How Powers That 'Fear the Strength of Women' Forced the Feminist Fight in China Underground

Jo Dee | Dec 20, 2018 11:30 am | Add a comment | 1945 reads

At first glance, this year could be viewed in many ways as unexceptional, yet the first thing that struck us from conducting these interviews for The Year From Every Angle is that by and large 2018 was a year of progress.

The positivity and hope displayed among these seemingly disparate endeavors, including art, activism, mental health, and even the leisure pursuits have arisen from communities quietly coalescing around a number of shared and strengthening goals and beliefs. Though some of those objectives fell afoul of the authorities, advancements over the last 12 months have laid a solid groundwork for what looks to be a fine year ahead.

Before we gaze forward, however, it’s time to read back on Beijing’s 2018 from (nearly) every angle.

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Name: Zoe Shen

Title: Managing Editor,Feminist Voices
2018 in 5 words: #MeToo, Decentralization, Enlargement, Oppression

The #MeToo movement brought feminist issues firmly into the spotlight in Beijing in 2018, as with elsewhere across the world. Zoe Shen, managing editor at the gender awareness NGO Feminist Voices, believes its path to China has also decentralized the movement from its Hollywood-centric roots and allowed the voice of the “common people” to be heard. Despite that, reflecting on this past year is hard for Shen because although the movement has achieved a lot, success has come at a high price. With added scrutiny from the authorities, pressure has also piled on, pushing Feminist Voices’ fight underground. “We lost about 250,000 followers when our Weibo and WeChat was banned,” says Shen, first describing the relief she felt after International Women’s Day on Mar 8 passed without a hitch, but then the despair of discovering that the group’s social media accounts had been removed.

The climate for activism is becoming more problematic for Shen and her compatriots, but she maintains a hopeful attitude. “We have suffered a lot of pressure because they [the government and the upholders of China’s patriarchal structure] fear the strength of women,” she says, adding, “I believe the women who ‘wake up’ will move forward in the struggle for their rights.” For the year to come, Shen talks of plans to move to safer ground: “We will no longer focus purely on sexual harassment awareness because despite the work we have put in, it’s proving too hard to move forward with now. We will instead put our strength towards highlighting other issues.” Shen’s renewed focus will take on a fight she believes has yet to be fully realized, that of reproductive rights, pointing to the worrying example of a recently released government propaganda cartoon depicting an idealized family unit with not one nor two, but three piglets. “This could mean more pressure for women to have more children,” she says, something that would strain the already limited medical resources available to women as well as a step backwards for equal workplace liberties.

For now though, the NGO and many organizations like it have a more pressing challenge ahead: simply securing enough funding to stay afloat.