{"id":12303,"date":"2022-08-30T19:52:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T18:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?p=12303"},"modified":"2022-09-03T18:02:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T17:02:17","slug":"the-power-of-liberating-the-chinese-girl-who-is-not-trapped-by-traditional-societys-rules%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/the-power-of-liberating-the-chinese-girl-who-is-not-trapped-by-traditional-societys-rules%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of liberating: the Chinese girl who is not trapped by traditional society’s rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most difficult obstacles for many young Chinese women is balancing the competing expectations of family, society, and career success. How are a new wave of feminist podcasts in China changing the lives of a generation of young women?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a little girl in the hot summers of northern China, Fengyi Zhai always wanted to wear shorts. She couldn’t make friends with boys in her childhood. She couldn’t laugh or make a lot of noise while she was eating with family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is all because the family disciplined her in all aspects. Her mother believes the short is an indecent dress that could be attractive to a male and may bring danger to her. Her grandmother would think the vibrant behaviours are not appropriate for a lady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was hurt, and I couldn’t understand why I was being accused of wearing shorts in the summer when it should be normal, and why people would look at such a young girl so critically. <\/p>Fengyi Zhai <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Like most Chinese girls, Fengyi grew up in a traditional family. In this kind of family, the girls had to obey family members\u2019 indoctrination and faced all kinds of judgments. She couldn\u2019t make any decision independently. She couldn\u2019t say words very casually. If she said some words differently from her parents, she would get punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the top university in China, Fengyi came to Oxford University to study international politics. Even though she is very excellent, gain a lot of achievements in her specialties, and is far from China, she was still under the impact of her original family. She is not confident to talk with people. When she needs to collect research materials and go out to interview unknown people, she is very shy and afraid of approaching strangers. She easily feels anxious and sensitive about many things. \u201cBecause I get very serious depression, anxiety, and complex PTSD since I was young,\u201d Fengyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of 2021, her family had some serious changes which made her in deep pain. The order of her world is totally broken. Fengyi started to re-order her inner world and begin to think about who she is. She couldn\u2019t get sleep every night and was in a terrible mental condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI listened to podcasts by chance. Since I started listening to seahorse planet, my psychological condition became better,\u201d Fengyi said, \u201cBecause I am inspired by the content. I become more self-aware and with self-awareness. I should not live under the shadow of my parents. I try to find myself and live life for myself. My overall spiritual condition has improved very much over the last six months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The podcast seahorse planet light Fengyi\u2019s daily life has a lot of listeners. The host\u2019s name is Liwen Qin. Her personal Twitter account has 12,000 followers. In the program, Liwen shares lots of female stories who are life brave and achieve life goals. She also talks a lot about the issues and challenges faced by young women in China. Many listeners were resonated and inspired by the programs. In the past, they were afraid to say their true feelings and do the desired things when they were young. \u201cKeep silence is also a lie made by man\u2019s world. They don\u2019t want women to have a voice and critical thinking ability,\u201d said Fengyi. Most listeners started to pay attention to the inequality challenges and live their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"