Fragile Hearts: Cancel Culture in China

Nowadays, no one is safe from the public outcry over supposedly improper remarks. Not only global corporations, but even pop stars loyal to the state are now quickly pilloried on the Internet for hurting the „feelings of the people.“ The government utilizes this patriotic outrage to push its foreign policy agenda.

Chen Man never thought that she would be branded a „traitor to China“ over a photo. After the 41-year-old star photographer from Beijing photographed an Asian model for a Dior handbag advertisement, she was suddenly pilloried on the Internet in mid-November: Chen’s pictures were based on Western stereotypes of Chinese women, wrote outraged users on Chinese social media channels such as Weibo. Her eyes were too narrow, her cheekbones too high, her make-up and clothes reminiscent of a „creepy concubine“ from the Qing dynasty. Chinese beauty looks different.

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