{"id":334,"date":"2021-06-25T19:30:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/?p=334"},"modified":"2021-06-26T02:15:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T20:45:57","slug":"china-renews-crackdown-on-online-feminist-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/?p=334","title":{"rendered":"China Renews Crackdown on Online Feminist Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>[No matter what else you may say about the Chinese at least they understand the demonic nature of feminism and how it leads to cultural suicide. Editor]<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>TAIPEI &#8211; Beijing has shut down several feminist social media platforms, a sign that China is renewing its crackdown on what it considers radical women\u2019s groups.<\/p>\n<p>About 10 feminist forums were closed on Douban, China\u2019s popular social networking platform that allows group discussions of books, music, movies and social topics such as feminism.<\/p>\n<p>Douban said the now-banned forums promoted \u201cextreme\u201d and \u201cradical\u201d political views and ideology.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Douban, a social media site used by Chinese urban youth, closed more than 10 feminist groups and banned the keyword 6B4T, a feminist view from South Korea that advocates women not getting married and having no children.  Douban calls 6B4T an &quot;extreme&quot; and &quot;radical&quot; &quot;ideology.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o9QxhIZoqj\">pic.twitter.com\/o9QxhIZoqj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FreeChineseFeminists (@FeministChina) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FeministChina\/status\/1381776572718399490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 13, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The blocked forums embrace the concept of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/6B4T_movement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">6B4T<\/a>, an online movement that originated in South Korea. The concept \u201cis driven by the idea of women becoming more empowered by shunning activities seen as centered upon or designed to benefit men,\u201d according to Jane Li, a China tech reporter on <a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1996143\/chinas-douban-censors-ideas-from-south-korean-feminist-movement\/\">Quartz<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Douban ban earlier this month sparked heated debate among netizens in China, soon after the government released preliminary figures suggesting 2020 was, like 2019, a year with a declining birthrate.<\/p>\n<p>On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform akin to Twitter, one post said, \u201cWell done! The intention of these forums is to tear up Chinese society through extreme feminism.\u201d Another said, \u201c6B4T is not radical. It\u2019s nothing more than a claim that women do not have to enter into a heterosexual relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201c6B\u201d refers to not having sex with men; not having romantic relationships; not marrying; not having children; not buying products that show a prejudice against, aversion to or dislike of women; and offering to stand by other single women, according to Li. The \u201c4T\u201d stands for \u201cditching rigid beauty standards [literally &#8216;taking off corsets&#8217;]; rejecting the obsession with Japanese manga and anime (known as otaku culture) for their hypersexual depictions of women; breaking away from religion; and not partaking in fan culture around male or female celebrities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Korean, each of the items begins with either \u201cbi,\u201d which means no or not, and \u201ctal,\u201d which means to escape from something.<\/p>\n<div class=\"perfect-pullquote vcard pullquote-align-right pullquote-border-placement-left\"><blockquote><p>The growing popularity of radical feminist ideologies risks reinforcing the looming demographic disaster in the country. A decade ago, nearly 47% of South Korean single women considered marriage necessary; in 2018 the figure dropped to 22.4%. The marriages plummeted to 257,600, from 434,900 in 1996. <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.asianews.it\/news-en\/South-Korean-radical-feminism:-No-dating,-sex,-marriage-or-children--48879.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Asia News<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The South Korean movement &#8220;advocates that women separate themselves from the influence of male-centered political culture, and then form a full range of female culture and female power,&#8221; according to the website\u00a0WhatsonWeibo.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, China has allowed more online discussion of gender than other political topics. Yet, Lu Pin, a prominent Chinese feminist in New York, told VOA Mandarin that with the current crackdown, there are virtually no social media platforms that are friendly to feminist groups in China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese\u202fonline platforms are aware of the government\u2019s preference, so they tend to restrict feminist movements,\u201d she told VOA.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first targeting of women\u2019s groups. Online feminists attracted Beijing\u2019s attention on March 7, the day before International Women\u2019s Day, when five feminist activists were arrested for demonstrating against sexual harassment on public transit.