Woman Warrior: Li Maizi

Li Maizi: Feminism in China

Li Maizi is a Chinese activist for gender equality, sexual harassment, and sexuality. Maizi has participated in many demonstrations in China, which puts her at risk of obtaining any public image. It is essential to understand that under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, people are not allowed to discuss what they please, let alone protest openly. Li Maizi and many other Chinese feminists are literally risking their lives by going up against their government.

Li Maizi (1)

Li Tingting was born in Hongtongying, Beijing, China, in 1989. Li grew up with an overbearing father and a mother who was never around to do having to provide for the family. Li's mother had to move away to be closer to her job, which left Li to grow up with no Maternal figure. Li attended Chang'an University, where she was introduced to and became involved with activism. While there, Li founded a gender equality network that gained over 200 volunteers in 2013. To attempt to hide her identity from the government or those who opposed her ideas, Li Tingting began to go by the public alias Li Maizi. (1)

Protests

Domestic Violence Protest (1)

Maizi's first major public display of activism was when she walked down a busy shopping district while wearing a wedding dress. This dress was covered with what was supposed to resemble blond, and she used makeup to resemble black eyes. This was to protest the handling of domestic abuse in China. Domestic abuse is common in China and is usually not prosecuted due to the patriarchy in Chinese law. Maizi also participated in an occupy the men's room protest where women used the men's room due to increasing and long unresolved lines for public women's bathrooms (2). One of Maizi's protests that got a lot of public attention was when she and five other activists wore miniskirts, metal breastplates, and signs that said something like "I can be slutty, but you can't get dirty" (1 & 3) on the subway. Maizi and friends (later referred to as "The Five") were handing out pamphlets to women using public transport to provide resources for victims of sexual harassment. These gained national and international attention, which required a response by law enforcement at a later date. (3)

Detention & Censorship

Censorship in China (4)

Due to Chinese censorship and reviewing multiple articles, I believe the events during and after the public transportation protest are unclear. Some say that The Five never protested in the subway but were arrested the day before for planning the assembly, while other sources claim that The Five did the protest and were arrested weeks later (1 & 3). In China, it is illegal to protest and unlawful to have any public assembly without getting permission. Regardless, Maizi and The Five got arrested for protesting without coordinating the assembly with law enforcement on March 7th, 2015. After a public outcry and a fan movement called "#FreeTheFive." Maizi and The Five were released on bail five weeks later. After this detention, Li Maizi's social media accounts are dark when you look at them in America, and she has been banned from being on any news show in China. (3)

2019 Full Lecture University of Louisville (5)

Sources

(1) - http://ifeminist.org/maizi.html

(2) - https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/blood-brides-feminist-activists-cracking-chinas-patriarchal-order/

(3) - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/world/asia/china-feminists-women-domestic-violence.html

(4) - https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/1197875444898553857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1197875444898553857%7Ctwgr%5Ecb8fdaa60beabaefde90c9c56ff933abac45e2a8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fshare.america.gov%2Fchinese-censorship-is-global-problem%2F

(5) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8XKRjlgql4