Chinese Feminism

I realized that I’ve only been posting about what I’m reading or what I’m spending lately. I have other thoughts but a limited amount of time in which to get them out into the blogosphere. Today, it’s time to post about something other than books and money. Yesterday on NPR I heard about Li Tingting. She’s a Chinese feminist activist who is currently being detained. What follows is a summary of what I heard on NPR and read in this article.

Raised by a proud and brutal chauvanist father, Li became involved with activism in college and went on to create a gender-equality advocacy network. While they went the traditional route of legislation and calling out discrimination, Li’s group became best known for their ‘performance art,’ so termed to avoid the politically dangerous work “protest.” To protest the groping epidemic and slut shaming response of authorities, volunteers boarded the train wearing a metal bra and a sign that said “I can be slutty but you can’t be dirty.”

Since half of all Chinese men admit to violence against their partners, it isn’t surprising the country has almost no domestic violence laws. Li and a few other protetors tried to raise awareness by walking down a busy thoroughfare clad in red paint splatter wedding dresses. In a country where “family ugliness must not be aired” is an actual saying, this got the attention of police officers who followed them until they left.

Her next protest about a lack of sufficient toilets in public women’s restrooms got the attention of China’s “stability maintenance.” It’s a polite term for squad who must quash any political unrest. They took Li to an umarked car, treated her to an expensive meal, and told her to basically stop being an activist. When she didn’t listen, the good cop routine ended. Since her family had nothing to threaten, they tried bribery including a work-study position at her university normally reserved to low-income students. Her response, “How about I give you 120 yuan and you give me my freedom!”

Li is also a lesbian, out ot everyone but her parents. LGBT causes are seen as more inflammatory than LGBT causes since it shakes the foundation of ‘traditional families.’ Although a large number of gay men marry unsuspecting straight women leading to disaterious marriages so the crack down on traditional families seems to be backfiring. Sham marriages between a lesbian and a gay man also gained rapid popularity but still see similar domestic abuse to hetero sexual marriages. Because China is a patriarchy, gay men get more respect and facetime with government officials. Li and others want to see women’s voices heard to ensure lesbians get the respect they’re currently denied.

Despite “stability maintenance” trying to shut her down, Li’s protests seem to be working. After occupying men’s rooms, several city governments started looking into adding more toilets to women’s restrooms. A woman killed her husband during a beating and was senteneced to die. Li and several others protested (on a day with limited police presence #stratergery) and the execution was quietly canceled. The case was eventually overturned completely which is a BFD.

Currently Li and four other women are in jail for “picking quarrels and creating a disturbance,” or ticking off ‘stability maintenance.’ Many countries in the world are 50 years behind where America is but in the age of the internet, it’s more difficult to silence a movement. I look forward to seeing what other changes Li can make happen.