Betraying Big Brother named one of New York Public Library’s “essential reads on feminism” in August 2020 to mark 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment

one of Vanity Fair’s top eight political books of fall 2018,

one of Newsweek’s 61 best books of 2018,

one of Bitch Media’s 15 best nonfiction books of fall 2018,

one of 14 “must-read" foreign policy books of 2018 by Foreign Policy Interrupted

one of the 50 best feminist books of 2018 by Autostraddle

one of Time Out Shanghai’s eight books on “essential International Women’s Day reading list” March 2019

Betraying Big Brother “argues that misogyny is at the core of China’s authoritarian regime and that a feminist movement, if not suppressed, could prove to be the country’s ‘most transformative movement.’ ” - New York Times

“Argues persuasively that the activism the [feminist] five awakened is already challenging the authoritarian state, with more and more women taking control of their bodies and rejecting ‘China’s patriarchal institutions’. ” - Washington Post

Betraying Big Brother is “a vivid, insightful read that will empower feminists around the world.” - The Interpreter

“Hong Fincher makes a provocative and persuasive argument about the significance of the feminist movement in China, asserting that it is already a political wave the likes of which China has not seen since 1989.” - LA Review of Books

“Hong Fincher explains that far from a small movement on the fringes of Chinese society, feminism is on the rise, from the burgeoning and ongoing #MeToo movement, to increasing calls for protections for survivors of domestic violence … to protests against workplace discrimination.” - Jezebel

“With a dearth of information about non-Western feminist responses to sexual assaults…Hong Fincher has filled an important gap and showed how a generation of Chinese women is making great strides” - Foreign Policy 

“A fascinating and earnest book…riveting…revealing” - Publishers Weekly

“Author Leta Hong Fincher shows why the world should pay attention to China’s feminists” - TIME Magazine

“A deeply affecting book … Hong Fincher’s vivid, blow-by-blow account of the women’s experiences is a valuable work of journalism” - Foreign Affairs

“Betraying Big Brother is a necessary read to understand the role of women in Chinese society” - China Law and Policy

Betraying Big Brother “captures the irony of having an international day dedicated to women’s rights when governments across the world work are stifling those rights” - Buzzfeed


On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for 37 days. The Feminist Five became a global cause célèbre, with Hillary Clinton speaking out on their behalf, and activists inundating social media with #FreetheFive messages. But the Feminist Five are only symbols of a much larger feminist movement of university students, civil rights lawyers, labor activists, performance artists and online warriors that is prompting an unprecedented awakening among China’s urban, educated women. In Betraying Big Brother, journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher argues that the popular, broad-based movement poses a unique challenge to China’s authoritarian regime today.

Through interviews with the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists, Hong Fincher illuminates both the difficulties they face and their “joy of betraying Big Brother,” as one of the Feminist Five wrote of the defiance she felt during her detention. Tracing the rise of a new feminist consciousness now finding expression through the #MeToo movement, and describing how the Chinese government has suppressed the history of its own feminist struggles, Betraying Big Brother is a story of how the movement against patriarchy could reconfigure China and the world.

Praise

“A vital and necessary book in a world hostile to women and girls. Leta Hong Fincher’s account of a powerful network of activists is a foundational text on feminism in contemporary China, rich with scholarship and a grasp of history. It is a book to inspire and to guide all of us who insist on fighting the patriarchy globally.”
— Mona Eltahawy, author of Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution
“A provocative, sharp-edged account of Beijing’s push to cajole women to marry and fix the country’s sagging birth rates. A must-read for students of feminism.

”
— Mei Fong, author of One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment
“Writing with rigor, passion, and indignation, Hong Fincher introduces a group of Chinese feminist activists who refuse to be intimidated by China’s powerful patriarchal state. Offering a detailed account of the women’s critiques of increasing gender inequality in China, Betraying Big Brother is a singular account of a Chinese—and now global—movement that will not be silenced”
— Rebecca E. Karl, author of Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth Century
“In Betraying Big Brother, Leta Hong Fincher unlocks a fundamental truth: the subjugation of women is a key feature of authoritarian power. But in telling the harrowing story of the detention of China’s Feminist Five, she may also have discovered the strongman’s Achilles’ Heel: a broad-based feminist movement poses an existential threat to a patriarchal state.”
— Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom
“In her vivid and comprehensive work on China’s emerging feminist movement, Leta Hong Fincher explores the coming of age of a generation of young activists in an authoritarian state increasingly hostile to social protest. A must-read for all seeking to understand China’s feminist activists, hear their voices, and experience the day-to-day reality of their lives.”
— Carl Minzer, author of End of an Era: How China’s Authoritarian Revival Is Undermining Its Rise
Photo by: Nora Tejada

Photo by: Nora Tejada

Leta has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC, CNN and others. She won the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award for her China reporting. Fluent in Mandarin, Leta is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Department of Sociology in Beijing and is currently a Seminar Associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. She has a master's degree from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree with high honors from Harvard University. Leta’s latest book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso 2018), was named one of the best books of 2018 by Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Foreign Policy Interrupted, Bitch Media and Autostraddle. Leta's first book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (Zed 2014), was named one of the top 5 China books of 2014 by the Asia Society’s ChinaFile, one of the best books in 2014 by Foreign Policy Interrupted and one of the best Asian books of 2014 by Asia House. Leftover Women was named on New Left Review's list of favorite books to read for International Women's Day in 2017 and 2016. In 2018, it was named on the New York Times list of recommended books on China and Time Out Beijing's list of best books on women in modern China. In 2019, it was named on SupChina’s list of “100 China books you have to read” and Asia Society Australia’s 2019 holiday reading list. I wrote a chapter, “Property, Patriarchy, and the Chinese State” for the book The Psychology of Women Under Patriarchy (UNM Press 2019). Named by the Telegraph as an "awesome woman you need in your life on Twitter," you may follow her @LetaHong.
 

COVER Leftover Women.jpg

Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China

 A century ago, Chinese feminists fighting for the emancipation of women helped spark the Republican Revolution, which overthrew the Qing empire. After China's Communist revolution of 1949, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed that "women hold up half the sky." In the early years of the People's Republic, the Communist Party sought to transform gender relations with expansive initiatives such as assigning urban women jobs in the planned economy. Yet those gains are now being eroded in China's post-socialist era. Contrary to many claims made in the mainstream media, women in China have experienced a dramatic rollback of many rights and gains relative to men.

Leftover Women debunks the popular myth that women have fared well as a result of post-socialist China's economic reforms and breakneck growth. It focuses on the far-reaching consequences of the Chinese state media propagation of the derogatory term "leftover" women or shengnü (剩女) to stigmatize professional, educated, urban women in their mid-twenties and older, and pressure them to marry and have a child.