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Feng Yuan, a women\u2019s rights activist, told TheGuardian.com: \u201cWhat the activists want is exactly what state policy on women says: that women should be equal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chinese netizens criticized the arrests, which drew international attention from the likes of then-presidential candidate\u00a0Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The detention of women&#39;s activists in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#China<\/a> must end. This is inexcusable. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeBeijing20Five?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeBeijing20Five<\/a> Read this story: <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/qV3VNOgmyG\">http:\/\/t.co\/qV3VNOgmyG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HillaryClinton\/status\/585235055078940673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 7, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The women, who became known as the Feminist Five, were released after more than a month in detention.<\/p>\n<p>The current crackdown came about because increasing numbers of women are embracing feminist ideas, according to Zhang, a student from prestigious Peking University, who asked that her full name not be used for fear of attracting official attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think China has always been a patriarchal society. So, there can be a feminist movement, but it needs to be within that framework of patriarchal society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Lu Pin, the New York feminist, agreed, saying the feminist movement has spotlighted a structural problem in Chinese society that causes inequalities between men and women, and those who benefit from the current system are offended by that explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Shuttering online feminist discussions meshes with Beijing\u2019s interests, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, the government does not want criticism on the structure of its society,\u201d she told VOA. \u201cSo, from this standpoint of view, the government will inevitably\u00a0stand against the feminist movement. They want women to maintain their traditional family roles because that benefits the stability of the CCP rule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The crackdown comes just two months after China\u2019s Ministry of Public Security released preliminary population numbers revealing that the number of new birth registrations in 2020 was 10.035 million, compared with 11.8 million in 2019, a year that had the lowest recorded birthrate since 1949, when the People\u2019s Republic of China was founded.<\/p>\n<p>With a rapidly growing elderly population and a cohort of young couples who cannot afford the luxury of children, China is facing a demographic crisis with economic overtones.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\">\n<div class=\"embedded-entity\" data-embed-button=\"wysiwug_image\" data-entity-embed-display=\"view_mode:media.large_embedded\" data-entity-type=\"media\" data-entity-uuid=\"b0a39d3c-4a90-49e2-8eca-04cdc92d0f20\" data-langcode=\"en\">\n<figure class=\"media media--type-image media--view-mode-\">\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/im-media.voltron.voanews.com\/Drupal\/01live-166\/styles\/sourced_737px_wide\/s3\/2021-04\/ap_china_daily_life_29Jan21.jpg?resize=737%2C491&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"FILE - A child wearing a mask rides on a skate scooter in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Jan. 29, 2021.\" width=\"737\" height=\"491\" \/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption>FILE &#8211; A child wearing a mask rides on a skate scooter in Wuhan in central China&#8217;s Hubei province, Jan. 29, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The government has long undercut efforts by activists to create safe space for women and raise issues of gender discrimination and domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these pressures working against gender equality, Chinese American author and activist Leta Hong Fincher\u202fsaid a popular broad-based feminist movement poses the greatest challenge to China\u2019s governing regime today.<\/p>\n<p>In her new book <em>Betraying Big Brother, The Feminist Awakening in China,<\/em>\u00a0she said the Feminist Five gave life to a grassroots mobilization not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy movement that culminated with the deadly quashing of protests in Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n<p>Shen Hsiu-hua, an associate professor of sociology at National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, told VOA Mandarin that popular movements are Beijing\u2019s greatest fear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing able to mobilize people is a taboo for the Chinese Communist Party. In China, only the government can mobilize people, so any cause that results in gathering is seen as a threat to its ruling,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why the government wants to nip it in the bud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/east-asia-pacific\/china-renews-crackdown-online-feminist-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Original article source.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Further reading:<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/6B4T_movement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">6B4T movement<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[No matter what else you may say about the Chinese at least they understand the demonic nature of feminism and how it leads to cultural suicide. Editor] &nbsp; TAIPEI &#8211; Beijing has shut down several feminist social media platforms, a sign that China is renewing its crackdown on what it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svatantra.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}