{"id":14732,"date":"2023-08-03T20:14:12","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T17:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=14732"},"modified":"2023-08-03T20:17:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T17:17:03","slug":"__trashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=14732","title":{"rendered":"How are Chinese feminists challenging the status quo?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During the second half of the last century, Western standards of beauty swept the world, including China. After the vast Asian country began to open up to the outside world in the late 1970s, Western culture began to influence the communist country’s standard of female beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A whole market opened up for him in the field as well, under the CCP’s state capitalism. Women no longer had to be only productive, but also attractive. But this shift led over time to an obsessive imitation of Western characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slim bodies, with fair skin, large breasts, large eyes, small nose and high cheekbones. Plastic surgeons’ scalpels caught fire, especially with the so-called “Asian blepharoplasty” for double eyelids and larger, more symmetrical eye shapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report by Deloitte titled “China Medical Aesthetic Industry Outlook 2022<\/a>“, China’s cosmetic surgery market is the “world’s fastest growing”, with a value forecast to exceed 350 billion yuan by 2025. That is about 44 billion euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, China is the second largest consumer market for cosmetics in the world. Figures from 2021 – amid a pandemic – show it accounts for 17.3% of the global market in 2021, just 2.7% behind the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, sales in the country increased by 14% on an annual basis, according to the National Statistics Service. Traditionally, meanwhile, long hair is seen as a symbol of femininity in Chinese culture, as the epitome of feminine grace and elegance,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even hairstyles are a sign of their social status. But all these “shoulds” started to become very suffocating, for more and more women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With feminism on the rise in China in recent years, many – mostly young women – are choosing to break out of this “narrow” mold.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Claiming the right to diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are not just trying to redefine the concept of female beauty, but also to shake off the social pressure they feel around their image and appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid gender inequality, many identify this pressure as “the male gaze.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not just about the male gaze, it’s also about dealing with employers or even looking at women from older generations. It refers to the objectification and sexualization of female appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So many young feminists turn their backs on cosmetics and God-fearing clothes and start the “hair revolution” from the hairdresser’s chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenging social norms and the status quo, they choose short boyish haircuts or even get a sideburn. For some, the issue is financial and practical: long hair takes care and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most it is an act of social disobedience and an outward sign of deeper introspection into gender identity and expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defying conventional beauty standards, they upload smiling photos of their new looks on Chinese social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the domestic internet, there are entire groups devoted to the subject. Discussions range from advice to experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many women report that they faced intense reactions in their family and social environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or even by the hairdressers themselves, before they finally press the button on the clipper. The usual questions from relatives are if they decided to cut their hair due to emotional disappointment and from strangers if they are suffering from some illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those who have dared – there are already thousands – consider their new haircut a symbol of personal empowerment and a public statement of rejection of flimsy stereotypes. Racial and social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy do girls always have to listen to others and be polite, quiet and especially obedient?\u201d says one of them, Song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I just don’t want to obey the rules.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Against the current<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, the bob haircut has a history and cultural significance for Chinese women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since ancient times it has been a sign of mourning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2023 it has begun to take on new meaning in the ever-changing Chinese society. The daring for the national standards of women’s haircuts were also preceded by other mass reactions to the suffocating standards of gender and beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They came mainly after the international spread of the Me Too movement in 2017 and the “Escape the Corset” campaign the following year in neighboring South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, Chinese social media was flooded with photos of girls rejecting oppressive beauty standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As e.g. the “middle A4”, that is, the middle should not be larger than the width of a piece of paper of this size. Or the very small clothing sizes launched by various name brands in a frenzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, a hashtag calling on women and girls to “embrace makeup-free beauty” made waves on domestic social media platforms. Many left aside heavy make-up, eyeliner and lipstick. Some also said goodbye to stiletto heels with relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Beijing under the leadership of Xi Jinping is “tightening” control over public discourse, and restrictions on discussions of feminism and activism are gradually increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relevant social media posts are censored and deleted. Terms like “feminism” and “MeToo” are subject to online censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of accounts are being deleted from popular social media platforms in China – such as Weibo, WeChat and Douyin – officially for posting “illegal and harmful information”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bold, unconventional haircut, however, cannot be erased from the sidewalks and streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although for the authorities there is always scope for exercising suffocating pressures, especially in the workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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