Zhongli Yu

Yu, Zhongli, A new wave of feminism: China’s #MeToo. First in the West, now in the East

Zhongly Yu explores four eras during which feminism evolved in China. The first wave was characterised by the May Fourth Movement from 1915 until 1921 – a political, social, and cultural revolution; the second wave that spanned from 1949 to the late 1970s, was government-led, with state policies mobilising rural and urban women in the public sphere as important builders of society; a third wave, beginning in the 1980s and ending in the 1990s, was led by female academics, and was characterised by the concept of ‘female essence’ and a concern for achieving harmony between women and men; the fourth, more recent wave is led by young feminist activists and focuses on gender equality and male sexual misconduct.