Li Tingting

Li Tingting (Chinese: 李婷婷), aka Li Maizi (Chinese: 李麦子), is a Chinese campaigner and activist for gender equality, sexual harassment awareness, and sexuality. She was detained by police on the eve of International Women's Day, along with four other activists, for protesting sexual harassment on public transport.[1][2] These four other activists are part of the Feminist Five which, along with Li, includes Wu Rongrong, Wang Man, Wei Tingting and Zheng Churan. They each are activists for different rights. Some of them fight for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, sexual harassment awareness, and feminism and women's rights.

Li Tingting
李婷婷
Born1989 (age 31–32)
Hongtongying, Beijing[1]
NationalityChinese
Other namesLi Maizi
OccupationCampaigner
Known forGender equality advocacy
Spouse(s)Suan Xiaola (div. 2017) [2]
In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.

Early life

Li's parents believed in freedom of choice in matters of love and marriage, but decided to get married when her mother became pregnant with her. Her family lived in the rural outskirts of Beijing, where her father worked delivering fertilizer. After her father was dismissed from his work, Li's mother took a factory job in Beijing, but continued to be responsible for all domestic matters.[3] According to Li, her father was "rather chauvinistic", which means that he was an aggressive patriarch, and the undisputed head of the household and any affront to him resulted in physical violence towards both her mother and herself.[3]

Activism

During her second year of university, Li set-up a Lesbian Community Training Group, offering counseling services and support for university students.[2]

Li has been involved with several public demonstrations in China. In 2012, she walked down a shopping street in Beijing wearing a bridal gown spattered with blood stains with two other volunteers to draw attention to domestic violence in China. Although the crowds were mainly receptive, many observers were reportedly awkward at personal matters being aired in public.[3] During the event, urban management officials followed the three women, reprimanding them for not registering their demonstration.[3] Li also participated in the Occupy Men's Room (Chinese: 占领男厕所) demonstration with Zheng Churan. The event protested the huge queues for women's toilets by encouraging female demonstrators to use men's toilets in turn with; this disallowed the few men that wanted to use the toilets to do so. This demonstration drew much attention from national and international media, as well as online discussion, particularly for the way it encouraged male solidarity with a gendered cause.[4]

In a 2016 video release, Li stated that her current campaign work focusses on preventing forced marriage.[5]

Detention

On March 6th 2015, police officers arrived at Li's apartment where she was living with her partner. At first, since Li couldn't do anything, Li pulled out her ukulele and played a song, while her girlfriend sang.[6] Li initially did not open the door and overheard conversation between the officers that they had monitored her phone calls. She eventually opened the door when the officers called a locksmith to break through the door. Li reports that the police presented her with a blank detention warrant, searched her apartment and confiscated both her and her partner's electronics.[2] The police then took Li and her partner away in separate vehicles. Li was first taken to the local police station, where police went through her private phone calls. When requested to unlock her phone, Li took the opportunity to delete her WeChat history.[2]

On the evening of March 7th, Li was led to a basement carpark and driven away in a van. Her partner had already been released, but the van held fellow activists Wei Tingting and Wang Man.[2]

The activists were subjected to repetitive questioning by authorities about the planned anti-sexual harassment activity. The questions moved on to the involvement of foreign forces, which Li reports seemed to have made the authorities extremely nervous. Li was also asked about other public protests she had been involved in. The authorities even printed images of a topless protest, censoring the activists' nipples with black crosses. The office of the NGO Li worked for was also raided, as it was through this work that she had been most involved with gender equality advocacy and LGBT work. Although the authorities wanted information about this company, Li was not in a management position. Since her release, Li has stated that the authorities would suddenly burst into the room and shout: “Li Tingting, you haven’t been honest with us, you’re lying again!” Then attempt to intimidate with non-specified new evidence.[2]

On April 13th 2015, Li was released, along with the other four activists. According to her lawyer, the release was conditional, which would allow charges to be brought against Li later.[7]

Aftermath

Li has reportedly been put on the Chinese media blacklist, which means no national media will report on or converse with her. The NGO Li worked for was also shut down as an example.[2]

Li has written opinion pieces for international media, including The Guardian, where she describes her arrest and the situation of women's rights in China.[8] She has also participated in discussion panels and given talks on feminism in China in the United States and UK.[9][10]

Li has since graduated from the University of Essex on February 23, 2019.[11]

Awards
  • 100 Women (BBC) - 2015
  • Gold Award, Contemporary Art Schools’ Students’ Nominated Exhibition, Today’s Art Museum - 2007
  • Honorable Award, Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition - 2007

Exhibitions

Li has had 36 exhibitions from 2005-2013. She had:

  • 1 exhibition in 2013
  • 5 exhibitions in 2012
  • 5 exhibitions in 2011
  • 5 exhibitions in 2010
  • 9 exhibitions in 2009
  • 4 exhibitions in 2008
  • 5 exhibitions in 2007
  • 1 exhibition in 2006 and 1 in 2005

Art

Li Tingting's art is a contemporary modern style. Most of her pieces are watercolor, usually majority blue or pink. Her art often features landscapes, still life, and repeated or a "pile" of one object (usually plastic bottles or glasses).

References
  1. Tang, Didi; Chang, Jack (19 April 2015). "Li Tingting released: 'Feminism is my soul,' says gay Chinese activist after 37 days in detention for campaigning against sexual harassment". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  2. Cao, Yaxue (26 July 2016). "A Cafe Chat With Li Tingting". China Change (Interview). Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  3. Fish, Eric (16 March 2015). "The Education of Detained Chinese Feminist Li Tingting: An Excerpt from "China's Millennials: The Want Generation"". China File. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. 占领男厕"行动：不仅是一场"行为艺术 ['Occupy Men's Room': it's not just 'performance art']. Xinhua News (in Chinese). 27 February 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  5. Rauhala, Emily; Liu, Liu; Xu, Yangjingjing (9 March 2016). "Chinese feminist Li Tingting speaks out a year after her detention". Daily Life. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  6. "How Activists In China Are Fighting For Feminism". Bustle. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  7. "Chinese police release feminist activists". The Guardian. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  8. Li, Maizi (8 March 2017). "I went to jail for handing out feminist stickers in China". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  9. Fish, Eric (25 July 2016). "Li Maizi of China's 'Feminist Five' Speaks Out About Detention". Asia Society. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  10. 活动邀请：女权行动在中国：与李麦子的对话 [Event invitation: feminist activism in China: in conversation with Li Maizi] (in Chinese and English). Zhihu. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  11. "Maizi Li on Instagram: "Essex Asian Graduation Ceremony! 😏😏😏"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
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