cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/60736935

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The conversations of small groups break the night’s calm in Wudaoying, one of the most popular hutong (alleyways) in Beijing’s old quarter. At the door of a concert hall, Shao, 27, and Qin, 28, chat with beers in their hands. “They treat me like a little girl and on top of that I have to smile so as not to cause trouble,” Shao complains. She takes a drag from her cigarette and nods toward a co‑worker standing a few meters away. “I’m sick of so much mansplaining,” Qin replies, referring to the condescending explanations by men who assume women know less.

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Now that China’s population has fallen for four consecutive years and the People’s Republic has recorded its lowest birth rate in history, Beijing wants more births. In 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the All‑China Women’s Federation to “guide” women “to play a unique role in promoting traditional virtues and establishing good family customs.”

“I don’t want children. Much less so if I’m being pressured into it,” Qin says in a lower voice. “Any policy related to women is never for our benefit but for the national interest,” she stresses.

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Talking about feminism in China is not banned per se, but independent activism linked to women’s rights operates in an increasingly narrow space. In that context, communities have sprung up in big cities where women share experiences, find mutual support and question what society expects of them. Shao demands tools to make choices about her life: “At university we’re not taught to develop critical thinking, nor is feminism discussed. We have to educate ourselves.” “In China, women are flowers in a garden where we cannot bloom,” she adds.

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Authorities have focused on what they call “extreme feminism.” In 2025 and 2026, the Cyberspace Administration, the regulator responsible for digital censorship, launched month‑long campaigns coinciding with the Lunar New Year against content that encouraged rejection of marriage and motherhood or fomented confrontation between men and women. Amnesty International documented in its 2025 report the shutdown of feminist accounts that addressed sexual harassment and discrimination. Human Rights Watch, for its part, warns of growing government hostility toward feminism, while noting that gender debates are generally tolerated so long as they do not directly challenge the Communist Party.

Last month, the Beijing Institute of Technology fired law professor Pei Yi, citing “serious violations of professional ethics.” Pei had been accused of promoting “radical feminism” after a message in the course group for Protection of Women’s Rights in the Digital Era in which she warned it “could cause discomfort” and suggested canceling the class for students who had enrolled only for the credits. Her words were interpreted as an indirect slight against men, and a clip circulated online in which the teacher asked why none of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee (the party’s top leadership) could be women.

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