Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China

The book opens with the statement that nearly 1 out of every 5 women on this planet lives in China. That's a staggering number. A potentially powerful one. While Hong Fincher does a lot of thorough reporting on the repressive patriarchy that currently rules over Chinese women in society, law and economy, strangely this book left me with more hope for a revolution in China than any of the other writings I've encountered so far.

Feminism is always at the forefront of democratic revolutions. And Chinese women are slowly getting more empowered. Despite all the cruel tactics the government employs against them.

Gender equality originally was one of the selling points at the founding of the Communist Party. Yet since then the government has slowly returned to more conservative family stereotypes. As in all authoritarian regimes. Women need better exam results than men to enter certain universities. Government sponsored campaigns shame single “leftover” women into marriage. From 1990 to 2010 Chinese women's income relative to men fell from 77.5% to 67.3%!! Yet feministic activists also slowly gain small victories. Since (only) 2015 China has a law against domestic violence.

Empowering women, the best weapon against authoritarian regimes! Still a long way to go, but there's a glimmer of hope.