POSITION PAPER 3

 Depictions of Women and Minorities:

China

    It is no secret that China is a country that other countries love to hate. Since I was a small child, I can remember being taught that China was not a "nice country" and, as I have grown older, I have found out the things that the country does to its citizens. Things like censorship and a tight rein on free speech that the country's government has. I thought it would be interesting to look at how China may depict its women and minorities in their media. Not only how they depict them, but also the freedom that these individuals have within the media. 

    Believe it or not, the feminist movement has been on the rise in recent times in China. For a few years, the Chinese media has really seemed to embrace International Women's Day praising the women of the country. They often exuberate thankfulness towards the women for contributing so much to their family, society, and nation. However, while that looks great on the outside, it seems that there are some deeply rooted issues in the topic of equality within the Chinese state. This year, for International Women's day in March, a video was made by Chinese women that took the Chinese social media by storm. The video was created by skincare brand Proya and China Women's Daily which is the "official publication of the state-run All-China Women's Association". The video consists of examples and scenarios that are often judged based on gender when gender really has no affect on the situation. The video highlights the gender prejudice that happens in the Chinese media even under a government that seems to promote gender equality.

    Social media in the Chinese state has played a crucial role in women standing up for rights and equality. Women have begun using social media sites to a greater extent to share their experiences with "sexual harassment, domestic violence, and gender discrimination in the labor market". However, while the feminist movement has been gaining more traction in the past 10 years, women who speak up about these experiences and about the need for better protection and equality still face threats and censorship online. 

    These restricting thoughts towards women flow over into Chinese television and film. When Chinese film first exploded onto the scene and was being greatly influenced by western culture, the typical Chinese woman character could be described as "family-oriented, husband-centered, and lacking social connection". Things were starting to look up for Chinese women in the industry, though, from 1985-2010. During this time, screenwriters were really bringing Chinese women characters to life. According to an article by Medium.com, "There were different personalities in characters and different types of women been presented...There were different female characters in the storyline. Such as stay-home mum, lawyer, student, government official, thief, mistress, etc. And they can be beautiful, ugly, poor, rich, young and old." At this time, stories felt like normal, everyday life. They felt real and not just scripted. 

    However, this was short lived as Chinese screenwriters began reverting back to their old ways after 2010. The women characters, which are still written this way today, went back to being the typical Chinese stereotype in both looks and lifestyle. All of the actresses looked the same, acted the same, and only focused on their families or husband but never on themselves. Sadly, unlike western film where women characters are becoming more and more prominent as the main and most interesting character, Chinese women have gone back to being the the 2D version of themselves within film in order to please the Chinese state. 

    Since it is home to the world's largest population, China is also home to the world's largest LGBT+ population. Even though it is the largest population, China still does not recognize same-sex marriages and, up until 2001, they considered homosexuality as a mental disorder. 2020 showed what the true representation of the LGBT community is in China. Since 2009, there was an annual LGBT event called Shanghai Pride that was China's largest and longest running pride event. In 2020, the event announced the cancellation of all of its future activities. The reasons included a shrinking space for the LGBT community and activists experiencing harassment for speaking up against homophobia.

     

     Much of this discrimination in China's media against the LGBT community is seen in online platforms like blogs and online magazines. Much of the LGBT related content or hashtags on these sites is blocked or removed. Recently, a university student filed a complaint about references to gay or lesbian people in her textbook. The references referred to these people as suffering from a "common psychosexual disorder". Although China strictly censors LGBT content in their media and does not recognize same sex couples legally, the demand for LGBT representation in TV and film is very high. These are examples of how China represents one of its biggest minorities, the LGBT community, in its media.