Press: In the early morning of June 10, 2022, a violent beating incident occurred in a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan City. At present, the police finally arrested nine perpetrators. ” and other official media have successively issued documents calling for thorough investigation and severe punishment, sweeping the gang and eliminating the evil, and blaming the cause of the incident on the serious problem of the local gang.
This article analyzes and points out that the cause of the Tangshan incident is actually sexual harassment, and from the Xuzhou eight-child mother incident to the Tangshan beating incident shows that in the patriarchal social structure and system, gender-based violence is only the tip of the iceberg of the system, and it is necessary to clearly reject gender-based violence And the "desystematization" of gender issues, and the recognition that there are still forces in the environment to support, encourage, and drive men to engage in gender-based violence against women can prevent the recurrence of incidents that seriously harm women.
The author believes that the public should not just stand by and talk about things on paper, but should combine knowledge and action, stand up, reject the "victim guilt theory", stop promoting toxic "masculinity", and show the men around that "violence is a Incorrect".
The original text was published on the public account "Said the Seagull" and was reproduced in "Hong Kong 01" with permission. The article only represents the author's own views.
Below is the text:
First of all, the cause of the atrocities at the Tangshan BBQ restaurant should be clearly characterized as sexual harassment, rather than “touching the back”, “talking” and “picking up a conversation”, otherwise it would be a blind eye to the gender-based violence in this incident.
Second, what happened at the Tangshan BBQ restaurant is not an isolated social incident, but a part of the entire system of gender-based violence.
Therefore, we need to explicitly reject the “desystematization” of gender-based violence and gender issues, and acknowledge that there are still forces in our environment that support, encourage, and drive men to engage in gender-based violence against women.
In the end, the atrocities at the Tangshan BBQ restaurant prove that the perfect victim cannot escape the threat of gender-based violence, so we must reject the "victim guilt theory", stop promoting toxic "masculinity", and clearly and firmly tell those around us Men say "violence is wrong".
1. Tangshan incident: what is sexual harassment
The cause of the Tangshan incident
First of all, we will start with the definition of sexual harassment around the causes of the atrocities in Tangshan BBQ restaurants, and then briefly characterize the causes of the atrocities at Tangshan BBQ restaurants, and answer the following two questions: Why, the causes of Tangshan BBQ restaurants Should it be explicitly characterized as sexual harassment?
Why can't we just use "touching the back", "talking" and "picking up a conversation" to describe the cause?
What is sexual harassment?
There are numerous academic and legal definitions of sexual harassment, so without discussing too much, here, we can list the commonalities of various definitions: Sexual harassment is harassment with explicit or implicit sexual implication.
Such harassment not only refers to physical contact, but also includes verbal provocation, behavioral coercion, etc.
In general, anything that makes you uncomfortable should be classified as harassment.
So, is it sexual harassment to reach out and touch a woman's back against her will?
The answer should be quite yes.
The sexually provocative connotation of the act of "stroking the back" is very clear, and it is a very clear form of sexual harassment in the form of physical contact without the other's consent (we usually only do this to partners in intimate relationships). It's not common sense to do this kind of thing to a stranger).
After completing the characterization of the cause, let's turn to the second question. Why can't we just use "touching the back", "talking" and "picking up a conversation" to describe the cause of this incident?
Many media describe the cause and process of the incident without mentioning sexual harassment.
There is certainly no "factual error" in this description, however, omitting the cause of sexual harassment of women by men in news reports creates the impression that "this is an ordinary beating incident."
But is this the case?
Is it an isolated case or a social structural problem?
Touching from male teachers during school days, pornographic jokes from bosses and colleagues at work, being touched with hands, rubbing against private parts in public transportation, subways, shopping malls, cinemas, etc., and being photographed under skirts, these things are really isolated. An instance of this happening?
In fact, a sociological survey in China in the 1990s found that sexual harassment is actually caused by many social structural reasons [1].
Going back further, as early as the period of the second wave of feminism (in the 1960s), people have realized that sexual harassment and other issues seem to be individual problems, but they are actually structural problems of the whole society [2].
Denying the existence of systemic gender-based violence and gender issues is, in fact, an inevitable means for a patriarchal society to maintain the rationality of its own system.
In order to avoid gender issues from being brought up for discussion, those in power tend to be careful to "desystematize" gender-related social events, try to convince people that these are "criminals committed in isolation by individual men", and refuse to acknowledge all The connection of events to patriarchal society.
This is explained in more detail below.
Therefore, what we need to emphasize here is that the cause of the incident at the Tangshan BBQ restaurant must not be described as just "touching the back", "picking up a conversation" and "conversing", but must be clearly identified as "sexual harassment"
2. From Fengxian to Tangshan: What is Systemic Gender-Based Violence
Patriarchal Social Structures and Systems
What is systemic gender-based violence?
Before explaining this question, we need to answer the question, what is the so-called "system" and "social structure"?
It's hard to say abstractly, so let's explain it with the experience of an abducted woman.
1. A woman was abducted and sold to a remote mountain village. This is an incident, and the number of people involved may be single digits.
2. An abducted woman tried to escape from a mountain village, and the whole village collectively dispatched to capture her. This time, the number of people who participated was hundreds or even thousands.
3. The incident of an abducted woman was discovered, and the local government wanted to cover up the facts. How many people were involved this time?
4. The incident of an abducted woman caused discussion. Many netizens said that "the villagers are forced to do so, otherwise they will not be able to pass on their lineage." How many people participated this time?
From the first situation to the fourth situation, from direct action, to collective consensus, to institutional flaws, to cultural support, more and more people are involved in the trafficking of women, but the way of participation has become indirect.
