The recent collapse of a high-profile sexual harassment case brought against a well-known television host has reignited debate in China over workplace gender roles and reinvigorated the country’s #MeToo movement.
Zhou Xiaoxuan, 27, says she was an intern at Chinese state-owned media company CCTV when Zhu Jun, a prominent TV presenter, groped and forcibly kissed her. The case was dismissed on September 14 on the grounds it did not meet the required standard of proof.
When Zhou first raised the allegations on social media in 2018 she quickly became the face of China’s #MeToo movement. Supporters gathered outside the court to protest the decision as Zhou vowed to appeal.
Media coverage of sexual harassment cases in China has triggered a general discussion of the problem of workplace gender relations. But the ensuing discussion often reflects a lack of public awareness about what actually constitutes workplace sexual harassment and the persistent gendered expectation of sexuality that women should take responsibility for maintaining their own sexual reputation.
Privileged generation
Women of the “One Child generation” (1979 – 2016) are often portrayed in the Chinese media as having enviable lives. They are seen as part of a privileged generation: urban, highly educated, professional, with a wide range of opportunities.
Materially and socially, these women also enjoy far greater prospects than older urban women and rural women in the labour market.
But they are not immune from the wider sexualisation of women that has been a feature of post-Mao China. Drawing upon observations of office culture and interviews with urban professional women, my book Gender Sexuality and Power in Chinese Companies: Beauties at Work, reveals that gender inequalities and sexual politics are embedded in most of China’s state owned and private-owned companies.
Sex in the workplace
In China’s workplace culture, too often women are considered an instrument for men’s entertainment and a tool to boost organisational morale and productivity. Women employees are routinely subject to sexual innuendo at work. One female manager told me: