[Song by Tan Weiwei, one of the
nation’s favourite performers, appears to reference high-profile instances of
violence against women]
For the past six months Tan, one of
China’s most popular singers, has been releasing singles from her album 3811.
The songs tell the stories of women: a taxi driver, a charity worker, a single
mother, a 60-year-old woman who cannot read. But it is her latest single that
has made the biggest impact, arriving
at a key moment in China’s reckoning with gender-based violence and
harassment.
Xiao Juan (Pseudonym), is named
after the generic name authorities sometimes give to victims of domestic
violence, according
to Sixth Tone.
“Erase our names, forget our
beings, same tragedy continues and repeats,” Tan sings.
The song appears to reference some
of the most high-profile instances of violence against women.
“You use your fists, gasoline, and
sulphuric acid … Flush us down the drain, from wedding bed to riverbed, stuff
my body into a suitcase, or put it in a freezer on your balcony.”
In October, video footage of a man
beating his wife in Shanxi spread widely across social media. Earlier this year
Lhamo, a 30-year-old Tibetan woman, died
from horrific burns. Police were reportedly investigating whether her
husband had doused her with gasoline and set her alight while she was live
streaming on social media. In July police arrested a man suspected of killing
and dismembering his wife, and trying to dispose of her body parts in the
sewers.
The direct language in a pop song
by one of the country’s most popular artists has thrust the taboo subject into
the spotlight.
In response to the song’s release,
media commenters listed more of the many acts of violence to make the news
in China this
year.
“There hasn’t been anything like
this before,” said Chinese feminist activist, Xiong Jing. “We can’t expect a
song to change too much, and maybe it won’t. But it’s interesting to see the
song itself, I can’t imagine seeing something like it three or five years ago.”
Official national statistics are
unavailable, but a 2010 survey by the state-run All-China Women’s Federation
found 24.7% of married women aged 24-60 had experienced domestic violence. In
2015, the year before China first introduced specific laws, the Supreme
People’s Court found 10% of intentional homicide cases involve domestic
violence. Physical abuse of a family member carries penalties of up to two years
in prison, rising to seven of the victim is seriously injured or killed.
Xiong said Xiao Juan
(Pseudonym) showed how deeply ingrained perceptions of gender had
been. Awareness of violence against women was often “erased”, she said, not
just socially but systemically. There remained an inexcusable lack of
assistance available to women, and failures in the police and court systems
which have
a legislated objective of keeping families together.
“Women really want to seek help but
it’ really difficult for them. The police, the courts, all this kind of stuff
makes people feel like they can’t do anything about it,” said Xiong.
“We haven’t set up the system to
prevent and deal with gender based violence.” Tan’s song, she said, was a form
of public education.
“After the Me Too movement in
China, after January 2018, people were already starting to talk about this
stuff. Gender based violence, sexual harassment - women were standing up and
speaking about their stories. I think this is the foundation of Tan’s song.”
Speaking up in China is fraught
with danger – journalists, artists and activists who criticise the state are
routinely intimidated. In 2015 five
feminist activists were jailed for planning to hand out stickers to
the public. More recently, the current face of China’s Me Too movement, Zhou
Xiaoxuan, was warned off pursuing a case against a famous TV host who allegedly
sexually harassed her.
Fans of Tan feared her songs would
be censored. Since the release the hashtag “Tan Weiwei is brave in lyrics” had
been viewed more than 330 million times.
“What is it so brave about this?”
said one commenter on Weibo. “Women even need to be brave to tell the truth?
Don’t we need to reflect on that?”
In one of her few public statements
on the song, Tan replied: “Not brave, but just a responsibility.”
Additional reporting by Pei Lin Wu.
