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ABSTRACT
As a victim-survivor and feminist activist who participated in the #MeToo movement in China, I always have confusion and questions generated from my experiences and observations. The limited literature on Chinese social movements rarely utilises China situated frameworks, which reduces the understanding. This article focuses on ‘how #MeToo movement(s) manifest and evolve in China’ and aims to find out its ‘Chinese characteristics’. Through an analysis of two archives and my autoethnography using He-Yin Zhen’s feminist analytical concepts ‘nannü’ (man/woman) and ‘shengji’ (livelihood), Confucian moral outlook, and ‘Chinese characteristics’, I find that the movement displays ‘Chinese characteristics’ in multiple aspects. There is not one monolithic #MeToo movement in China but many with different agendas, although some of which are prioritised more than others. These findings stress the importance of privileging the historic-cultural context and personal perspectives in studying social movements. This article illustrates that situated feminist research is needed to reconstruct feminist studies in the global South, and that feminist movements need to consider the historical and cultural context, and challenge dominant romanticising and elitist discourses, in order to develop sustainably.
En tant que victime rescapée et activiste féministe qui a pris part au mouvement #MeToo en Chine, je ressens toujours une certaine confusion et me pose des questions suite à mes expériences et observations. La quantité limitée de documents sur les mouvements sociaux chinois fait rarement usage de cadres situés en Chine, ce qui en compromet la compréhension. Cet article tente de répondre à la question « Comment le(s) mouvement(s) #MeToo se manifestent-ils et évoluent-ils en Chine ?¸», et cherche à en découvrir les « caractéristiques chinoises ». Je m’appuie sur une analyse de deux archives et mon auto-ethnographie, à l'aide des concepts analytiques féministes de He-Yin Zhen « nannü » (homme/femme) et « shengji » (moyen de subsistance), de la vision morale confucéenne et des « caractéristiques chinoises » et conclus que le mouvement présente des « caractéristiques chinoises », ce à plusieurs égards. Il n’existe pas un seul mouvement monolithique #MeToo en Chine ; il y a de nombreux mouvements, dotés d’ordres du jour différents, même si certains sont priorisés par rapport à d’autres. Ces constatations soulignent à quel point il est important de privilégier le contexte historico-culturel et les points de vue personnels lors de l’étude des mouvements sociaux. Cet article illustre le fait qu’une recherche féministe située est requise pour reconstruire les études féministes dans l’hémisphère Sud, et que les mouvements féministes doivent prendre en compte le contexte historique et culturel, et mettre en question les discours dominants idéalisants et élitistes, afin de se développer de manière durable.
Como víctima-sobreviviente y activista feminista que participó en el movimiento #MeToo en China, siempre tengo confusiones y preguntas que surgen de mis vivencias y observaciones. La escasa bibliografía sobre movimientos sociales chinos rara vez utiliza marcos situados en el país, lo que reduce la comprensión sobre el tema. Este artículo aborda la pregunta “¿cómo se manifiestan y evolucionan los movimientos #MeToo en China?” y pretende indagar en sus “características chinas”. Partiendo de los conceptos analíticos feministas de He-Yin Zhen nannü (hombre/mujer) y shengji (medios de vida), de la perspectiva moral confuciana y las “características chinas”, mediante el análisis de dos archivos y mi autoetnografía descubrí que el movimiento muestra “características chinas” en múltiples aspectos. En China no existe un movimiento #MeToo monolítico, sino muchos movimientos con diferentes agendas programáticas, aunque a algunos se les da más prioridad que a otros. Tales hallazgos subrayan la importancia de privilegiar el contexto histórico-cultural y las perspectivas personales a la hora de estudiar los movimientos sociales. Este artículo ilustra que, para reconstruir los estudios feministas en el Sur global, es necesaria la investigación feminista situada y que, para desarrollarse de forma sostenible, los movimientos feministas deben tener en cuenta el contexto histórico y cultural, y cuestionar los discursos idealizantes y elitistas dominantes.
Acknowledgement
This article was developed from the author’s master’s dissertation.
Notes
1 Weibo functions as Twitter in China.
2 The direct English translation of gongyi (公益) is ‘public interests’, meaning non-profit and/or non-governmental industry. In China’s context, many of the organisations are not legally recognised, as explained in the Context section.
3 The social media content and accounts were erased, or in our term ‘404-ed’ by the social media company with the order from the local government, the central government, or personal connection between the social media company and the person-professor or university management who wanted to delete the content. Besides, all Chinese universities are managed by the government as well. This censoring mechanism is too complex to be explained in the introduction (Y. Wang Citation2020).
4 Alyssa Milano’s original tweet: Me Too. Suggested by a friend: ‘If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote “Me too” as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.’
5 In the economic reform from planned economy to market economy led by Deng Xiaoping, millions of workers have been laid off from state-owned enterprises (Lin Citation2003).
6 The definition of ‘sexual harassment’ is vaguely mentioned in Section 1010 of the 2020 Civil Code (Civil Code Citation2020). The Civil Code also required employers and other institutions to take reasonable measures to prevent, receive complaints, investigate, and deal with sexual harassment in these spaces (ibid.). Section 1010 of the Civil Code of the PRC stipulates: ‘Where sexual harassment is committed against one’s will in the means of words, writing, images, physical acts, etc., the victim shall have the right to request the perpetrator to assume civil liability in accordance with the law. Institutions, enterprises, schools and other units shall take reasonable measures to prevent, receive complaints, investigate and deal with sexual harassment by taking advantage of their authority and subordination, etc.’ (违背他人意愿, 以言语、文字、图像、肢体行为等方式对他人实施性骚扰的, 受害人有权依法请求行为人承担民事责任。机关、企业、学校等单位应当采取合理的预防、受理投诉、调查处置等措施, 防止和制止利用职权、从属关系等实施性骚扰。).
7 Wang Pan is a professor and a supervisor of graduate students at Wuhan University of Technology, who was accused of physically and psychologically abusing his graduate student Tao Chongyuan (male) who committed/died by suicide in 2018 (Liu and Zhao Citation2020).
8 Zhu Jun is a famous host on the Chinese Central Television station. In 2014, he sexually harassed the then intern and college student Xianzi in their workplace. For more information, see Archive#MeTooCN.
9 Zhang Wen is a famous media practitioner. He sexually harassed and assaulted multiple women. For more information, see Archive#MeTooCN.
10 Other cases are rape, molestation, sexual abuse, and other kinds of sexual violence. Some violators violated the victim-survivors in more than one way.
11 Under China’s Charity law, Wequality is not a legal organisation.
12 A blog platform with the largest base of Chinese users.
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Sanshan Lin
Sanshan Lin is a feminist activist in China. She founded and has operated Wequality – a grassroots feminist organisation in Shanghai – since November 2016. In 2021, she graduated with a master’s degree, MA Gender and Development, from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. Postal address: Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QL, UK. Email: [email protected]