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Background page: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/07/chinese_women_defend_the_vagina_monologues
17 undergraduate students in Beijing Foreign Studies University should have never imagined themselves being pushed in the spotlight even before staging the show “Vagina Monologues”. I wonder whether they regret such participation after experiencing the trolling on the Internet, silence from their home university and the general criticism of some major media. But against all odds, what they should feel happy about is the recognition from a few foreign media such as foreignpolicy.com and the Huffington Post. And take an even more optimistic perspective, it brings those longstanding socially oppressed discourse back to public: topics on gender discrimination, sexual relationships, domestic violence, rape and other gender-related taboos such as menstrual cycle, promiscuity, etc.
Having browsed through the comments from Weibo and other social network forums, my optimism has soon diminished. It is imaginable that slanders, rumors, negative comments will be on the marketplace, but what is disappointing is that the extensive trolling overwhelmingly controls the main direction of the discussion and this one-sided bias is in no way balanced by any major social media. One critique on Weibo, which represents the majority viewpoints at the moment, reads, ‘this whole action is ridiculous, and the girls are completely shameless. They simply have no idea how wrong what they are doing is”. The girls who directed and performed in the show are fighting on their own terms, along with some alumni and intellects—they are biting the bullets with the false hope that the society will back them up. But are they wrong about this society?
As an alumna of BFSU, I am proud of what these girls did. Perhaps they did not aim at making a difference in society to begin with, but it obviously has generated bigger impact. They might be radical, but they are only radical in comparative terms—in a culture where the sexual related topics are forcibly oppressed. Their radicalism is meant to produce certain “shocking effect” in society where the general public who have not even aware that there is something wrong with gender inequality or simply deny it is a big deal and an issue need fixing. The shock in society brought about by this event may in turn produces counterforce that the ‘radical’ pioneers have to bear with—in this case, trolling and finger pointing. Even in the worst-case scenario, a whole new discourse is open, however the remarks are unpleasant to hear, however offensive and personal the attack will get. The girls just have to hang in there and fight. But they should not fight this war alone. In an open and healthy society, intellectuals and media advocating for changes need to become the counterweight, the social discussion has to be adversarial and must be maintained in a relatively longer period of time before its effects are actualized and seen in the society. Changes will happen either until one side subsides and surrenders, or until the general public are convinced by one side’s advocacy. Some issues do not have a right or wrong answer, but some do require certain line to be drawn, like this one. Were the overpowering trolling not checked or did it outvoice the new advocacy, the result would be the least desirable: stereotypes on feminist movement will be reinforced, advocacy reclaiming the autonomy for women thwarted, and misogynist views even more rampant.
Is our society not well prepared for radicalism? In fact, there is no such thing as a good timing. The conservatism in society will always be hostile towards changes and ready to quash anything capable of shaking the old patriarchy and threatening their supremacy. Talking about sexual taboos is in no way hurting them other than making them feel uncomfortable. Quite on the contrary, this discussion will pave the way for changes on gender perception and move for female liberation.
The trolling on Internet and society at large provide an extremely hostile environment for social discussion. The focus of the issue moves away from sexual taboo and female liberation, name-calling and ‘human flesh search’ are everywhere. The actresses are called ‘sluts’ and ‘promiscuous’ for no justifiable reason. BFSU is under fire. Feminism is ridiculed. Anything is touched upon except for a debate on the right way to treat sexual taboos and on redefining social norms. A society should be shaped in a way malleable and capable toward changes. Especially in a society as resilient as China, actions of media and thoughts from intellectuals are particularly called for to resist ‘Die Welle’.
Another sad fact is that among all ‘trollers’ who have joined the army of calling the actresses “whores”, many of them are female students. It is sad in the sense that they are exactly the ones who internalized the oppressive norms and falsely attack those who come to help them reclaiming their long lost rights. These young female trollers tell themselves this is the way it should be and these are the social taboos without asking why. They choose to side with the conservatives retaining the social taboos without knowing that they fundamentally have no ability to make such preference and choice under an oppressive culture like this. They adapt their preference to the oppressive structure and treat deference as autonomy.
The door to discussion is finally open. Instead of facing a negotiation or seminar table, we are forced to face a situation where the assembly room is so disordered and noises so jarring and less than a handful of people are willing to listen and reason. It is not a trial, and the spotlight needs to be redirected towards the issue not the persons who brought it up. The clock is ticking and the public focus will shift. Please have a real debate before the door is shut once again.