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How should women be sexy? A photo shoot featuring a famous Chinese comedienne sparked a feminism debate
- Li Xueqin is one of China‘s most famous comedians, thanks to her pointed criticisms of patriarchy
- So her decision to pose in a sexually suggestive men‘s magazine sparked a debate about sexiness
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Alice Yanin Shanghai
A debate has exploded in China about how women should define their own sex appeal after one of the country’s most famous stand-up comedians was featured in a photo spread in a sexually suggestive men’s magazine.
The pictures feature Li Xueqin, who became famous, in part, for her clever jokes about Chinese patriarchy, and were published in the June 22 issue of the For Him’s magazines published in China.
Because of Li’s reputation, many people called her a hypocrite or said she was betraying her sexiness, which they said came from her wit, not her body.
“The incident has insulted women. The magazine sent out a message that no matter what features a woman has, she needs to expose her body in order to show her value. It’s objectifying women,” wrote someone on Zhihu, the Chinese equivalent to Quora.
Huang Lin, a feminist researcher and professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, said sexiness comes in diverse forms, rather than just taking a picture of a woman in a revealing dress to appeal to males.
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