Activists have ‘occupied’ men’s toilets, donned wedding dresses splashed with red and shaved heads to raise awareness
The Occupy the Men’s Toilets movement in Beijing
Protesters hold banners with slogans including ‘If you love her, do not let her wait in line’, during the Occupy the Men’s Toilets campaign in Beijing. Photograph: Imaginechina/Corbis
When half a dozen topless women took to the roadside in Guangzhou this spring bearing signs calling for female equality, it looked like the latest in a series of imaginative stunts by young feminists.
In the past couple of years, performance-art style actions – often cheeky or humorous, always eye-catching – have raised awareness of the challenges facing women in China. Twenty-somethings staged Occupy the Men’s Toilets to challenge the lack of female facilities, shaved their heads to highlight higher college admission requirements for female applicants, and donned wedding dresses daubed with red to focus attention on domestic violence.
The truth about the Guangzhou incident is even more curious. Those involved in the previous events say the women in body paint were nothing to do with them, and are convinced it was a viral marketing stunt for a soft drinks brand. Though some are perturbed by the commercial hijacking of their message, at least a couple are oddly cheered by it.