Poignant China images feedback
I got an interesting comment on my previous posting that I was going to reply to in the comment box but I had so much to say that it deserved its own posting.
Anonymous wrote:
The comments about (Chinese) women having relationships with foreigners could have been written by Goebbels. The increasing nationalism in China seems to be veering towards fascism.
These images seem to pick out the very worst examples of life in China, to drum up a feelings of national grievance and victimhood.
Actually it's not so much that the Chinese are offended by their women being snapped up by foreigners although, considering the gender imbalance resulting from the one-child policy, they have every right to be. I've heard countless complains from male laowai friends about taxi drivers/landlords/Chinese teachers/noodle sellers attempting to pawn their female friends and relatives off to them. I think that they find more offending the fact that an old man who would otherwise be passed off as a ripe candidate for commiting into the old folks' home in his own country would be able to bag himself a nubile Chinese flower. It's not unfair to say that most people, not just the Chinese, would tend to categorise this as a somewhat objectionable but otherwise win-win arrangment where the female parts with a few years of youth in exchange for a lifetime of financial security and the male, a partner in his lonely twilight years. But this scenario is not unique to China. Throw a glance around the Bangkok Airport departure lounge and witness the numerous couples (and, not infrequently, *ahem* triples) composed of senior foreign men and young Thai lovers, both male and female. This happens in developed countries too. Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall, anyone?
I do agree that the other pictures are a collection of the worst examples of life in China but seriously, aren't we all full up of news of how swimmingly well China is developing? The economy grew by another 10% in the first half of 2005, FDI is at an unprecedented high, national euphoria upon success of the Shenzhou VI mission, random tourists expressing their delight at the rich and diverse Chinese culture. Oh to see another picture of children waving flags to warmly welcome yet another foreign dignitary who has nothing but praise for the China will surely bring out the axe murderer in me.
These images, on the other hand, show the side of China beyond the positive business indicators, plus I think it's interesting to see what Chinese netizens are reading / being fed with. Those images may very well be used to drum up nationalist fervour (my personal favourite is the hijacking of the Hong Kong Golden Elephant Film Awards by the Anti-Japanese camp) but I'm hoping that they would prompt the Chinese to pause awhile and ponder the cost of moving forward so rapidly.
Anonymous wrote:
The comments about (Chinese) women having relationships with foreigners could have been written by Goebbels. The increasing nationalism in China seems to be veering towards fascism.
These images seem to pick out the very worst examples of life in China, to drum up a feelings of national grievance and victimhood.
Actually it's not so much that the Chinese are offended by their women being snapped up by foreigners although, considering the gender imbalance resulting from the one-child policy, they have every right to be. I've heard countless complains from male laowai friends about taxi drivers/landlords/Chinese teachers/noodle sellers attempting to pawn their female friends and relatives off to them. I think that they find more offending the fact that an old man who would otherwise be passed off as a ripe candidate for commiting into the old folks' home in his own country would be able to bag himself a nubile Chinese flower. It's not unfair to say that most people, not just the Chinese, would tend to categorise this as a somewhat objectionable but otherwise win-win arrangment where the female parts with a few years of youth in exchange for a lifetime of financial security and the male, a partner in his lonely twilight years. But this scenario is not unique to China. Throw a glance around the Bangkok Airport departure lounge and witness the numerous couples (and, not infrequently, *ahem* triples) composed of senior foreign men and young Thai lovers, both male and female. This happens in developed countries too. Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall, anyone?
I do agree that the other pictures are a collection of the worst examples of life in China but seriously, aren't we all full up of news of how swimmingly well China is developing? The economy grew by another 10% in the first half of 2005, FDI is at an unprecedented high, national euphoria upon success of the Shenzhou VI mission, random tourists expressing their delight at the rich and diverse Chinese culture. Oh to see another picture of children waving flags to warmly welcome yet another foreign dignitary who has nothing but praise for the China will surely bring out the axe murderer in me.
These images, on the other hand, show the side of China beyond the positive business indicators, plus I think it's interesting to see what Chinese netizens are reading / being fed with. Those images may very well be used to drum up nationalist fervour (my personal favourite is the hijacking of the Hong Kong Golden Elephant Film Awards by the Anti-Japanese camp) but I'm hoping that they would prompt the Chinese to pause awhile and ponder the cost of moving forward so rapidly.
posted by Jo at 8:30 PM
4 Comments:
Goebbels actually called it "Rassenschande" or "race disgrace". The person who circulated this email is not just angry about older men having young girlfriends. The ageing Mao was a notorious devotee of young nymphs and I've never heard any Chinese being disgusted about that - or the widespread mainland practice of having a Da Laopo and a Xiao Laopo. There was even a whole community near Shenzhen called "Second Wife Village" - where young mainland girls were kept by their Hong Kong truck driver men as concubines. And believe me, many of the HK drivers were just as old as the men in that picture where the writer says "How do you feel about this?"
