Androgyny and new women (edition1)

Super Girls was a reality television singing competition in China, whose mode is similar to American Idol, but only for girls. The fashion led by Super Girls swept China every year from 2004 to 2006. In 2005 its popularity reached the summit, producing a group of stars who shined in the next few years. Among these stars, the champion of that year, Yuchun Li (Chris Li), was definitely the most special and controversial one. She was not the best in singing and dancing. Nor was she the best in appearance. But she got the most vote from audience, especially female audience. A main reason for that strange phenomenon is that she showed a strong androgyny during the competition. Her androgyny, accompanied with "her proud and unpolished imperfection has charmed her fans."1

Short and straight hair, 175cm height (unusually high among Chinese women), jeans and T-shirts, a boy's English name and strong dancing became the typical mark of Yuchun Li. You can tell from the photo here that she was a tomboy, rather than an elegant lady. She preferred to sing the songs with fast rhythms and strength. Her tone was so low that you cannot tell whether she was a girl or a boy. After the competition, she published several albums and acted in a few movies. In 2009, she acted in the blockbuster Bodyguards and Assassins as Fang Hong, a female bodyguard who was good at martial arts. She showed her masculinity in the movie and sacrificed herself to prevent the explosion. Those are just some examples of Li's male properties. Because of these properties, Chinese people later gave her a nickname called "Brother Chun."

Despite her fame, some people, most of whom were male, had a different opinion on her. They thought she completely overturned the image of a Chinese women. Some of them claimed that the reason why she won the championship was that she took advantage of people's curiosity to androgyny (female androgyny in 2005 was not as common as now). Later, because of her peculiarity of female androgyny, a religion called "Brother Chun's religion" was created to make fun of her. To understand this, first, we need to have a look at male's psychology. Men have formed their own aesthetics and it is passed by generation. They prefer long hairs, skirts and lovely smile. That is perfectly illustrated by 2005's Super Girls. In that year, an organization did a survey "Who is your dreaming Super Girl?". The result was a bit astonishing. Most men chose neither the champion Yuchun Li nor the second place Bichang Zhou. Instead, they chose the third place, Liangying Zhang, who was of more femininity and had a better singing skill and a charming smile. The aesthetics itself has no problem, but the problem lies in the way people perceive that. For men, they want every woman to dress themselves as their aesthetics expects. If the woman is not willing to, those men will despise her, tease her, or just ignore her. (Above: Liangying Zhang; Below: Bichang Zhou)

On the other side, women's opinion towards this was totally different. They claimed that those "tomboys" were a kind of "new women", who had changed the traditional image of women. Because it symbolized freedom, innovation, and trend, more and more girls tried to dress up like a boy. They began wearing no make-ups and simple clothes such as shirts and pants, and shortening their hairs. They believed it's time to be strong and bold. This phenomenon, was a blend of the fashion led by those super girls and feminism.

Indeed, what a woman looks like should not be judged by men, even her husband. She has the right to determine her own appearance. Androgyny, in Super Girls and many other following shows, partially demonstrates a will of women to liberate themselves from the shackle of men's aesthetics and helps build up what a new woman should look like. However, it does not mean women should divide the masculine and the feminine apart and choose only the masculine. A proper attitude towards androgyny should be that women realize what kind of people they want to be and how they wish to dress up. They can combine masculinity and femininity and keep themselves "simple and natural."2 Androgyny is a beginning of women's liberation. Beyond this, a crucial goal, which feminists should strive for, is that women will be aware that they are not defined by the society, but by themselves. What's more, androgyny should lead an evolution that social environment, especially men, change their aesthetics and show more tolerance and respect to women's choice to support women to find their own unique identity.

Referrence：

1.Joffe-Walt, Benjamin. "Mad about the girl: a pop idol for China." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 6 Oct. 2005. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

2. Gramstad, Thomas. "Androgyny and Gender Dialectics." n.p, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.