In media reports, feminists, or nüquan zhuyizhe, are often stigmatized by misogynistic discourses. For example, they are described as emotionally impulsive or distant, verbally or physically violent, strong willed, and rejecting family life and relationship. They are even contemptuously labelled as “jiduan nüquan zhuyizhe” (extreme feminists), “nüquan biao” (feminist bitches), “nüquan ai” (feminist cancer), and so on. Scholars have pointed out several reasons behind the prevalence of the stigmatization: first, it appeals to the stereotypes of a patriarchal society; second, the media creates and exaggerates conflicts, which can attract attention and benefit commercial interests; third, this is also the byproduct of women’s lack of voice in the male-dominating media environment.[1]

Moreover, the stigmatization of feminism is the result of the structure of the media and the patriarchal society that reflects the misogynic mentality in society. According to Ueno Chizuko, in a binary gender order, men establish their dominant identity by devaluing women as subordinate sexual objects and recognizing masculinity among men. Therefore, the anti-feminist discourse reflects men’s feeling threatened by the demands of women for improving their status. This also makes men feel anxious when they encounter difficulties in constructing their identity.[2]

China’s online media environment mirrors the situation of structural political inequality for women in reality and exhibits the same tendency toward misogyny. Feminist activists on the Internet were invisible due to their marginalization at the beginning and they did not come under attack. However, as their visibility and social appeal grow, violent anti-women rhetoric and stigmatization ensue.[3]

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[1] Yuke Yang, “Radical Feminist Labels: How Feminism Is Stigmatized in Media Platforms,” Journalism & Communication (December 2014): 107-08.

[2] Chizuko Ueno, Disgust Against Women, translated by Wang Lan (Shanghai: Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, 2015), 19-21.

[3] Xiao Han, “Searching for an Online Space for Feminism? The Chinese Feminist Group Gender Watch Women’s Voice and Its Changing Approaches to Online Misogyny,” Feminist Media Studies 18, no. 4 (16 May 2018): 740-41. 

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在媒體報道中，女權主義者常被厭女的言論污名化。例如，她們被描繪為情緒衝動、情感淡漠、言語或動作暴力、處處要強、及拒絕家庭生活的女性，甚至被蔑視為「極端女權」、「女權婊」、及「女權癌」等。污名盛行的原因大概有三點：一，這樣的描述能夠迎合父權社會的成見；二，媒體製造並誇大矛盾，能夠吸引注意力，有利於提高經濟效益；此外，這也是女性在在男權主導的傳媒中失語的結果。[4]

另一方面，女權主義的污名化是媒介和父權社會建構的結果，反映的是社會中的「厭女症」心態。日本學者上野千鶴子指，在二元的性別秩序中，男性通過將女性蔑視為性客體，並相互認可男性的陽剛氣質來建立自己的主體身份；反女權話語體現了男性對女性在要求提升自身地位時，所產生的被威脅感和阻礙自身男性氣質建構的焦慮。[5]

中國的網絡媒體環境反映了現實世界中女性的結構性政治不平等處境，同樣呈現出厭女症的傾向。網絡上的女性行動者集群初時，由於她們處於邊緣而得以隱形，所以不會遭到攻擊。但隨着她們的知名度提高，和社會感召力的增強，暴力的反女性言論隨之而來，污名也隨之泛化。[6]

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[4] 楊雨柯，《激進的女權標籤——女權主義如何在媒介平台被污名化》，刊於《新聞與傳播研究》（2014年12月）：107-108頁。 

[5] 上野千鶴子著，王蘭譯，《厭女：日本的女性嫌惡》（上海：上海三聯書店，2015年）, 19-21頁。 

[6] Xiao Han, “Searching for an Online Space for Feminism? The Chinese Feminist Group Gender Watch Women’s Voice and Its Changing Approaches to Online Misogyny,” Feminist Media Studies 18, no. 4 (May 16, 2018): 740-41. 

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*圖片來源：https://medium.com/@carpenter.sarah.mc/reddit-the-marketplace-of-ideas-in-practice-134c79c2e2df.