He despises such people.
As for the other images, they bring to mind the ramblings of that young Viennese painter of the 1920s. As he looked around him, the young Adolf wondered how his once mighty country could have fallen so low. He railed against the oppressive exploitation of the ordinary workers, and the decadence he saw. He blamed foreigners for all the country's ills.
I'm not saying this guy is a nazi, but the underlying themes are the same.
I've been to some of the poorest parts of China and seen sights worse than this. It's what happens when you move from rice bowl communist poverty to no-safety net capitalist poverty in one generation. A lot of people live in tar paper shacks while a select few build their Chateau Lafittes. Interestingly, these kind of emails come from an urban middle class Chinese. Maybe this is what happens when you pump a population full of patriotic fervour. What happens when people realise that not everything is roses [or peonies?]. There is a fine line between nationalism and neofascism.
Ummm... Well I think that first post is a little over the top. Most of these women are just trying to escape their horible situation, and if that means getting with some old dude then thats what they do. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but rather inevitable. And the idea that they cannot love each other is a little silly. You definitly get mixt responses from the local population when they see a white man (regardless of age) with a chinese girl.
Certainly, an old white dude with a young girl elicit more stares. But there is not shortage of people trying to set me up with Chinese girls. That being said, the chinese girls that I do see are not interested in money or a visa. When I first got to China, I thought that would be the case, but in the case of the young chinese girl - white guy situation; I genuinly feel that the chinese girl prefers the white dude because of various things that are more prevelant in western culture. I have had so many chinese girls tell me they really do not like chinese guys and would love to be with a foreigner.
This country has much bigger problems than old white men picking up young women. Concentrate on human rights, environmental issues and distribution of wealth rather than on issues that feed your nationalistic fever - which will eventually destroy this place, just as it did to Germany, USSR, ...
Cool Blog, keep up the good work.
Thanks for your comments. It's tough keeping a blog interesting with so many intellectually rich and insightful China blogsites so it's great to receive feedback on how I improve this site.
Anonymous: I haven't met too many Chinese who have had a problem with interracial couples but admittedly that may be because my life is pretty much limited to the 4th Ring Road and even then in areas with an international population. Hence, the locals who live in these areas are probably more open-minded, exposed to foreign cultures and probably interact with foreigners on a regular basis. I'll be the first to admit that I have steered clear of second-tier cities and the countryside because I'm a snob like that. I am most likely to be found within a 10 mile radius of Jenny Lous/April Gourmet.
However, I recall reading a posting written by Gordon of the Horses Mouth about the fairly rampant racist attitudes towards mixed race couples in Chengdu. I'd add the link here but I'm unable to access the webpage today. I do agree that this is a small part of the prevailing 'let's blame foreigners for all our ills' Chinese mentality, but in this particular case I think what irked the writer more was the couples' substantial age difference. That being said, it'd be interesting to see the reaction elicited by couplings of old White women and young Chinese men.
Acquiescence of Chairman Mao's appetite for young nymphs is probably a one-off because, well, he was Chairman Mao. Let's face it, the man could get away with murder (between 30 to 70 million depending on on statistics you refer to) because of the great esteem in which he is held by the Chinese people.
The person who started the attachment had a problem with the practice of keeping mistresses and the exploitation of women for sex. After all, pictures of a mistress being confronted by the first wife in the streets, as well as a manhandled sex worker were included in the forward. There were no foreigners in those pictures.
Although the some images in the attachement contain nationalist elements, I don't believe that the writer's motives were purely to instigate nationalist or neofacist sentiments among Chinese web users.
I've seen a few young, attractive Chinese girls swinging on the arms of old men, both Chinese and foreign - the same thing happens in the United States. However, women in the United States aren't trying to marry their way out of the country.
The last time I visited the US Consulates office in Shanghai (ironically located inside of a shopping mall now), I was getting on the elevator when a young Chinese woman (early 30's?) approached me and asked if I were American. After I replied that I was, she said "oh I love America. Are you married? Do you need a wife? I can cook and clean very well". It was one of the saddest things I've ever encountered in China.
It is quite common in China and other parts of Asia to see women married to older men as a financial arrangement. In fact, I dated a Chinese girl in Chicago a few years ago that was from Shanghai and after a couple of months I figured out that she was already married to another Chinese guy who lived in Indianapolis whom she only saw ever couple of months. After I put two and two together and figured things out she explained that their marriage was not one of love, but financial security. Needless to say, I ended our relationship rather quickly.
I don't think it's necessarily wrong for women in China and other parts of Asia to marry for financial security because the men are usually aware of it, but it is sad and unfortunate.
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