny,
gaslighting, and toxic beauty standards, and realized she had to turn her life
around. Step by step, she changed her university major to physics, moved to a
big city in a coastal province, and left her abusive boyfriend. This summer,
marking a break with her earlier self, she shaved her head. For the first time,
she felt free."
Via
Future Crunch, who wrote “Reporting from China—at least the sort that
appears in Western publications—tends to ignore residents in favour of its
elites or invisible-hand macro forces. Xi’s latest missteps. Li Shangfu. The
property market. Chips. Taiwan. Here’s a much-needed alternative to that
approach: Wanqing Zhang’s feature about feminism’s deepening foothold in the
country. If you want to understand what’s going on somewhere, you talk to the
people who live there; it’s as simple as that.”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
