radixxrage

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Because large-scale organising is “almost impossible” in China, women are turning to “all kinds of alternative ways to maintain feminism in their daily lives and even develop and transfer feminism to others,” she says. These may take the form of book clubs or exercise meet-ups. Some of her friends in China organise hikes. “They say that we are feminists, we are hiking together, so when we are hiking we talk about feminism.“ - Lü Pin

To find evidence that China’s feminist movement is gaining momentum – despite strict government censorship and repression – check bookshelves, nightstands and digital libraries. There, you might find a copy of one of Chizuko Ueno’s books. The 74-year-old Japanese feminist and author of Feminism from Scratch and Patriarchy and Capitalism has sold more than a million books in China, according to Beijing Open Book, which tracks sales. Of these, 200,000 were sold in January and February alone.

Ueno, a professor of sociology at the University of Tokyo, was little known outside in China outside academia until she delivered a 2019 matriculation speech at the university in which she railed against its sexist admissions policies, sexual “abuse” by male students against their female peers, and the pressure women felt to downplay their academic achievements.

The speech went viral in Japan, then China.

“Feminist thought does not insist that women should behave like men or the weak should become the powerful,” she said. “Rather, feminism asks that the weak be treated with dignity as they are.”

In the past two years, 11 of her books have been translated into simplified Chinese and four more will be published this year. In December, two of her books were among the top 20 foreign nonfiction bestsellers in China. While activism and protests have been stifled by the government, the rapid rise in Ueno’s popularity shows that women are still looking for ways to learn more about feminist thought, albeit at a private, individual level.

Talk to young Chinese academics, writers and podcasters about what women are reading and Ueno’s name often comes up. “We like-like her,” says Shiye Fu, the host of popular feminist podcast Stochastic Volatility.

“In China we need some sort of feminist role model to lead us and enable us to see how far women can go,” she says. “She taught us that as a woman, you have to fight every day, and to fight is to survive.”

When asked by the Guardian about her popularity in China, Ueno says her message resonates with this generation of Chinese women because, while they have grown up with adequate resources and been taught to believe they will have more opportunities, “patriarchy and sexism put the burden to be feminine on them as a wife and mother”.

Ueno, who found her voice during the student power movements of the 1960s, has long argued that marriage restricts women’s autonomy, something she learned watching her own parents. She described her father as “a complete sexist”. It’s stance that resonates with women in China, who are rebelling against the expectation that they take a husband.

Ueno’s most popular book, with 65,000 reviews on Douban, is simply titled Misogyny. One review reads: “It still takes a little courage to type this. I have always been shy about discussing gender issues in a Chinese environment, because if I am not careful, I will easily attract the label of … ‘feminist cancer’.”

“Now it’s a hard time,” says Lü Pin, a prominent Chinese feminist who now lives in the US. In 2015 she happened to be in New York when Chinese authorities arrested five of her peers – who were detained for 37 days and became known as the “Feminist Five” – and came to Lü’s apartment in Beijing. She narrowly avoided arrest. “Our movement is increasingly being regarded as illegal, even criminal, in China.”

China’s feminist movement has grown enormously in the past few years, especially among young women online, says Lü, where it was stoked by the #MeToo movements around the world and given oxygen on social media. “But that’s just part of the story,” she says. Feminism is also facing much stricter censorship – the word “feminism” is among those censored online, as is China’s #MeToo hashtag, #WoYeShi.

“When we already have so many people joining our community, the government regards that as a threat to its rule,” Lü says. “So the question is: what is the future of the movement?”

Because large-scale organising is “almost impossible” in China, women are turning to “all kinds of alternative ways to maintain feminism in their daily lives and even develop and transfer feminism to others,” she says. These may take the form of book clubs or exercise meet-ups. Some of her friends in China organise hikes. “They say that we are feminists, we are hiking together, so when we are hiking we talk about feminism.

“Nobody can change the micro level.”

‘The first step’

In 2001, when Lü was a journalist starting out on her journey into feminism, she founded a book club with a group of friends. She was struggling to find books on the subject, so she and her friends pooled their resources. “We were feminists, journalists, scholars, so we decided let’s organise a group and read, talk, discuss monthly,” she says. They met in people’s homes, or the park, or their offices. It lasted eight years and the members are still among her best friends.

Before the book club, “I felt lonely when I was pursuing feminism. So I need friends, I need a community. And that was the first community I had.” “I got friendship, I deepened my understanding of feminism,” Lü says. “It’s interesting, perhaps the first step of feminist movements is always literature in many countries, especially in China.”

Lü first read Ueno’s academic work as a young scholar, when few people in China knew her name. Ueno’s books are for people who are starting out on their pursuit of feminism, Lü says, and the author is good at explaining feminist issues in ways that are easy to understand.

Like many Ting Guo discovered Ueno after the Tokyo University speech. Guo, an assistant professor in the department of cultural and religious studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, still uses it in lectures.

