TEA LEAVES

MARRY GO ROUND

COUPLES IN CHINA SEEK EQUALITY THROUGH“DOUBLE-ENDED MARRIAGE”

As a successful female vlogger and comedian,fans expected Papi Jiang (Papi 醬) to push the boundaries for women’s empowerment.Therefore,many of Papi’s over 30 million Weibo followers were shocked and upset when she gave her newborn baby her husband’s surname last May,and called her a sellout.

Perhaps Papi Jiang could consider a new solution to the problem of choosing a surname for children:liangtouor“double-ended”marriage(兩頭婚),a new trend emerging in economically developed Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in eastern China.

In aliangtoumarriage,the husband and wife live separately from their own parents.They generally have two children,one with the father’s surname and one with the mother’s.The grandparents on each side support the cost of child rearing.

Liangtoumarriage is meant to ensure that the lineage of both the partners’family continue,and is also touted as a solution to China’s aging population problem by encouraging couples to have more children,with both sides contributing to the finances.

Traditionally,a Chinese woman left her own parents and joined her husband’s household when she married.She would be expected to take care of her in-laws and regard them as her own family,and the couple’s children would take the father’s surname.

Though these rules are much more relaxed today,marriages in modern Chinese society still tend to favor the male’s family in terms of whose surname is inherited and whose parents the couple spends the holidays with.However,with the one-child policy that began in 1980,today’s young adults are normally the only child in the family.Many families with married only daughters are grappling with the question of inheritance,oldage care,and lineage.

More and more marriages are breaking the norms.According to a survey by Xinhua News Agency in 2018,family members on the maternal side have been participating more in their daughters’ marriage,and maternal grandmothers are becoming more involved than paternal grandmothers as caregivers for grandchildren.

Not all are convinced,though,thatliangtoumarriage is truly progressive.Influential feminist blogger“I am Luosheng”expressed worries that the new marriage model still puts pressure on women to have children and might even reinforce women’s position as primary caregivers.They might become forced to give birth to two children,and won’t have access to one of them.

On Douban,a review and social media platform,many users discussingliangtoumarriage argue it would give women an illusion of equality,while problems such as unequal parenting responsibilities and inadequate maternity leave still exist.Yet althoughliangtoumarriage may not solve these problems,Zhao Chunlan,lecturer at Zhejiang International Studies University who has researched the phenomenon,still supports it as a“compromise between the parents and their children”and“reconciliation between tradition and modernity in Chinese villages.”

“Liangtoumarriage…originated in the rural areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang where families are wealthy but conservative.They hope someone will pass on the family bloodline,and are unwilling to be separated from their daughter;old-age care also matters,”Zhao told The Paper.

While acknowledging that this“compromise”still echoes archaic views on family lineage and has traces of arranged marriages from history,the key is that families are beginning to“negotiate”on tradition,according to Zhao.“It’s a big change.”

–HE YINGZI(賀櫻子)

SEXIST TALK

Incensed listeners reported comedian Yang Li to China’s broadcast regulator for“sexism,spreading hatred,[and]instigating social conflict…against the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics”due to her jokes about men.

The 28-year-old rising stand-up star enraged her male audiences with a performance that included comments such as“Do men have any bottom line?”and“Men are all rubbish.”Last year,on TV showRock &Roast,she also stated that men“can look so average and yet be so full of confidence.”These comments brought about heated debates between“feminists”and“masculinists,”as Yang’s supporters and critics (including some celebrities) have labeled each other.

Supporters of Yang have stated that stopping females from airing their opinions freely in the male dominated entertainment sector,which has always made fun of women,is real sexism.So far,the authorities have not taken any action against Yang.

–TAN YUNFEI(譚云飛)

LIFE IS CHEAP

Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo and food delivery platform Ele.me have been criticized for their“coldblooded”response to the sudden deaths of two employees,both attributed to overwork.

On December 21,a Beijing food delivery worker surnamed Han,who had often worked from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m.,died suddenly while delivering his 34th order of the day.Han’s family was only offered 2,000 RMB in compensation from Ele.me and a 30,000 RMB insurance payout,because he was not an employee but took orders“independently”through Fengniao,a thirdparty platform operated by Ele.me.After an outcry,Ele.me increased the compensation to 600,000 RMB and pledged to increase insurance protection for delivery drivers.

On January 3,after a 23-year-old employee of Pinduoduo died suddenly on her way home from work at 1:30 a.m.,a social media account associated with the company posted,“Everybody at the bottom exchanges their life for money…If you choose an easy life,you have to bear the consequences.”The comment was deleted 30 seconds later,and Pinduoduo later claimed it was a“personal”message by an employee of a third-party partner.–T.Y.

PLAGIARISM PAID UP

On December 31,controversial writer-turned-filmmaker Guo Jingming apologized to writer Zhuang Yu 15 years after a court ruled that he plagiarized Zhuang’s online novelQuanli Quanwaiin his bestselling 2004 bookNever Flowers.On the same day,scriptwriter Yu Zheng apologized for plagiarizing another writer,Qiong Yao,six years earlier.

Earlier in the month,156 TV and film professionals added their names to a joint statement pledging to boycott Guo and Yu’s works over their apparent lack of remorse.Along with his apology,Guo proposed to compensate Zhuang for the income he earned fromNever Flowers.At Zhuang’s suggestion,the two authors agreed to establish an“anti-plagiarizing fund”using the income from both of their works to help future authors protect their rights.–T.Y.