Written by Hairong 2022 Cohort
People who have colourful hairstyles and distinctive outfits, we call them Smart; people who enjoy daily-paid jobs and survive as living dead, we call them Shanhe God; people who live in the rural area and like to share their old-fashioned poems on social media, we call them Tuwei (expression for people residing in the village or underdeveloped area). All these migrant workers and farmers have developed serval subcultures, and social media created names for them, but what is the name of women who devote their whole lives to their families?
Ten years ago, a talented twelve-year-old girl discovered her passion for drawing; although she couldn’t afford a computer at home, she would spend days in a cheap Internet cafe to finish her sketches. Many were using the graphic tablet at that time, but the girl still managed to produce beautiful drawings that were futuristic and varied in styles with nothing more than a computer mouse.
The more she loved drawing, the longer she spent in the Internet cafe. Soon after her father found out and broke her arm, according to some old Chinese tradition, a woman’s virtue is to have no talent (女子无才便是德). When an unmarried male wants to marry a female, his family must pay a large amount of money to her parents in the rural tradition. The girls considered virtuous in supporting the family will be worth a higher price. Therefore, to get more money in this unequal marriage relationship, the girl’s father will force her to focus on housework using violence if necessary.
The story was posted by an Internet celebrity; he soon uploaded a new Weibo post about the girl. Now, she has married a 40-year-old man as a 22-year-old mother with two boys; one is already six-year-old. After discovering the whole story, the celebrity and his followers, mostly guys, neglected the fact that she got pregnant underage. The story ended with a sarcastic conclusion from the star: I wish this girl felt happy.
In 2020, more than 20 million women in rural areas lived in poverty, 9.1% higher than in 2010. The same story happened again and again, especially in heavily patriarchal communities in Chaoshan, the life of most girls who are sent to factories and pay the tuition of their younger brothers. After they are adults or before, parents will arrange a marriage for them. What awaits them is inescapable domestic violence and the fate of being used as a baby-making machine.
Social media has shown authentic life in many ways while neglecting others. The girl who loves drawing is forced to give up her passion by her father; the woman who wants an education is forced to give a chance to her brother; the woman who is pregnant at a young age is neglected and invisible in the big Internet world.
They don’t even have a name.