Daily life in China can be strange, infuriating, illogical and altogether baffling. “Oh, China!” is sometimes the only thing that can be said.
Oh, China!
Author: ZhendeGender
A queer feminist anthropologist working in China, East Asia and Southeast Asia, exploring culture, gender, and sexuality.
Beijing Dance / LDTX Studios
A morning at Beijing Dance / LDTX Studios It’s the first rainy day since my arrival in Beijing. I am met, somewhat sodden, at Dawanglu station by a young Chinese woman named Jade. Clutching our umbrellas, exchange our thoughts about London, the city we’ve both left recently, and Beijing, where we’re both newly living. Jade [...]
The Pomegranate
Today is my wonderful mother's birthday. I am over eight thousand kilometres from her at home, but my thoughts have been on her all day. She's an utter inspiration. She's taught me so much, continually encourages me to follow my dreams and supports me in every decision I make. She's never once prevented me from [...]
In Good Company
Hofesh Shechter Company's In Good Company It’s not often that dancers are given free reign to create new works of their own, and even rarer that they get all the support necessary to make fully-realised, successful pieces. That’s why In Good Company, the project enabling dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company to present their own [...]
Tao Dance Theatre
Weighty, abstract and astounding: Tao Dance Theatre’s 4 and 5 Hypnotic, enthralling and undeniably special: bodies ebb and flow with the tide of change in Chinese choreographer Tao Ye’s 4 and 5. These are just two parts in a series of abstract works that “explore the potential of the human body as a visual element, [...]
Vortex Temporum
Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's challenging Vortex Temporum Dancers whirl through dark space, crossing paths, each following their own axes as they run at full speed along pre-drawn lines like ebullient planets. A deconstruction of the relationship between dance and music, Vortex Temporum is an engaging work, both powerfully engaging and lightly playful. This week saw [...]
Having it all?
Career and love: can we ever have it all? So, I’ve got a bit of a situation here, and I’ve no idea how it’ll turn out. I want my personal relationships to bring me happiness. I want to have a successful, fulfilling career. But it seems that wanting both simultaneously is just too much to [...]
Habits…
Old habits die hard. Or do they? Over one of the many Easter-time bank holidays, a friend of mine visited me in London for a few days. Coming from the country, she’d bought a glossy women’s magazine to occupy her during the journey. I’m not one to buy magazines – so rarely read them. Flicking [...]
On Equality
‘Equality is in the eye of the beholder’ – Linda Grant. For some women, perhaps those of my grandmother’s generation, it must seem like we – the women of generation Y – have got everything women could hope for. That the women’s movement has finished its’ job. That we can do ANYTHING. My grandmother truly [...]
On Choice, Contraception and Woman Power
What if choosing the contraception that best suits you was not an option? The Pill revolutionised sex. There’s no denying it. Margaret Sanger probably wouldn’t believe how widespread the oral contraceptive she dreamed of has become. But that’s not to say it’s actually the best or most suitable method out there for you. There are [...]
Zhēn de Gender 