ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the issue of gender violence in a new wave of media-based feminist activism in contemporary China. Facilitated by digital technology, this new wave of activism takes a variety of forms, ranging from e-journal, digital filmmaking and multimedia theatre to the later popularity of social media activism. After tracing the history of feminist media activism against gender violence in China, this article then looks at the specific configurations and characteristics of the creative actions against gender violence in this new wave of digital feminism, including the anti-domestic violence campaigns, online campaigns against sexual harassment as well as #MeToo. Specifically, it looks at the Shanghai Subway protest and the Anti-Domestic Violence with Nude Photos Campaign on Weibo in 2012. Moreover, this chapter highlights the convergence of feminist and queer activism, which extends the previous understanding of gender violence to people of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Overall, this chapter offers an expanded understanding of gender violence through the lens of Chinese feminist and queer media activism, and notes the growing repertoire of activist practices. It highlights that from early feminist activism against domestic violence to digital advocacy and the subsequent #MeToo movement, the relationship between activism and the state, whether in the form of collaboration or in the form of sanction and censorship, remains important.
