A queer feminist anthropologist exploring the realities of culture, gender, and sexuality in contemporary Asia
Inspired by her grandmother’s deathbed confession of being sold to a brothel, Lijia Zhang injects her cutting social criticism into her first novel, Lotus. The book delves deep into the sex industry in contemporary Shenzhen, following a young migrant woman, Lotus, who is eager to escape her life as a prostitute. A strong believer in [...]
The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet. Adrienne Rich was an American poet, essayist and radical feminist. She was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse" (Flood). Responsibility to yourself means refusing to [...]
2016 was characterized by sexism across the board, from President-elect Trump and Duterte to the Olympics and the music industry. But the world has made some serious strides towards equality and liberation in 2016, with female heads of state taking power worldwide, and women standing strong together in the face of adversity.
The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied ... strength and beauty must go together. ― Louisa May Alcott, from her 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Alcott is best-known for her novel Little Women, which was published in 1868. Some of Alcott's works were published under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard. If she were still alive, [...]
You can’t crush ideas by suppressing them. You can only crush them by ignoring them. By refusing to think, refusing to change. Downloadable copy of Le Guin's 1974 novel The Dispossessed.
There's no need for a name when you're 'Ms Foreign Friend' in China.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBdLRubSzqA A young woman receives unsolicited advice on her appearance from a disembodied male voice straight out of a 1950s public service announcement. The 1950s doesn't seem to believe she's showing off her 'assets' enough for a 2016 job interview. Written and directed by Kyrie Gray Filmed in Beijing, May 2016
What would happen if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not? Downloadable copy of Steinem's 1978 essay If Men Could Menstruate.
Some people love her because she’s Aung San’s daughter. Most people love her because of what she’s done. I don’t care about who she is; it depends on what she’s done.
Don't wait for the system to correct itself for you. Ask for what you want, what your people want, and fight for it.
Zhēn de Gender 