Ueno’s popularity is part of a larger phenomenon, Guo says. “We cannot really directly describe what we want to say, using the word that we want to use, because of the censorship, because of the larger atmosphere. So people need to try to borrow words, mirror that experience in other social situations, in other political situations, in other contexts, in order to precisely describe their own experience, their own feelings and their own thoughts.”

There are so many people who are new to the feminist movement, says Lü, “and they are all looking for resources, but due to censorship, it’s so hard for Chinese scholars, for Chinese feminists, to publish their work.”

Ueno “is a foreigner, that is one of her advantages, and she also comes from [an] east Asian context”, which means that the patriarchal system she describes is similar to China’s. Lü says the reason books by Chinese feminists aren’t on bestseller lists is because of censorship.

Na Zhong, a novelist who translated Sally Rooney’s novels into simplified Chinese, feels that Chinese feminism is, at least when it comes to literature, gaining momentum. The biggest sign of this, both despite and because of censorship, is “the sheer number of women writers that are being translated into Chinese” – among whom Ueno is the “biggest star”.

“Young women are discovering their voices, and I’m really happy for my generation,” she says. “We’re just getting started.”

By Helen R Sullivan

This is the third story in a three-part series on feminism and literature in China.

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love when some of the women who reblog misogynistic blackpill doomer shit talking down on osa women for their sexuality and essentially telling them to "just be celibate" while share their utopian methods for osa women to navigate life with hetero or bisexuality are proud lesbians. like okay messiah of female liberation, tell me more about the horrors of hetero attraction you've never experienced.

funny how some of the loudest voices on female separatism come from women who don't have to give up love, sex, or intimacy. must be easy to play the purity olympics when your "sacrifice" is theoretical. and the women who actually do bring sacrifice to the table are often much more understanding and don't push for all osa women to become political lesbians.

I can understand it more when a het or bi woman reblogs blackpill stuff as it often comes from a place of self hate, of trying to reject a part of themselves they're ashamed of. those women have internalized the message that they are less because of their sexuality.

it's like watching someone wrestle with their own desires under patriarchy and externalizing that pain & frustration into cynicism. but when lesbians do it, it hits differently. they're not being asked to give up a part of their identity, they get to keep love, intimacy, and connection while preaching about separatism like it's some universal moral stance, lecturing osa women about how fulfilling a life without men is. it screams lack of empathy & common sense.

they've never had to untangle desire from danger, or love from fear. they've never been in the position of having to question whether their feelings for a man are real or just internalized conditioning, or if choosing him is a betrayal of themselves or other women. yet somehow, some of them feel fully qualified to tell bi and het women to "just stop" being attracted to men.

this post is exclusively about blackpill separatists who feel entitled to punch down on osa women for some cheap sense of moral superiority. if you are a blackpiller and you have never experienced attraction to men, I'm genuinely happy for you but this also means you lack the ability of being able to relate to the experiences of osa women, especially when it comes to separatism. I'm all for them advocating for separatism but don't act like you have lived in our skins & our sacrifices are equal.

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Incoming a long, personal essay in a couple hours.

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Well, they're the ones who keep birthing them so... Yes.

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'how happy are women in relationships with men' seems to be thought of as the metric for how feminist a society is, rather than to what extent women are legally and financially emancipated from men, what power they have that doesn't come from men. because they don't want the latter if it would threaten the former

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I really hate when they say “humans are capable of critical thought!” to debate comparisons with the animal kingdom. If they’re so capable how come 99% of them don’t fucking use it

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Patriarchy will never end for the majority because osa women love men and will always keep on birthing men. You cannot save most women and you should leave them in their self-made hell. The good news though, is that you can save yourself! So work on that!

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Amazing!!

Blood moon is now!!! Go take a look.

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I saw it now but just barely some red in the sky. Better luck next year...

Blood moon is now!!! Go take a look.

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It's cloudy for me...can't see anything 🙁

Blood moon is now!!! Go take a look.

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Blood moon is now!!! Go take a look.

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don't forget the lunar eclipse!

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Jokes aside I am genuinely worried being here. The worst thing is, it's not even because of moids, tras or anyone else. It's because of radical feminists, women who I previously trusted by default, those who should be my allies, who will dox you given the chance. It's already happened many times and most radfems on the site are dangerous/support dangerous women. I have already had some of my private information shared without my consent by bullies. The thought of my family being threatened over a Tumblr blog scares me. It's just not worth it. So don't be surprised if I leave forever.

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i love following women on here who make a lot of text posts. i just like reading people's thoughts and about their lives

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It is just a lil sad coming back to radblr and seeing we are still having the same conversations weve always had…

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“Of course I can’t stay away from men. I’m sexually attracted to them, humans crave intimacy, and wanting to pass on your genes is normal.” So much for bioessentialism being a bad thing…

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Cis women shut the fuck up challenge