China, a model for gender equality? The reality would say otherwise

Audrey Jiajia Li says the glaring absence of women in top national decision-making bodies, and a culture where sexism and misogyny still thrive, mean female empowerment in China still has a long way to go

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Hotel attendants for delegates pose in Tiananmen Square as the 19th party congress closed on October 24. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 10:15am, 11 Nov 2017Updated: 11:15am, 25 Apr 2018

China’s ruling Communist Party unveiled its new top leadership at the 19th National Congress: seven men in their 60s, stiffly lining up to the world’s attention. Not surprisingly, no women. And, in the 25-person Politburo, there is only one. In the party’s near-100-year history, a woman has never made to the powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Also last month, the Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood brought sexual harassment to the fore and sparked a global online follow-up movement, as women from all walks of life broke their silence to post “me too” on Facebook, to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual misconduct by men in power. That didn’t happen in China.

Moreover, the state-owned China Daily seized the opportunity to reinforce cultural superiority, with a commentary claiming there were no Weinstein-type sexual predators in China, as “men are taught to be protective of their women”.

Among many Chinese, as well as some people in the West, the perception is that Chinese women enjoy great gender equality, thanks partly to Mao Zedong’s famous proclamation that “women hold up half the sky”. The reality may be more complicated.

President and Communist Party chief Xi Jinping (centre) is applauded by members of the new Politburo Standing Committee (from left) Han Zheng, Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Premier Li Keqiang, Wang Yang and Zhao Leji, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 25. No women have ever made it to the powerful committee. Photo: Bloomberg

State media ridiculed for claim women are never harassed in Chinese culture

In June, on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo, several users identifying themselves as Beijing Film Academy students claimed that a female student had been sexually abused by a professor, before the posts were censored and their accounts removed. Two years ago, five feminist activists were detained for over a month for planning awareness-raising activities against sexual assault on Beijing’s buses.