As disturbing as the recent dismemberment murders of women have been, what is also disconcerting is the lack of discussion on how to educate men about respecting women and handling rejection.
Instead, the murders are sensationalized in the local Chinese-language media and on Internet message boards, and turned into an item of gossip and ridicule. Discussions are focusing on the grimy details, with netizens launching witch hunts instead of using it as an opportunity to address the toxic masculinity that pervades society.
First, society should take a long, hard look at the language used in many of the reports — including remarks by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Ko claims to have Asperger’s syndrome and is known to be a loose cannon, but this problem is too serious to let slide.
In the latest incident, Chen Po-chien (陳伯謙), an archery instructor who set up a wooden house at 120 Grassroots, a temporary artist commune in Taipei, allegedly tried to get one of his students drunk to have sex with her. When she refused, he strangled her, dismembered her body and disposed of the remains on Yangmingshan, according to police.
Almost all Chinese-language media used qiuhuan (求歡, “looking for fun” or “seeking romance”) to describe Chen’s alleged actions, which would amount to sexual assault, or yitu xingqin (意圖性侵).
It might only be semantics, but it softens Chen’s supposed motives, and that has an effect on the audience. Nobody “seeks romance” by pressuring someone to drink a mixture of kaoliang and beer. Sexual assault should always be portrayed as such. There is too much tolerance and usage of “cute” terms for assault, such as using jianshi (撿屍, “picking up dead bodies”) for men who target women who are unconscious at clubs. That is sexual assault. Period.
Ironically, qiuhuan was used in an article that criticized Ko’s use of kongbu qingren (恐怖情人, “scary lover”) to describe Chen. The two had only met a couple of times and had no romantic relationship. This is not acceptable.
Furthermore, while the role of 120 Grassroots in this incident should be reviewed, an excessive amount of attention has been directed toward its organizers, who say that Chen was just a tenant who had applied to use the space. While there has been public resentment toward the commune due to security, cleanliness and noise issues, it has turned into an all-out witch hunt that has taken much of the focus away from the issues that need to be addressed.
Instead of objectification and lack of respect for women and toxic masculinity playing roles in the murder, many are linking 120 Grassroots’ “decadent lifestyle” to the incident.
Regardless of whether someone agrees with their lifestyle, the murder was an act by a disturbed man who had clearly internalized toxic masculinity and was unable to handle rejection — something that has been happening too often these days.
And no, these are not isolated incidents. People seem to be shocked that it is the third case in less than a month — does nobody remember the student who stalked a female classmate for five years and slashed her neck in December last year?
When society turns a blind eye to the real problem, often even blaming the victims, it is no wonder that women are reluctant to speak out.
Have any of the netizens who are trashing everyone involved thought that this might some day happen to one of their loved ones, or that their female friends and family live in fear of this happening? Or will they forget about the murder and act shocked and outraged when then next incident happens?
It has been more than a week since the story broke. The frenzy is over. It is time to look at the issues that matter.
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Since the end of the Cold War, the US-China espionage battle has arguably become the largest on Earth. Spying on China is vital for the US, as China’s growing military and technological capabilities pose direct challenges to its interests, especially in defending Taiwan and maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific. Intelligence gathering helps the US counter Chinese aggression, stay ahead of threats and safeguard not only its own security, but also the stability of global trade routes. Unchecked Chinese expansion could destabilize the region and have far-reaching global consequences. In recent years, spying on China has become increasingly difficult for the US
Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore. These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports —
RSS