A Feminist’s Reflection inspired by the COVID-19 Pandemic
Yesterday was April 4th, and the entire country was mourning the martyrs of the coronavirus outbreak. We commemorated our dead, and honored the heroes in harm’s way, because they have demonstrated the brilliance of humanity. Yet after this battle of life and death, we still have other wars to fight, and this battle against coronavirus in China has shed light on how we are going to win those other wars, such as the war of gender equality.
Every time a sexual abuse event is exposed, it causes a big stir for a short period of time; but after a while, attention is dispersed by upcoming spotlight events and such discussions start to die down. For a very long time, we will remember the lives that COVID-19 has taken away and the tremendous damages it causes to the entire world. Yet is not the damage of sexual abuse big enough for us to remember? I hope that we can also remember the MeToo movement, the Room No. N incident, when the female medical workers were forced to live without sanitary items, and every time sexual abuse events inflict pain on the society. If we easily forget these disasters, we will never really grow.
The battle for equality is the obligation of all genders, and the fruit of it is the benefit of all genders. The road to equality is winding and long, and we will make mistakes, but please do not make feminists “counter-marchers”. Indeed, Chinese pseudo-feminism has dealt tremendous harm to the development of equality and people’s confidence in feminists. We should not use the word “feminism”; rather it should be “equalism”. It’s just that the more traditional domains of equality and the more serious catastrophes land on women. Like virus fighters, feminists simply want to help victimized men and women and prevent further harm. Equality is not a battle between men and women.
May the dead rest in peace, and I hope that the living can carry on their wills: love life, and care for each other. Chinese people stand united so that the virus outbreak is under control, and we have demonstrated China’s power. When the epidemic situation ends, may Chinese people still demonstrate unity in invisible spiritual crises.
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