TV drama on rape victim blaming, triggers a much needed debate – Zhang Lijia

 

Zhang Lijia

A star-studded Chinese TV drama delving into workplace sexual harassment titled Imperfect Victim recently ended but the debate it triggered rages on. Journalist and social commentator Zhang Lijia dives into the debate for the South China Morning Post.

Zhang Lijia:

A star-studded Chinese TV drama delving into workplace sexual harassment titled Imperfect Victim recently ended but the debate it triggered rages on. The show, which ran to 29 45-minute episodes, centres on a rape case: beautiful, young personal assistant Zhao Xun accuses her powerful and handsome boss, Cheng Gong, the company president, of raping her. But the case is complex, and so are the characters involved.

Within three months, Cheng, a married man, promotes Zhao from a trainee to the position of senior assistant, multiplies her salary and showers her with gifts worth 880,000 yuan (US$122,170). She makes little attempt to stop him. Then one rainy night, the police turn up at the company’s apartment suite, having received an anonymous tip-off about rape. Zhao, traumatised and confused, denies she has been violated. Five days later, she files a lawsuit against him.

The popular and high-quality drama led to a heated discussion among the audience about the nature of sexual harassment, gender inequality, the unbalanced power play in the office and, interestingly, who is really the victim…

Zhou Xiaoxuan, a prominent face in China’s #MeToo movement, was also sued for defamation after she accused Zhu Jun, a high-profile TV presenter, of sexual assault. She countersued, demanding an apology and compensation, and failed. Last year, her appeal was dismissed after a court in Beijing ruled that she lacked sufficient evidence. This was hardly a surprising result. High legal barriers and social stigma have silenced many victims.

I am delighted to see a TV drama like Imperfect Victim dealing with such serious social issues head on. For centuries, Confucianist ideas that women are inferior dominated Chinese society. It is partly due to the deeply rooted patriarchal culture that sexual harassment is prevalent in the workplace, so much so that on International Women’s Day this year, the government issued a guidance specifically to combat the problem.

But I do find the title Imperfect Victim problematic in that it might further encourage a victim-blaming culture. Let’s not focus on the weaknesses of the victim but examine the perpetrator with a critical eye. A victim is a victim, whether she is perfect or not.

More at the South China Morning Post.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How #MeToo brought down China's supermonk - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

The Venerable Xuecheng did become the symbol for supercharged Buddhism in China. Journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, looks for the New York Times at how China's #metoo movement brought down this confusing factor in the rising Buddhism.

Ian Johnson:

Over the past two decades, religion in China has boomed, and no faith has benefited more than Buddhism. The number of temples has tripled, monks and abbots have become well-known public figures, and China has used the faith to build ties around the world, sending out nuns and monks on goodwill missions. 

The person most closely associated with this revival is the Venerable Xuecheng, a charismatic monk who was fast-tracked for success. He became abbot of his first temple at 23 and head of the Communist Party-run Buddhist Association of China at 49. 

His use of social media and emphasis on compassion attracted the sort of bright, white-collar professionals who once spurned traditional Chinese religions. Many rank him as the most important Chinese Buddhist reformer in a century. 

But over the summer, all of these worldly successes vanished. 

Accused of lewdness toward nuns and financial misconduct, Xuecheng, 52, has in recent weeks been stripped of his titles and banished to a small temple in his home province of Fujian. Government investigators now occupy the cleric’s main temple in Beijing, have purged his cadre of loyal monks and are scouring his books for financial wrongdoing. 

That makes Xuecheng the most important national leader to be felled in China’s small but tenacious #MeToo movement, a rare case of a politically connected figure here falling to charges of sexual misconduct. 

It has also prompted widespread discussion among Buddhists about whether their faith’s rapid growth has come at too steep a cost. 

Many worry that Xuecheng’s model of a supercharged Buddhism that embraces social trends lacks the very spirituality that drew people to the faith in the first place. His downfall also presents a potential setback in the Chinese government’s efforts to push Buddhism as a kind of national religion that can win friends abroad and offer moral values at home. 

“It’s impossible not to feel pained and sorrowful” at recent developments, two monks wrote in a 95-page report detailing accusations of sexual and financial misdeeds against Xuecheng. They asked the government to act quickly, or “we dare not imagine where Xuecheng will lead this group of Buddhists!”

More in the New York Times.

Ian Johnson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Also at universities: women stay in the shadow of men - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Female students have been accusing their teachers and supervisors of sexual harassment at Chinese colleges and universities. Author Zhang Lijia of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, tells NewsChina she is not really amazed.

NewsChina:

Zhang Lijia, a feminist writer and social commentator based in Beijing, told NewsChina that sexual harassment on campus shows that despite improvements, women – including the highly-educated – remain largely in the shadow of men in traditionally maledominated China. Zhang said sexual harassment was prevalent in many places and was rooted in “the Confucian ideology that has dominated China for centuries.” 

“It places women in an inferior position. The issue of campus harassment attracts more attention partly because educated women are less willing to put up with it, and more willing to speak out,” she said. “But sadly, male chauvinism still dominates in today’s China.”... 

“The authorities should establish a mechanism that includes specific measures to prevent, investigate and punish. And more importantly, we need an atmosphere that doesn’t place pressure on victims,” Zhang Lijia told our reporter. “The perfect relationship between an academic adviser and a graduate student is respect for each other.”

More at NewsChina.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more female speakers at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.