I love these Sexy Beijing episodes.

I think that it's interesting that the insult 三八 isn't linked to 三八妇女节 by any of the interviewees. That's how I have always heard it explained by Chinese -- just like "feminist" is used as an insult by some.

Also, the woman in yellow's first 无所谓 == "don't give a shit" ? I guess she did have that attitude about her... :)

One of the best ones yet. Good work!

Yea, I thought the translation of 无所谓 as "don't give a shit" was a little like putting words in her mouth, but it did produce the desired result of having at least one interviewee with a strong opinion among the mostly polite PC answers.
Good episode none the less.

A friend of mine at 南大 wrote her dissertation about feminist theories. She told me her classmates called her a freak afterwards and the dissertation committee literally laughed at her during her defense. Holding Up Half The Sky seems to have been mostly rhetoric that no one actually believes when they aren't forced to (like so many other things).

This video is great. I've experienced some of the same replies when asking people about women's progress. Either they don't care, don't know how to respond or they will say oh yes yes, great progress. Lots of progress. Look at all the work women do. But have no concrete examples for me.

Great episode! "san ba" smacker is great! :-) Keep up the good work!

Very good episode as usual, SanBa Smacker is really awesome. Keep up the excellent work, nice way to learn Chinese through this!

Love you Sufei

Perfect.

Smacker rocks! So does Su Fei. More Sexy Beijing!

Yeah! Smacker is an instant cult figure!

Hmm, I wasn't impressed by this one. When the old man said "men used to hit women", why didn't Sue point out that they still do? Women's lot in China has improved but at the same time they are also still exploited and mistreated.

These are short videos, but it is frustrating to see obvious and necessary questions/points being ignored.

And everyone wonders why chinese women flock to western men.

"Women's lot in China has improved but at the same time they are also still exploited and mistreated."
It may be true, but the same (or similar) can be said about women in the west and most places in the world. For instance, Western feminists still decry the unequal pay between men and women. In academia (my profession) we constantly hear about how fewer women than men end up becoming professors, despite the equal proportions of the two sexes as graduate students.

In short, geneder inequality is a universal phenomenon. Some cultures are doing better in certain aspects while others prevail in another.

On the other hand, an analogous comment can be made about the geneder inequality. For some issues, it seems easier being a male, while for others it seems easier being a female. I know it's not always this simple, but it's not always so black and white, neither.

I thought I would be the firs to point out the translations were a bit over-the-top.

Oh well.

By the way, the interviews might have a bit more informative if the subjects were asked over what time frame women's lives had improved. Were they talking since 1949 or about the post-Cultural Revolution era? Although I guess they would give the same cookie cutter answers.

Ahhh new episode of sexy Beijing, nice...

I'm not surprised by the response at all. I mean if you randomly ask people off the street about feminism don't expect to find deep revealing results. Overall I think there has been improvements with regard to gender equalities.

I mean ask anyone what a proper traditional Confucius family is suppose to be. Especially ask my grandfather.

Personally I think true gender equality can not happen. I don't think it's possible to have an equilibrium state of true equality between women and men.

It won't happen just like true equality between humans beings can ever happen.

Am I sounding like a sexist pig now?

Even though I am a Chinese female living in the US, it is still shocking for me to see women presented like objects of erotic desires, which is not a bad thing in itself but concerning in this case in the proliferation of it. My impression may be biased based the selected magazine covers shown but those apparently are widely read titles. Maybe this is a clandestine way to get porn out there since Playboy is not allowed?

As the western world is now realizing these starved and sexualized images can seriously distort the mind of a young child or woman I wonder if anyone has taken a look in China to see if bulimia and anorexics are spreading these days.

When I participated in a Virgina Monologue production in US I was surprised to learn that the V-monologue based V-day performance have been produced all over the world: including Japan, Thailand, and Philippines, but not in China. I think I know why now.

That would be a fun production to do in China when the audience is ready some day.

"Even though I am a Chinese female living in the US, it is still shocking for me to see women presented like objects of erotic desires"

Here's a shocker: straight men all over the world see women as objects of desire, that's how babies are made.

Vagina Monologues was shown once in Shanghai in a small theatre. It was pulled after that.

I see where moo is coming from. Sex is very commercialized, especially in the west. I can see this being bad for a young child. Everywhere you look you see the sexualization of 12 year olds.

I'm guilty of this.

On the other hand perhaps it's not as bad as the over commercialization of violence. People tell me that on European t.v there is more sex than violence, versus more violence than sex on American t.v. Is this a generalization?

In this respect mainland t.v is very conservative. You don't have much sex and violence. Definitely more violence than sex...

"It may be true, but the same (or similar) can be said about women in the west and most places in the world."

Geez, not the 'but it happens everywhere' excuse AGAIN!

I have heard this so many times, it's ridiculous. Who cares if it's worldwide - if someone implies women aren't beaten any more they need to be challenged on that point, regardless of where they are.

We love Smacker! This episode was great! Well done and thanks a lot :-)

the chinese culture is very broad...

I know a little English.

"单位"的全体职工:
"单位"的全体职工,你们好.我是在2007年4月10日,晚上在湖南卫视看到你们的报道,说不上非常喜欢,但很有特色.(其实还是很喜欢的)我是湖南长沙人.确切的说是岳阳人(在长沙的北边).现在在长沙上班.什么时候也来采访湖南长沙或者我家乡岳阳呢?这两个地方都还是很有名气的.呵呵.
金玉米\苏菲\琼\那个摄像的(不好意思没记住你的名字)\做网业的帅哥(也没记住你的名字) 没别人了吧? 希望你们工作顺利.可以的话和我联系啊!~
来自长沙的问候.
Stephen(高军)
2007年4月11日上午9:34

I have get the infomation from TV,I am interested in you company!!! Do you need someone to join you

hello.this`s Ethan come from china.i heard your co. via tv 湖南TV .i come from hunan.lol.u got a bf? keep my fingers crossed for u .good luck and keep in touch.

我非常喜欢你们，如果需要人力，我可以参加你们

moblie:13126778901
msn:yuanjun_05@hotmail.com
email:youlong05@126.com

terrific episode. great job guys!

i do think some of the translations went a little fast and loose -- she didn't say 'bastard', and she didn't say 'i don't give a shit' -- i think you should be careful interpreting into strong language when it isn't in the original text...

she spoke plainly, but not coarsely.

nice interview style sufei! i would not want to imagine someone walking up to my grandmother and asking her about San Ba, but if it had to be someone, it would be you.

good ideas,
the best film. i)