Chinese officials warn women comedians that men are no laughing matter
The warning came from authorities in eastern Zhejiang province on WeChat over the weekend after a comedian referred to her allegedly abusive marriage in a performance that went viral on Chinese social media.
Women's rights are sensitive territory in China – over the last decade, authorities have cracked down on almost every form of independent feminist activism.
Zhejiang's publicity department chastised some comedy shows for becoming a 'battlefield' and simplifying gender issues into 'opposition between men and women'.
'Criticism is obviously fine, but it should be … constructive rather than revolve around gender opposition for the sake of being funny,' Sunday's WeChat article read.
The department also offered comedians tips on how to discuss gender in their sets.
'Instead of mocking 'blindly confident men' it is better to explore the social causes for this mentality,' it suggested. 'Instead of blindly ridiculing 'materialistic women', it is better to reflect on how consumerism shapes gender roles.'
The warning did not name a specific comedian, but called out streaming platform iQiyi's The King of Stand-up Comedy, and mentioned a newcomer dubbed an 'industry gem' online .
Earlier this month, the show broadcast a performance by Fan Chunli – who goes by the stage name 'Fangzhuren' – whose set revolved around her allegedly abusive marriage.
Members of the audience were moved to tears and many stood to applaud when she revealed she had left her ex-husband. Clips of her set spread across the Chinese internet, earning the former sanitation worker from northern Shandong province legions of new fans.
The Chinese arts scene has always been heavily censored by the ruling Communist party, and authorities have tightened that oversight in the past decade. But Sunday's warning sparked some criticism online.
'Just saying the facts of what happened is provoking opposition between men and women?' one top-liked Weibo comment reads.
'Once something is discussed from a female perspective it is labelled gender opposition, isn't that too sensitive,' reads another.
Women have faced backlash for joking about gender issues in the past.
In 2024, retail company JD.com dropped its sponsorship of Yang Li, a comedian known for asking why men 'look so mediocre yet still have so much self-confidence'.
Irked customers, mostly men, filled the company's social media with angry comments after Yang appeared at a promotional event.
But this month, fans applauded Fangzhuren for telling her story.
'The environment changes people, and will prompt women's awakening,' she posted on Weibo.
'When I said in the village I wanted a divorce, I was … unforgivable,' she wrote. 'On the outside, when I talk about my divorce, the audience applauds.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
6 hours ago
- Sky News
The Day in 10 Pictures
From robots playing football to people taking part in a grief rave - here are our chosen pictures of the day. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Zawaida in Gaza. An unusual match of the day - humanoid robots play three-a-side football, powered by AI, in a demonstration in China. A serviceman in Ukraine repairs a tank in Kharkiv. We're getting hitched! An upcoming wedding near Frankfurt in Germany saw these straw bales decorated to mark the occasion. A fire breaks out on a barge during a fireworks display in Yokohama City, Japan - which leads to five workers jumping into the sea to escape the flames. A hummingbird flutters around a flower in the summer light of Mexico City. Kite surfing during Storm Floris on the north coast of Northern Ireland. As a heatstroke alert is issued across Tokyo, one young boy plays in a fountain to cool off. Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attend a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro - as captured by a drone. People take part in Grief Rave at the Southbank Centre in London to 'dance out the sadness'.
Times
6 hours ago
- Times
Not your average Dad jokes: the comedian that all my mum friends fancy
George Lewis has been my maternity leave companion. The 37-year-old comedian from Stockport clocks up hundreds of thousands of views for his Instagram reels. Mums on maternity leave, he tells me, form a big bulk of his audience. I can see why. On the trials of parenting young children, he is brilliantly entertaining and instantly relatable — an antidote to all those social media accounts sharing visions of perfect parenting. And fellow mums admit to a bit of a crush on Lewis. With his very good hair and cheeky grin, he is a dad you might not mind bumping into at the school gate. He started posting comedy sketches on Instagram during the pandemic and it was the parenting ones that struck a chord. He has three children, aged two, five and seven, with his wife, Harriet, and 625,000 remarkably well-behaved Instagram followers. His series in which two toddlers chat to one another like adult friends is among his most popular content. The toddlers (both played by Lewis) discuss the devastation of dropping a piece of banana on the floor, adding 'character' to blank, freshly painted walls with a crayon, and the impact of dropping the daytime nap: 'Maybe it has affected me a little bit.' We've all been there. Lewis has found his people, then. So much so that he was, he tells me, reluctant to go on tour. But his show The Best Thing You'll Ever Do was a sell-out over the summer, packed with fellow parents, whom he describes as 'the nicest audiences I've ever played to'. He has now added more dates for September. While there's nothing like the instant noise from a live crowd — that feeling is 'just amazing', Lewis says — Instagram is also quick to provide feedback. And he feels a warmth through his work now that was never there before. 'I wasn't really enjoying it any more,' he says of stand-up, which he had been doing for more than a decade. He was going through the motions, trying to win over a (mostly drunk) late-night audience. The cans of Nice sauvignon were certainly flowing when I saw his live show at the Bloomsbury Theatre, but there was a sense of camaraderie — gangs of mums, couples, pregnant women — guffawing at gags about the madness of nursery rules about sickness and the awfulness of the cartoon bunny Bing. • The man posh girls love — he's 26 and seriously funny The hopeless dad is a well-loved and well-used comedy trope — looking at you, Bluey, Peppa Pig, The Simpsons. Of course Lewis has a reel on the topic — a dad feeding his child at a café — where strangers congratulate Dad on his parenting heroism. 