#freethefive

“Dressed as Rosie the Riveter, the icon of American women’s empowerment during World War II, Li Tingting’s raised fist in a photograph posted on Facebook on Monday signaled defiance — one year after the authorities detained her and four other Chinese feminists on the eve of International Women’s Day, causing an international uproar. But while the women and their lawyers continue to protest the lack of resolution in the public disorder charges against them, Ms. Li welcomed a victory in a cause that feminists have advocated for more than two decades: China’s first law against domestic violence took effect on March 1.”

For more, see Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “Year After Detentions, Chinese Feminists Mark Setbacks and Progress,” The New York Times (7 Mar 2016)

(”My vagina is not a gift.”)

This is a country well-known for its socialism with Chinese characteristics and its founder Mao’s famous quote “Women Hold Up Half The Sky.” However, women are still second class citizens on this vast land. 

I met a cab driver today who told me women don’t know directions, it’s “our nature.” 

“Female drivers have to be specifically trained on directions,” the driver said proud and loud, “All women are the same.”

When I was at my old apartment, the new owner asked me to “shut up,” when I was asking him a question, because he was “talking.” Then he turned to another woman who was also asking questions, and said “Go away and be a good girl.”

This country celebrated March 8 International Women’s Day by arresting the feminists who planned to advocate for women’s rights on the street, and subsequently detained them for 37 days. Over the last weekend, I had the honor to hang out with the group of underground feminists. These are a group of young and brave women who gather from time to time to advocate for women’s rights. They have done campaign of anti-sex abuse, anti-sexual harassment and anti-domestic abuse. Some are being hunted by the authorities after the arrests of their fellow feminists. 

The most surprising thing I learned is being so courageous and progressive, they are also very vulnerable when confronting the male dominated society and the autocratic state who would do anything to crack them down. With double pressure, this group of women were sexually harassed by the male human rights lawyers, people they turn to when under persecution of the government. Those are lawyers who claim to fight for human rights while being a human right abuser. 

I saw often enough when living in Beijing, men were publicly violent to women. Many times on the street, I saw a man pushed a woman to the ground, slapped her on the face or threw things at her, while no one said anything. I read on the news that female cab drivers being attacked and a female student was set on fire because she rejected the wooing of a boy. Violence to women is heartbreakingly prominent, while people who speak up are detained and charged with wrongful names. 

Besides violence, discrimination is deeply rooted in society. Every old woman asks me to get married after they probed about my age and martial status. In many companies, it’s often a male department head leading a group of women workers, while women make up 23.4% of the almost 3,000 hand-picked deputies in the Chinese national Congress.  Women of certain age are rejected in job interviews because they are considered to get pregnant soon and would leave her work. Schools lower their admission standard for male students in female-dominant majors like language and art, while rejecting female students for male-dominate majors like science and engineering. Female workers have to abide the “unwritten rules,” meaning sleeping with their bosses, to climb up the career ladder. Women are only assigned assisting roles at work. While strong and independent women are stigmatized and dubbed “left-over” or “female men.”

You would think Mao who said that famous quote supported women rights. But he turned out to be one of the biggest women abusers by notoriously consuming hundreds of young women while being married to Jiang Qing. 

Lesbians in the news

12/04/2015 – 18/04/2015

Violent Crimes against Lesbians:

Mary Kristene Chapa

Following publicity surrounding Victoria Brownworth’s article on Mary Kristene Chapa’s recovery and fundraising following the 2012 hate crime that left her seriously insured and her girlfriend Molly Olgin dead, the funding campaign to support Mary Kristene Chapa’s medical needs has now raised almost…

Chinese authorities have released on bail the five women’s rights activists who had been in detention for over a month for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Human Rights Watch’s Maya Wang and gender equality scholar Leta Hong Fincher praise the role that protest from the diplomatic community and outcry from domestic and international activists had in facilitating the release. 

The charges against the five have not been dropped, and they will still be under police surveillance. Read more on today’s China Digital Times.