Feminism

A company that fired a woman for taking too much maternity leave must pay her salary compensation and severance pay, a Chinese court ruled in a hearing made public on March 3. Legal experts said the ruling signals a desire by authorities to enforce maternal leave policies in the hope that it encourages more people to have children.  China faces a demographics crisis that got far more urgent in 2020 after the government recorded a 15% decrease in newborns registered its hukou housing system.  The woman, surnamed Zhong, had worked in the company for seven years before going on maternity leave in May 2019.  Three months later, the company discharged her because they said she was not showing up

Throughout one of the most difficult years in collective memory, thanks to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Asia’s women have proved time and again that they can rise to the challenge . Women were leading figures in landing a spacecraft on Mars, fighting on the front lines of the pandemic or transcending gender roles to become a driving force for change. Let’s take a look back at some of the top stories from Inkstone and our colleagues at the South China Morning Post celebrating women from the region who have triumphed over adversity. Victories in space One of China’s major victories of 2020 was the successful landing of the Chang’e 5 probe on the moon.  Three women who were instr

Chinese education officials plan to “cultivate masculinity” in young men by introducing more gym classes and adding more male teachers in schools.  But it’s a move that could have devastating consequences for Chinese society, say experts. On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Education told schools and local governments they would be required to implement physical fitness classes in schools while introducing new teaching methods that make boys more masculine.  The aim was to improve schoolboys’ mental and physical health while the ministry conducted further research, the plan revealed. The government made the announcement after a top political advisor, Si Zefu, blamed mothers, grandmothers and f

Chinese women are choosing money over marriage - and it’s all because of what’s on TV, according to a recently released study. The report released by research firm Bernstein found that as television dramas become more focused on wealth and materialism, so too have young Chinese women. Their idea of success has switched from “marrying well” to “being the architect of your own success.” In the last four decades, China has experienced an unprecedented rise in prosperity as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. “Chinese television series have evolved as a mirror of society, moving wealth and money to a center stage position,” the study found. According to the report, the number of femal

A Chinese company’s new video advertisement for women’s makeup remover wipes has been savagely panned by online critics, forcing the ad to be pulled and the company apologizing twice. Purcotton, owned by Winner Medical Co., released the video last week on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, showing a young girl scaring off a would-be attacker with her naked makeup-free face after using the cleansing wipes. The 26-second video ad was pulled after online users denounced it as “demonizing” female sexual assault victims. The offending ad showed a young woman walking down a street at night followed by a masked man. As the stalker gets closer, the woman pulls out a cleansing wipe to quickly re

A Chinese province will obligate companies to provide women with menstrual sick leave days starting in March, 2021.  The announcement from the provincial government of Liaoning, a province in northeastern China, renewed worries that such “protective policies” will actually worsen gender discrimination in the workplace.  The rules stipulate that companies must provide their employees with one or two days of sick leave for women on their menstrual cycle, provided they have medical proof of experiencing severe period pains.   “My first reaction was that this would make it more difficult for women to find work,” said Wei Yiran, 26, a Guangdong-based volunteer teacher who educates young women in

The women named “Little Juan” are victims of domestic violence, and they could be anyone, or at least that is the message behind a new song from mandopop star Sitar Tan Weiwei.  Titled “Xiaojuan” (Little Juan), the song excoriates the patriarchial system that often results in violence against women. Little Juan is a character, but the song’s lyrics include thinly-veiled references to real-life cases of domestic violence. The word “gas” in the lyrics refers to Lhamo, a Tibetan influencer who was burned alive by her ex-husband in September and died in the hospital. “Sewage” refers to a Hangzhou woman who was killed and dismembered by her husband. He flushed some of her body parts down the sewa

It has been a grim year for working women in China yet despite the challenges that the Covid crisis presented, many made enormous strides in their chosen field.  We take a look at 9 inspirational female leaders who made their mark not just on the mainland, but the world. Wuhan lockdown diarist Fang Fang In January this year, before the rest of the world was aware of Covid-19’s deadly force, celebrated Chinese writer Fang Fang began documenting her daily life from her home in Wuhan – and posting her entries online.  Her raw and honest entries put a human face to a city in chaos, and were soon being read by tens of millions of Chinese desperate to know the truth amid the propaganda.  In her 6

In a darkened room, pieces of paper with pencils stabbed through the middle tell the stories of sexual abuse and harassment. On the floor, speakers play a loop of monologues from victims. In another corner, a giant mosaic spells the English word “Resist.” These are installations at an exhibit named “Her Story – Eliminating Gender Violence 2020,” an exhibition launched by feminism activists in Beijing that ran between November 25 and December 1.  The display followed their #MeToo exhibit last year that was displayed in five locations across China, said one of the curators, who only wants to be referred to as Jing. China’s #MeToo movement started in 2018, when Luo Xixi, a Beihang University gr

Motherhood is still a barrier to Chinese women in the workplace, a survey has warned.  Researchers questioned more than 8,000 professional women, and found that almost half (48%) took at least a year off work after giving birth with one in five becoming stay-at-home moms for several years.  "I never thought one day I would become a full-time mom, but it actually happened," said one woman, who was looking to get back to work after spending three years at home.  A third of the mothers admitted that their priorities had changed after giving birth, but just under 40% said they had little choice but to stay at home because the fathers were too busy at work.  Chinese women are legally entitled to