China’s Feminist FightJuly/August 2019 171
dren—or perhaps even to rise up collec-
tively against the Communist Party’s
oppression—will inevitably reverberate
throughout the global economy.”
Such far-reaching claims add a sense
o drama and high stakes to the book,
but they have a wobbly basis in fact.
What is more, Hong Fincher’s account
o the women’s stories is embedded in
an overly simpliÃed portrait o contem-
porary China. Although the book gives
voice to the justiÃed outrage the
crackdown provoked in many observers,
it is important to look closely at how
Hong Fincher’s tale is constructed and
how her picture o China sometimes
deviates from reality and from conven-
tional scholarship on the country.WHOSE BETRAYAL?
In what seems like a gesture o solidar-
ity, Hong Fincher borrowed the deli-
ciously provocative phrase “betraying
big brother” from Wei Tingting, one o
the Feminist Five, and made it the
book’s title. Hong Fincher’s use o the
term suggests that Wei intended it as
an expression o deÃance against
China’s party-state. But that is not how
Wei meant it. In Prison Notes, a blog Wei
published in 2015, in which she wrote
about her experience oÊ being jailed,
she recalled discretely masturbating in
her cell while guards tromped by
outside—an act she describes as allow-
ing her to take “joy in betraying big
brother.” In repurposing that phrase,
Hong Fincher conÁates a relatively
low-risk, private expression o individ-
ual autonomy with far more dangerous
acts o public dissent. By suggesting
that the women were opposed to the
state, the book’s title could jeopardize
their future work and even their safety.mainstream press. The story received
extraordinary attention abroad, as well:
major Western news organizations
covered it, human rights groups con-
demned the Feminist Five’s detention,
and prominent Ãgures, such as Hillary
Clinton and the feminist activist Eve
Ensler, expressed support for the group.
Ms. magazine added the group to its list
o the year’s most inspiring feminists.
Nevertheless, the state’s repressive
tactics essentially worked. After being
released, the Feminist Five remained
under constant surveillance and faced
threats to themselves and their families.
Three went to the United Kingdom or
Hong Kong to pursue master’s degrees
in human rights, law, or social work. One
left Beijing for the southern Chinese
city o Guangzhou to start a new non-
governmental organization, which was
quickly closed down because o its work
on the still sensitive issue o sexual
harassment. Most o the Ãve turned their
feminist activism into a part-time
voluntary mission, while holding down
day jobs, such running an online store or
working at an education agency.
Hong Fincher’s vivid, blow-by-blow
account o the women’s experiences is a
valuable work o journalism, and she
oers interesting evidence o a wider
feminist awakening. But she ventures well
beyond reportage, using the story to
make a sweeping argument about the
future o Chinese politics. This small
group o women, she argues, “was capable
o posing what the Chinese Communist
Party perceived to be a serious challenge
to its rule.” Portraying the episode as a
harbinger o signiÃcant social change
in China, she contends that “any major
demographic shift as a result o women
choosing to reject marriage and chil-