However, looking at it on the other hand, the reason why criminals abduct and sell women is that they were first influenced by culture, and then exploited the shortcomings of the public security system. With the support of the villages that have reached a consensus, did they commit the crime of abducting and selling women?
If this is the case, doesn't the culture of "must ask for a wife" exist elsewhere in mainland China?
Lazy government phenomenon, other rural grass-roots governments do not exist?
Will the collective consensus formed in one village not be formed in other villages?
When similar conditions are fulfilled, similar behaviors will naturally be catalyzed. It does not necessarily happen, but it has a high probability of happening.
It is for this reason that we say that many social events are collective rather than individual, universal rather than special, and that some things happen as group behaviors rather than individual behaviors.
Gender-based violence is just the tip of the iceberg of the system
On issues such as domestic violence, rape, and violence against women in public places, we can also see the same logic of [underlying thinking—gender prejudice—social discipline—gender violence].
Gender issues are holistic, not isolated.
(says the seagull)
Approximately one third (30%) of women worldwide have experienced gender-based violence in their lifetime[3], precisely because gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality, abuse of power and toxic social norms[4] .
So, gender-based violence is systemic, and then what?
What is the systemic significance of discussing gender-based violence?
First, we need to explicitly reject the "desystematization" of gender-based violence and gender issues.
Whenever domestic violence, trafficking, rape, beating and other incidents occur, we will hear a statement: "This is a crime issue, not a gender issue. Don't provoke gender confrontation at every turn." This statement is not only wrong, but harmful .
First of all, domestic violence, trafficking, rape, beating and other incidents are indeed criminal issues, but they are also gender issues, and the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Therefore, this statement is logically false because it presupposes the mutual exclusion of the two.
We can allow individual criminal suspects to accept legal sanctions while reflecting on the systemic gender issues behind them. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Second, pointing out the gender issues behind domestic violence, abduction, rape, beating and other incidents, and then reflecting on and criticizing them, is not provoking gender confrontation.
The people who really provoked gender opposition are the perpetrators of the above-mentioned crimes.
To think that "gender-based violence is isolated and isolated" is precisely refusing to recognize the systematic discrimination and oppression of women in our society, which is the "desystematization" operation commonly used in patriarchal society.
As a feminist-conscious generation, we must firmly reject "desystematization".
Second, we need to acknowledge that there are still forces in our environment that support, encourage, and drive men to engage in gender-based violence against women.
This force comes from all aspects of stereotypes, gender biases and social discipline.
Gender-based violence often occurs when a man believes he has superior power over women, when he believes he has the right to "touch" harassing women, and when he believes he has the right to resort to violence to defend his humiliating situation when he is rejected will breed.
In the "Quantitative Survey Report on Research on Gender Violence and Masculinity in China", 52% of male respondents directly stated that men can use violence to maintain dignity [4].
That is, in their view, violence is an acceptable solution.
This is similar to the "Septic Tank Warning" circulating in 2020 (Note: The "Septic Tank Warning" comes from the "Hangzhou Woman Disappearance Case", in which a husband killed his wife and then dismembered her body and threw it into a septic tank ).
This popular masculinity actually explains why some men feel they have justified violence against women, and why more than half of Chinese male respondents have actually committed violence against their partners[5].
Some netizens' "septic tank warning".
(says the seagull)
Once again, we point out that there are incentives for gender-based violence in society, not to pull out all men to criticize, nor to say that all men are beasts, but to say that in such a society, men will be supported and encouraged. , driven to violence against women.
Some men can restrain themselves, but others will rage on women like wild beasts after being provoked.
It is inevitable to impose legal sanctions and punishment on individual perpetrators and perpetrators.
But without breaking systemic gender oppression and changing the masculinity and societal attitudes that encourage violence, we'll just keep angering at the next event and wait for the next one.
But why wait until next time?
3. Reflection and action: what can we do?
1. Reject "victim guilt
"
"Victim guilt theory" is an excuse provided by the patriarchal system for gender-based violence. Whenever women are subjected to gender-based violence, people often say, "You don't go out alone, don't dress scantily, you don't go to remote places", but the Tangshan incident is a very Good example: Women, no matter how perfect they are, are constantly under threat of gender-based violence.
It is men who should reflect, it is our education, not women.
2. Stop promoting toxic 'masculinity'
Stop teaching men in our society to control women, stop belittling women, stop overemphasizing men's toughness, and stop asking men to suppress their vulnerability and feelings.
Most importantly, if you think a certain temperament is good, men should have it, and women should have it too.
3. Showing the men around you that "violence is wrong"
If you're not a man, tell your male partner, friends, family, children, etc. clearly and firmly that violence against women is never justified, and there is no excuse to justify gender-based violence.
If you are a man, speak up for the Tangshan incident clearly and firmly, express the above attitude to the men around you, and condemn the violent men together.
[1] Xue Ninglan (2021): The Road to Preventing Sexual Harassment in China: Doctrine, Legislation and Judgment, "Women's Studies Series", No. 3, 2021
[2] The phrase "personal is political" appeared in second-wave feminism in the 1960s, emphasizing that personal experiences are linked to larger social and political structures, and later in the movement explicitly stated that Fight against sexual harassment and assault.
On "Personal Is Political" see Hanisch, C. (1969): The Personal Is Political, https://www.carolhanisch.org/CHwritings/PIP.html
[3] World Health Organization (2021): Violence against women, available at https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
[4] United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2013): Eliminating and Preventing All Forms of Violence against Women and Girls: Agreed Conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women 2013, p. 3, available at https://www.unwomen .org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/CSW/57/CSW57-AgreedConclusions-A4-en.pdf
[5] Wang Xiangxian, Fang Gang and Li Hongtao (2013): Quantitative Survey Report on Research on Gender Violence and Masculinity in China, p. 35, available at https://cnlgbtdata.com/doc/252/
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