See the differences, build connections, and fight together: some thoughts on overseas Chinese feminists’ support for South Korean feminists’ anti-deepfake actions

This article comes from fraternity member Chloe.

【English version】: Acknowledging Differ...

[Japanese version]: Differences, understanding, building together, and sharing - Hua...

In September this year, feminists in South Korea began a resistance movement against digital sexual violence based on deepfake technology. In the large number of digital sexual violence incidents involving deepfake technology that have been exposed, the victims are almost always women, and much of this violence occurs on campus. Many underage high school boys use AI technology to humiliate, harass and even intimidate female classmates and teachers around them. This incident can't help but remind people of the extremely bad Room N incident that was exposed before. However, in South Korea, such serious situations tend to be downplayed by those in power and mainstream society. In order not to allow this kind of digital sexual violence to continue as a matter of course, many Korean women's rights activists have stood up to express resistance. At the same time, overseas Chinese feminist communities who are paying attention to related events also stood up to express their solidarity. Friends in Japan received invitations from the Chinese feminist community in the UK.

After some ideological struggle and hesitation, I also participated in the overseas Chinese feminist community in Japan to support Korean feminists’ anti-deepfake actions, and was moved and inspired. Especially when a little Korean feminist stood on the street and told her experience, I felt tremendous energy. In order to express solidarity with women who suffered sexual violence because of their short hair, she cut off her hair and actively studied women's rights. She overcame her previous feelings of helplessness and stood up on the streets to speak out, telling other women not to despair and that the world could be changed. I couldn't help but burst into tears when I saw the little girl standing there describing her own changes, encouraging other helpless and desperate people, and calling for connection. As a feminist, I think that impulse and courage to "stand up" is very moving and valuable. Even if the power is small and the hope for change is slim, inequality and violence cannot be allowed to exist as a matter of course. At this level, it means a lot to stand up in solidarity and fight together.

But while I was moved, there were also many things that I cared about from the beginning that were so heavy in my heart that it was difficult to calm down. In the past, when I was writing a thesis, I dared to write anything critical. Now, when friends around me are unanimously angry, anxious, active, and moved, I realize that it takes a lot of courage to make a different voice. However, during the participation process, I also heard some different voices from friends in the Chinese community, as well as some voices from the Japanese queer community. These voices made the issues on my mind become clearer and made me realize the importance of speaking out about these issues. I believe that whether they agree with my views or not, friends I trust and people who will become friends in the future will at least be willing to listen to what I have to say.

I am a non-binary (assigned as female) Chinese queer feminist in Japan who is part of multiple intersectional communities. Because my study and understanding of Korean society is still very limited, I feel that I cannot say too much about the situation in Korea. My views below come more from my observations of overseas Chinese feminist communities.

First of all, one of the reasons why I was unable to immediately identify with and promote the movement from its early stages is that the main text of this movement basically implemented the logic of male-female binary (including cisgender and genital-centric slogans such as penis shaming). This type of slogan was partially modified due to dissenting voices during the Japanese operation). In most cases, sexual violence and sexual harassment incidents, including deepfake incidents, are indeed caused by men harming, controlling and dominating women. This incident has indeed exposed the disgust that "female bodies can be dominated and controlled at will". Serious problem with girl culture. But I believe the truth is more complicated than the logic of the male-female binary.

For example, how can we determine that all victims are women? As a non-binary person who identifies as female and is often seen as female, I have also been exposed to different forms of sexual violence and harassment, and I have also felt sickened and angry. But I know that my emotions and the violence I received are different from those of Shun girlfriends. For example, I would be angry that "women are being subjected to violence as a matter of course", and at the same time, I would also be angry because I was "being treated as a woman" and felt that my existence was being denied. If the feminist olive branch offered to me in the movement was based on a purely "female" identity, I would be troubled to be honest. Because if I took it, I would have to deny a huge part of myself. And this kind of denial and misgendering is something I often encounter inside and outside the community.

These are my opinions based on personal experience, and others at different points on the gender/gender spectrum will of course have different feelings. For example, trans women, non-binary, and genderless people who are assigned as male but have feminine qualities are also often targets of sexual violence and harassment in their daily lives. How do they view the binary narrative of (cisgender) men and women in this operation? I cannot speak for these, but I hope these voices can be carefully listened to and truly understood. I raise such questions not simply to make cis women more inclusive of gender diverse groups, but to look forward to real and thorough gender cultural changes that involve everyone - after all, sexual violence is just Simply understanding that men = perpetrators / women = victims will not only obscure the more complex reality of victimization/victimization, but will also strengthen gender stereotypes and norms that affect everyone, blocking more gender imaginations and Possibility of connection.

Then there are thoughts on demands for “severe punishment.” The demand for severe punishment for sexual crimes was mentioned in the copywriting of the Overseas Chinese Feminist Action and the slogan of the Japanese action I participated in. In some discussions I have even seen calls for the death penalty mentioned. As someone who has been greatly influenced by the abolitionist ideas of the black, queer, and feminist movements, and as someone who has seen activists and ordinary people at the bottom, whether in Hong Kong, mainland China, or Japan, continue to be subjected to violence by the police and prison systems. As a person who was sexually harassed and suffered secondary trauma from the Japanese police, and who felt that the police were an eyesore every time he took to the streets (everyone who participated in the Japanese action this time also repeatedly received unreasonable demands from the police), as a questioner People with state authoritarianism... I don’t think I can agree with the demand for “severe punishment.”

