Women in "New China", "New India"

From the perspective of mainstream feminism, the promulgation of the Marriage Law after the founding of the "New China" is one of the great achievements in history to put an end to polygamy. However, recent horror news shows that this does not eliminate other abuses of patriarchy, such as forced captivity of women. Forcing her to provide sex or fertility to a rural family. Before the online tracing incident broke out, a friend had reposted the dilemma of the private life of "leftover men" in contemporary rural areas. Although they were not mad or imprisoned, they were indeed poor and embarrassed.

In the past, when the one-party dictatorship still had a certain authority, all these matters could be handed over to the "organization" to "solve". "Personal problems" can all succumb to management. In my impression, in most cases, the affairs of these men and women are finally logical. For example, Yan Lianke's "Serving the People" is a story of men and women "overcoming" a sexual crisis under political pressure. This sexual crisis is of course also happening in other societies, but these societies still follow some of the previous practices, such as polygamy in the Middle East and parts of Africa. Some white feminist anthropologists have argued that the frequent wars in Africa are not caused by the plundering of outsiders, but because of poor living conditions, rich men will naturally accumulate multiple female spouses, so men without money will be willing to take it. The barrel of a gun solves its own sexual crisis. This theory is a bit whitewashing of European colonialism in Africa, but if you can compare the current situation in China, you can also see traces of this theory: most Chinese men have handed in their weapons, and even if they hide them, they will soon be reported by the organization. punish. Looking at the income of the armed police, a few thousand yuan a month can well support many poor and lower-middle peasants who originally need to "uprising" (for sex). Because the topic is too sensitive, the information about the income of the armed police is not transparent, and the information seen on the Internet cannot be confirmed whether it is true or not, so I will just talk about it here.

Mr. Qian Mu once sighed in the book: In the 1970s and 1980s, the "new" women he saw had no new ideas. The process of modernization has made them no longer need to complete some of the previous heavy tasks, but they are willing to play mahjong after eating after being educated. Perhaps it is also one of the reasons why such "missing" incidents are not valued by the general society - the great wave of social construction has already existed in name only. The rural male-dominated system cannot be blamed alone. After all, "New China" is a project that spans urban and rural areas. It has been implemented for many years. Education is also of a national nature. I am also one of the beneficiaries of this system. Drinking water and thinking of the source, I have enthusiastically participated in the online activities to complete this "New China" project, and constantly "advance, advance, advance". But now I want to say, should we accept that our big-picture thinking doesn't take into account the big picture? It is impossible to determine the seriousness of some things on the Internet, and many times it is based on guesswork. The news I saw about "rural areas" in the United States may be similar to the news I saw in many first-tier cities. This "China" does not mean that people in "China" can grasp it.

A college classmate shared the news of a famous American African anthropologist sexually harassing female students in a WeChat story, and many colleagues signed to support his miracle. The tone of her comments in Chinese was very understatement, as if all this was far away from her, although she was also an American university educated person. Perhaps every snobby person will want to say that he escaped disaster when disaster strikes. I was able to escape these "sexual crises" largely because of the advantages of education and income.

Women in rural India also strive for freedom of love and sexuality for themselves, but as a whole they are still floating in a caste system that is sometimes loose and sometimes strict. If there is a problem, in addition to the government's legal agencies, she can also appeal to some local unofficial "law enforcement" personnel, while others can also activate their non-government human resources. There is no general direction for society as a whole, but there can be many unexpected developments in private issues. The opposite of "imprisonment" is "liberation", but what about "women" and "liberation" is more than just shackles on the feet?

Perhaps Indian society can see that the matter of men and women is much more complicated than the construction of "New China" or "New India". Therefore, to liberate women in India, the momentum is not as large as China. In other words, no Indian male feels that it is the duty of every "Indian citizen" to "liberate" Indian women, but there is no objection - everyone has their own fate. The most exciting social news recently is a free-married couple who relocated away from home in another city in order to be together. When I went back to visit my hometown during Eid al-Fitr, the man was beaten to death in the street by people from his wife's house if he didn't pay attention. Because the door is not right. When I was bitter, I thought that if this matter were put in another country, the lives of men and women might not be saved. But Indian society at least allows women to complain about the grievances of the tragedy on mainstream TV channels, expressing fluently how sincere they and their husbands feel for each other. And the audience may be just like when her husband died at the time, watching but not intervening.

The "arranged marriage" opposed by the New Democracy in the mainland can also continue in India. "New India" faces every foreign culture, and new women appear. Western women are just one of many foreign cultures. Here's a recently read South Indian poem, Conna Kurikalam, that also reflects how women of all stripes come to the same destination in India:

A Telegu beauty asked, "Look at my palm."

I gave her palm reading and she gave me this nose ring.

A Maratha lady said, "Help me read your palms."

After reading it, she rewarded me with a diamond necklace.

A Kannada girl said, help me read my palm.

After reading it, she gave me a pair of earrings.

A lovely Turk said, help me read my palms.

After I read it, she gave me a shiny necklace.

A spirited British lady said, help me read my palm.

I saw the lines on her hands, and she gave me a set of slim belts.

(Translated from the English translation of Indira Peterson. To be honest, among the objects mentioned in the whole article, I specifically checked the girdle given by the last British man, and I know what the others are... )

In ten years of studying Indian culture, I have seen multiple spaces of thought (except during elections) on some sensitive topics. A male standup comedian bluntly said while laughing at his own countryside, I am from Rajasthan, one, no water, and two, "bad habits" such as child brides. The audience can also laugh with him, and do what they have to do after laughing. If Mr. Qian Mu was present, he might not have a good impression of India.

However, because the "New China" project is too collective and centralized, the discussions are too tit-for-tat. If there is disagreement, it will be scolded, and if there is disagreement, the mainland will be counterattacked, and Taiwan will be recovered. A video recorded a Shanghai boy collecting the clothes of women in the Republic of China and describing the material culture of fashion. The YouTube page of the video forbids comments. Perhaps the uploader knew that many mainland netizens might curse after watching it.

If you look at the status of women and their speaking styles and feelings from a global perspective, maybe everyone can maintain normal breathing when discussing women or sexual topics.

Back to African anthropology. This Harvard sexual harassment incident has triggered some scholars' reflection: if this person has been shielded by his colleagues for a long time, then everyone could have done better in Africa-related knowledge and research, but under the influence of Renee and his supporters, the academic circle Too much focus on African "witchcraft" rather than other tracks or achievements. Just like when the West studies contemporary China, they always want to pay attention to or criticize the one-child policy, but fail to see that women's "abortion" or "childbirth" is not simply a social change driven by technology, nor is it the introduction of Christianity or liberalism. thinking can "solve" the social challenges women face when giving birth or having an abortion.

An Indian female classmate I know studies Chinese history and also teaches American students about Chinese history. Her professor is white. The hotly debated topic in the class was actually the one-child policy. There was a mainland female student in the class who said that she had never seen the coercive phenomenon mentioned in English books. Years later, perhaps the mother of eight children will also come to the lobby of Western academics to talk about her tragic experience and criticize the human rights situation in the mainland. Confused.