On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for thirty-seven days. The Feminist Five drew global attention, with many politicians and activists speaking out on their behalf. The Five are, in fact, part of a larger feminist movement of civil rights lawyers, labor activists and online voices leading an unprecedented awakening among China’s educated, urban women. These young women do not want to play the role of traditional housewives—getting married and having children early is not their top priority. The Chinese government, however, is now urging women to do exactly that, while at the same time women’s participation rate in the Chinese labor market has been steadily declining since the 1990’s.
Despite these pressures working against gender equality, journalist and author Leta Hong Fincher argues that a popular broad-based feminist movement poses the greatest challenge to China’s governing regime today. In her new book “Betraying Big Brother”, she examines the rise of feminism in China, interviewing members of the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists. Hong Fincher explores both the difficulties and the progress on bringing issues of gender equality to light. How can the rise of feminism reconfigure China's political and social norms? What might China’s economic boom mean for the women's rights movement? Join Leta Hong Fincher to discuss these questions and her new book “Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.”
SPEAKER:
Leta Hong FincherJournalist and author, featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC, CNN
On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for thirty-seven days. The Feminist Five drew global attention, with many politicians and activists speaking out on their behalf. The Five are, in fact, part of a larger feminist movement of civil rights lawyers, labor activists and online voices leading an unprecedented awakening among China’s educated, urban women. These young women do not want to play the role of traditional housewives—getting married and having children early is not their top priority. The Chinese government, however, is now urging women to do exactly that, while at the same time women’s participation rate in the Chinese labor market has been steadily declining since the 1990’s.
Despite these pressures working against gender equality, journalist and author Leta Hong Fincher argues that a popular broad-based feminist movement poses the greatest challenge to China’s governing regime today. In her new book “Betraying Big Brother”, she examines the rise of feminism in China, interviewing members of the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists. Hong Fincher explores both the difficulties and the progress on bringing issues of gender equality to light. How can the rise of feminism reconfigure China's political and social norms? What might China’s economic boom mean for the women's rights movement? Join Leta Hong Fincher to discuss these questions and her new book “Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.”
SPEAKER:
Leta Hong FincherJournalist and author, featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC, CNN
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