'What a man … I hope your wife knows just how lucky she is.' Mums doing the same are, conversely, treated with contempt: 'If you wouldn't mind just cleaning that up on your way out.' It has generated hundreds of comments, many sharing similar experiences. One topic he wouldn't mine for laughs is autism. His elder son, Teddy, was diagnosed autistic by the NHS last year, while his daughter, Daisy, is being assessed. He wouldn't want audiences to feel sorry for him, he says, 'though there is a lot of funny stuff and I think having a laugh about the difficult stuff helps'. And it has been his and Harriet's biggest challenge as parents. 'You find yourself fighting every day for something you never asked for. Constantly trying to prove how bad things can be in order to get your child the support they need in life,' he wrote on Instagram at the end of last year. Now he just feels grateful to have the recognition of the diagnosis and says that, while there are challenges and frustrations, it's worth it for the 'amazing bits'. It's clear that Lewis loves being a dad. He talks about his gratitude at being in a job that enabled him to be at home when his children were little. By giving him an insight into the realities of maternity leave — 'which isn't just being at home having a nice time' — that experience has played a significant part in his success. 'I went through the stuff that, traditionally, mums go through — the loss of self, the feeling of never achieving anything.' And mums love him for it. Fatherhood has also made him far more emotional: 'I can cry at anything.' But he admits to feeling a greater happiness than he ever thought possible. With that, though, comes a fear of it all slipping by too quickly. 'I already cast my mind forward and then get sad about missing the thing that's happening now,' he says. He's supportive of the government's recently announced review into paternity leave — one in three dads don't take paternity leave and take-up of shared leave remains very low. 'Anything that can even it up is so important,' Lewis says. For starters it is, he says, better for the relationship between the two parents. Plus there's the added benefit of children growing up witnessing equality in action. Having sat through the Netflix drama Adolescence, he's terrified of his kids getting phones and hopes that legislation will be in place to safeguard them. He admits, though, to needing to have more boundaries around his own phone use. Witnessing other parents ignore their children in favour of a TikTok reel can be challenging for Lewis — 'I'll think, oh, that's so sad, and then I'll think, I do that. I definitely do that.' It's also true that phones are a lifeline, especially for mums on maternity leave. We're the ones watching his videos. 'That's the way of connecting with the world and seeing something funny and getting through,' Lewis says.
The Sun
8 hours ago
- The Sun
‘My wife would kill me' – Kyren Wilson makes vow after ‘silly' snooker shot
KYREN WILSON will not attempt a 'silly no-look' shot in high-pressurised situations or if big money is on the line – because he says his wife 'would kill me'. The Warrior is flying home from China £210,000 richer after lifting the Shanghai Masters following a 11-9 victory in the final over Ali Carter. 3 3 In his first match of the season, a 6-5 second-round win over Si Jiahui, Wilson was on 97 in the final-frame decider with one ball left on the table. Unexpectedly, he decided to 'entertain' the crowd by turning his head to the side, as if it was an exhibition, as he cued up for the century break. That final black, which was on its spot, was missed and it meant there was no seventh century in that clash, which would have been a record for a match consisting of 11 frames. Wilson, 33, was unaware that had he potted the ball normally it would have gone down in the record books. The Kettering cueist had no regrets about his antics and his priority, given the frame had been sealed, was 'to have a little bit of fun' and 'do things a little bit differently'. However, speaking to SunSport following his first title success of the season, Wilson admits he would NOT do this again if the ball he was aiming for had more riding on it. Considering how much money could be on the line in the future, he would be in serious trouble at home if he reattempted the cheeky shot again. The world No2 said: 'Every ounce of me would love to say, yes, I'll do it again. But, no. 'At the end of the day, I'm a professional. I wouldn't do it in a winning moment. 'It's all well and good doing it on a century, but no, I couldn't do it in a winning moment. Not if there was a trophy on the line. Kyren Wilson tells SunSport how he suffered breakdown in front of wife and turned to hypnotherapist Chris O'Connor for help 'Not only that, I think my wife would kill me. Maybe if I get to the deciding frame and I need the black for a century… 'I was meant to be on talkSPORT the next day to talk about it. "Unfortunately they couldn't get through because of the signal. There was a typhoon and they couldn't get to me. 'It was all about that debate: Would I have done it again? Trying to do something different in snooker gets people talking. It's all good for the game.' The Englishman became world champion in May 2024 and then played as much as he could, winning four ranking titles in the 2024-25 season. Yet his Crucible campaign was a disaster – it was ended in the first round, on day one, by debutant Lei Peifan as the Curse claimed another victim. The next few weeks were extremely difficult but it was only by playing in exhibitions around the globe and the love and support of his family that pulled him through the 'dark' times. The father-of-two – next in action in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah – said: 'It really, really hurt to lose in the first round. 'I was in quite a dark place for a couple of weeks. 'I was meant to be working for the BBC straight after that. I did one day and said to the producer, I've got to get out of here. I can't do it. I don't want to be here. 'I had some exhibitions which took my mind off it fairly quickly. We travelled all over. We went to Dubai, China, Hong Kong and then Helsinki. So, thank god for that really. 'God knows what I'd have been doing otherwise. 'I gave so much last year. It was important to kick on this year and start in the same vein. "The world championships have gone now – I'll try my best to learn from it.'
