Chinese women are weaponizing comedy to fight the patriarchy

JD.com's move to ditch comedian Yang Li has provoked a feminist backlash

20241129 Yang Li

Yang Li is a popular female stand-up comedian with more than 2.5 million followers on Weibo. (Photo from iQIYI Variety via YouTube)

Ilaria Maria Sala is a Hong Kong- based freelance journalist and writer, focusing on societal changes, cities, heritage, and cultural developments. Cheung Hok Hang is a freelance journalist with a focus on art markets and cultural developments, writing in both Chinese and English.

In polarized societies, finding the right spokesperson for one's brand can be tricky. China is no exception. Given the political structure of the country and the heavy media censorship there, a visible polarization is the one surrounding the role of women -- unsurprisingly, the divide is seen mostly along gender lines.

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