When nationalism meets misogyny
How the treatment of Dalian Polytechnic's Miss Li reveals a cultural insecurity
You wouldn’t think that a one-night stand would be newsworthy enough to dominate social media for weeks, not unless those involved were celebrities anyway. But an affair that a 21-year-old student at Dalian Polytechnic had with a Ukrainian professional gamer really has dominated Weibo. The reason it has had such enduring interest, I argue in my latest column, is because it taps into a toxic mix of nationalism and misogyny.
In December last year, Ms Li and Danylo Teslenko, gamer name ‘Zeus’, spent a night together in Shanghai. The only reason this private tryst became public was because Teslenko later posted intimate (though not explicit) videos of them, in their hotel room, on Telegram. He has over 44,000 followers on there. Her face was fully visible.
Her trust has clearly been betrayed, but instead of seeing her as the victim, a vocal strain of public opinion has been slut-shaming her.
Misogyny is not unique to China, and it is an age-old rule of sex scandals in patriarchies that it is the woman who receives the most scrutiny/sanction. But most curious to me was the nationalistic strain in the discourse – people who were even more incensed that Teslenko was white. He had supposedly written, in the now-deleted original post, that Chinese girls were ‘easy’ (he denies this).
So instead of sympathising with the young woman, a vocal digital mob railed that she had brought shame upon China and upon Chinese women as a whole. If only this were a fringe opinion – recently, Dalian Polytechnic expelled her, citing that she had ‘damaged national dignity’. Plenty have also
How could the actions of one 21-year-old damage the reputation of China? In my column, I write that the overreaction reveals just how hyper-sensitive some Chinese are about how they are perceived in the West, with the trauma of the century of humiliation in recent memory. Ironically, it is they who care the most about what the West thinks. In the process, they’ve become some of the worst bullies of individual Chinese.
There is hope though, because the university’s action is generally perceived to be harsh, even by some of the most influential nationalistic voices (e.g. Hu Xijin, formerly of the Global Times). But I suspect that will be little comfort for Miss Li, who has been dragged through an unimaginable ordeal.
Other updates:
I have also had a busy few weeks in terms of broadcasting, first of all settling into Times Radio as a panellist every now and then, and also on Sky News’s Trevor Phillips Show. These are non-China contributions, so perhaps more interesting for the British reader. You can catch up here:
For more China content, you can also tune in (in person or online) to my interview with Yuan Yang on this coming Wednesday. You can register online here, or if you are in London, come in person! Click here to sign up without joining the organiser, Conduit, as a member.
Finally, I’ve been addicted to a new C-drama, 五福临门 or A Perfect Match. Set in the Song dynasty, it’s about the struggles of a middle-class single mum of five daughters, who needs to marry them all off. Very Pride and Prejudice.
Full disclosure: it is absolutely trash TV, but if you want a mindless and visually pleasing romp, you can’t get better than this. It’s available on Netflix.