To my limited knowledge, no matter where in the world it is, state authoritarianism is consolidating and even increasing its power through the police, prisons and the carceral system that carry out "legal" punishment. And while state funds and resources continue to flow to the police, prisons and institutional systems, which may even become a large industrial aggregation, public social welfare and resources that nourish various communities are continuously reduced. Under the ever-growing control system of the state and the police and prison system, people who are more marginal, lower-class, and more rebellious are often more likely to be exposed to its violence. In this case, will women’s demands for “severe punishment” of sexual crimes become a tool to strengthen the police and prison system that breeds violence and empower the country? Will it only protect a small part of the rights of a small group of women and produce more oppression?

Abolitionists have repeatedly called for the fundamental elimination of crime by changing the distribution and inequality structures of society, emphasizing the power of mutual support, understanding, and education in daily community building, rather than relying solely on the black hands of the "punishment system." In this action, I saw calls for legalization and severe punishment, but there was almost no voice calling for the popularization of public sex/gender education. I believe that to fundamentally change the influence of misogynistic patriarchal culture, the most important thing to invest in is daily, basic and solid sex/gender education that promotes social justice, various intersectional perspectives and diverse thinking (including gender education). cultural practices of the role of education). As a feminist, I feel that anger is very valuable and that this anger can be the driving force for social change. I sincerely hope that such precious emotions will not be absorbed and eventually become part of the consolidation of the existing power structure and the oppression of more marginalized groups.

Finally, there are some immature views on the statement that "women have no borders". I can actually understand the feeling of being moved and excited about discovering the possibility of connection that transcends borders and languages. But think about it carefully, what is that "connection" based on? Is it simply based on "women's common experience" or "female empathy", or is it empathy based on thinking and understanding of various differences? Gender is never something that can be understood in a vacuum. Different regions on the earth have different geopolitics, and gender politics must be inseparable from them, so there are more or less differences. Gender issues seem to be common in every place, but in fact, due to old and new colonialism and other reasons, feminist politics in different places have different burdens and cannot be generalized. The international feminist movement has already critically reflected on the arrogance of the "global sisterhood" dominated by mainstream feminism in the Global North, and has unanimously reached an agreement on "valuing differences." I hope that this action of supporting Korean feminists will not only be a simple touch of "the connection of women beyond national boundaries", but also hope that it can be a reflection of the Chinese feminist community on Korean women's rights, as well as women's rights and sexuality in other parts of the world. /The beginning of political understanding.

The action I participated in this time was carried out in Japan, and the local queer feminist community helped forward the publicity information of the action. However, at the same time, I also heard hesitation and different opinions about solidarity from my queer friends in Japan. I also saw people on social media raising the issue of cisgenderism and the male-female binary in the language used in this operation in Japanese. I think such reactions (or "non-reactions") are context and reason. In recent years, trans-exclusionary and anti-sex work feminist voices have become rampant on social media and intellectual circles in Japan. Even Japan’s right wing, which has been attacking women’s rights, has begun to join the ranks of anti-Japanese activists in the name of “protecting women” and as a party of “justice”. Many of these claims are to exclude more marginalized existences by implementing the logic of men = perpetrators / women = victims, and use this exclusion as "feminist demands" to justify them. (It is undeniable that these ideas are also influenced by some overseas feminism, including South Korea and the United Kingdom.) In the process of constant quarrels and harm to marginalized groups such as transgender people, the divisions of feminism have become increasingly clear. After experiencing these divisive arguments and constant thinking, feminists who value queer and trans politics are actually very vigilant and sensitive to discourses that show signs of cisgenderism, male-female dualism, etc.

Within China's walls, due to the government's suppression of discourses such as women's rights, pornography, and sexual minorities, even though there are voices of anti-trans and anti-sex work, there is no space to discuss these issues. I personally hope that this action can also be an opportunity for overseas Chinese feminists to understand Japan’s gender politics and communicate with Japanese feminists (not the group that is anti-trans and anti-sex work). Only on this basis can "connections across national borders" be truly realized.

In addition, I think we need to think deeply about the relationship between pornographic culture and sexual exploitation, sexual crimes, sexual assault, etc. Otherwise, it is easy to simply fall into the direction of "anti-pornography", "anti-sex work", "criminalization of sex work", etc. The oppression of sex workers who are originally at the margins and at the bottom... I have limited energy and I won’t go into detail here. I hope it can spark some ideas.

After this action and some thinking, I suddenly understood the connotation and importance of the concept of "reflective solidarity" proposed by left-wing feminist scholar Jodi Dean that I had read before. Dean pointed out that "reflective solidarity" is formed in the process of continuous dialogue recognizing each other's differences. The formation of this solidarity is not based on the logic of "us vs. them", but the logic of "you and I stand together against a third party." In other words, "we" who are often taken for granted because of a certain attribute are not actually monolithic. In the imagined seemingly unified collective of "us", there are often differences between "you and me" (and ta, etc.). And through continuous dialogue, each other realizes this difference, and each other's reasons for fighting the third party, can we establish a connection for the third party's common struggle (of course, we need to pay attention to the privilege-marginal inequality between you, me, and him/her in the dialogue) power relations). Therefore, in this process, "we" are constantly changing and are oriented to practice and politics, rather than being something fixed.

I believe that the fight for women’s rights has never been and should not be just a fight of “us women” vs. “them men.” The struggle for women’s rights is a joint struggle against patriarchy by “you, me, and him” who have suffered various forms and degrees of oppression and violence because of their “femininity” (sometimes including the enforced “masculinity”). Fight against unequal social structures such as capitalism, colonialism, racism, normalism, etc. that are inseparable from patriarchy, and imagine and construct new social possibilities.

The important foundation that connects "you, me, and him" and constitutes "us" is not some unified "physiological structure" or identity, but the common political aspirations of "us". "We" stand together because we choose to change, to fight against various unequal structures, and to choose new social possibilities. Only when we see the differences between "you, me, and him" in "us" and at the same time see the common political demands of "us" can we truly start a struggle based on unity.