I like to think of myself as a fairly liberal and PC kind of guy in most respects, and in particular as a supporter of the struggle for gender equality. But, you know, I don't go to the meetings all that often, so I'm not up on the latest ideas and the hippest jargon.
It was, therefore, even more of a delight than usual to hang out with my "favourite feminist" last night. She had cried off the Bloggers' Gathering the previous night because she had feared (rightly enough) that there would be a heavy preponderance of men there, and that there might therefore be a risk of the proceedings getting a little too testosterone-heavy for her comfort. Or, as she put it...... "It's going to be a 'sausage party', isn't it?"
I can't get that phrase out of my mind!
Anyway, in honour of the continuing struggle to get all of us chaps to keep our sausages under proper control (yesterday was, after all, International Women's Day - March 8th; although I guess tomorrow, Monday, will be the official holiday for most working women here in China), here's a classic episode of Sexy Beijing, in which irrepressible reporter 'Su Fei' went out on the streets of the city this time last year to find out about Beijingers' attitudes on gender relations...... and in which we learn that the words san ba (3-8, the Chinese way of designating the date of the holiday) have become a common slang term of disrespect for an assertive or troublesome woman. So..... maybe the Chinese aren't yet quite the world leaders in gender equality that they'd like to have you believe.
It was, therefore, even more of a delight than usual to hang out with my "favourite feminist" last night. She had cried off the Bloggers' Gathering the previous night because she had feared (rightly enough) that there would be a heavy preponderance of men there, and that there might therefore be a risk of the proceedings getting a little too testosterone-heavy for her comfort. Or, as she put it...... "It's going to be a 'sausage party', isn't it?"
I can't get that phrase out of my mind!
Anyway, in honour of the continuing struggle to get all of us chaps to keep our sausages under proper control (yesterday was, after all, International Women's Day - March 8th; although I guess tomorrow, Monday, will be the official holiday for most working women here in China), here's a classic episode of Sexy Beijing, in which irrepressible reporter 'Su Fei' went out on the streets of the city this time last year to find out about Beijingers' attitudes on gender relations...... and in which we learn that the words san ba (3-8, the Chinese way of designating the date of the holiday) have become a common slang term of disrespect for an assertive or troublesome woman. So..... maybe the Chinese aren't yet quite the world leaders in gender equality that they'd like to have you believe.
5 comments:
I had no idea it was International Women's Day. That's how we roll in the U.S. Or maybe I am just not feminist (said with a positive connotation, of course, not with that nasty lip curl) enough to have realized it.
That was an awesome video. Are the subtitles accurate? 'Cause some of those comments were hilarious.
Meanwhile, I like the whole "they hold up half the sky" phrase. I'll ignore its potentially propagandist (sp?) qualities for now.
Thanks for an enlightening post.
"Women hold up half the sky" is a Mao-ism, OMG.
It is often facetiously completed (at least by me) with,"Then they drop it on your head."
I can't personally verify the accuracy of the sub-titles, since my Chinese is extremely limited.
However, Sexy Beijing TV is an offshoot of the Danwei news site that I recommended on here a while back; all of the guys involved with that - Sophie, Luke, Jeremy - speak really good Chinese; and their 'backroom boy', Joel Martinsen, who, I understand, does most of the written translations for them, is really good.
And I know I'm oversensitive, OMG, but...... when you single out one post as 'enlightening', it seems as though you are indirectly dismissing all the rest as worthless dross! I am more deflated than elated....
(Just kidding. Well, half-kidding.)
I'm so happy to have enriched your vocabulary with this vital phrase. Once you've got it in your head, you just can't stop applying it to things, can you?
As for the Sexy BJ video, I've watched it before and I seem to remember that, from what I could tell, the subtitles were right on the mark (as with the rest of Danwei's generally high quality work).
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