Review excerpts

“”Leta Hong Fincher’s ‘Leftover Women’ offers a...chilling account of the pressures on Chinese strivers...One hopes that “Leftover Women” will soon be translated into Chinese, as it is likely to resonate deeply with urban educated women. It seems the party has forgotten the Mao-era dictum: ‘Women Hold Up Half the Sky’.”
”
— New York Times Book Review by Judith Shapiro
““In ‘Leftover Women,’ Leta Hong Fincher convincingly argues that an orchestrated state campaign co-opts women to marry and buy marital homes, often to the detriment of their careers and financial independence.””
— Wall Street Journal Book Review, by Anjie Zheng
““In this commanding book Hong Fincher argues that China’s international image, celebrating the increasing education and wealth of its women, masks an alarming slide back towards deep gender inequality - and that the very education and wealth of Chinese women is being used against them.””
— Feminist and Women's Studies Association (UK & Ireland) Book Review by Carina Hart
““Leftover Women should carry a health warning: this book will severely raise your blood pressure. Leta Hong Fincher’s subject - researched through statistical analysis, sociological surveys and extensive first-hand interviewing - is the toxic vitality of sexism in China today.” ”
— The Guardian Book Review by Julia Lovell
““A timely, rich and intricately written book on gender equality in China...Hong Fincher’s work paints a broad and pervasive picture of women’s rights in post-socialist China gradually eroding. She delves into China’s patriarchal culture, the growth of its real estate wealth and the impact of the Communist Party’s central aim of maintaining social stability.””
— The Telegraph, by Marta Cooper
““A powerful — and provocative — argument that China’s female shortage, far from empowering women, has actually resulted in a situation where urban women’s rights are increasingly imperiled....It’s ‘Backlash’, China-style, on a scale Susan Faludi never envisioned, touching the lives of 650 million women, almost a fifth of all the women in the world.””
— L.A. Review of Books, by Mei Fong
““Hong Fincher, a doctoral candidate at Tsinghua University, describes a state-sponsored backlash against economically independent single women in urban China, and the growing wealth gap it enforces, in this highly suggestive study...The book serves as a vital introduction to gender issues in urban China.”
”
— Publishers Weekly Book Review
““Important and interesting...gender relations, in many ways so much more advanced in China than in India, are going backwards as traditions that were seemingly flattened by Mao re-emerge.””
— Financial Times Book Review, by David Pilling
““A compelling piece of original research...Leta Hong Fincher, an American journalist-turned-academic, argues that the same party that pushed through the elevation of women’s status in the 1950s is now trying to engineer their return to the kitchen.”
”
— The Economist Book Review
IMG_1151.JPG

中國剩女：性別歧視與財富分配不均的權力遊戲

晚婚，在中國為何是條不歸路？
年滿二十七歲的未婚女子為何被冠上「剩女」污名？

□大學以上學歷　□居住於大城市　□中產階級

在中國，一個單身女子只要符合以上條件，就是「官方認證」的「剩女」。她們又依照年紀區分「危險等級」，被戲稱婚姻的「剩鬥士」、「必剩客」、「鬥戰剩佛」和「齊天大剩」。媒體輿論與官方單位極盡所能地羞辱她們的單身處境，並將「剩女現象」從社會話題提升到國家危機的層級。

當本意為多餘的「剩」字使用在女性身上，則為中國媒體詆毀單身女性的運動添加了情緒共鳴。這個運動，其諷刺之處在於中國是個男性人口過盛的國家，一胎化政策、重男輕女和針對女嬰的墮胎導致兩性比例不均，官方稱之為「對社會穩定的威脅」。

在買房與房產登記不利於女性的社會結構下，
原有的經濟優勢瓦解，亟欲脫離單身的「剩女」反而陷入新危機！

為了解決這個社會威脅，並配合國家提升「人口素質」的政策，官方傾全力迫使高學歷女性「別工作了，盡早結婚」，為國家生出「優質」的嬰兒。在媒體推波助瀾之下，年輕女性因感受到來自社會輿論、父母與另一半的壓力，恐懼晚婚，為了早日擺脫「剩女」身分，容易接受不適宜的婚姻。

「剩女」們「積極」嚮往婚姻，卻在買房與財產分配上做出「消極」的妥協與配合：她們被傳統社會觀念與不公的法律制度剝奪了房子的所有權，情願讓不動產登記在丈夫名下，就算她們或她們的父母在買房中有很大貢獻，也是如此。失去了經濟優勢，更容易造成夫妻關係不對等的局面，在婚姻因家暴與外遇而解體時，更突顯她們所面臨的困境。

她們該如何在「三分之一的婚姻都以離婚告終」的中國獲得安身立命的機會？
面對壓迫，她們能夠找出方法，反撃根深蒂固的性別歧視嗎？

News/Reviews featuring Leta Hong Fincher

Half the sky: the woman’s place in Chinese society Chinese Whispers podcast, October 2020

Forced abortion and secret sterilization: how China has abused Uyghur women for decades New Statesman, October 2020

Betraying Big Brother named one of New York Public Library’s list of “essential reads on feminism” to mark 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment August 2020

Contributor to Pen America’s “We Will Emerge,” featuring 111 short essays by writers, activists, politicians and artists imagining our future

How Uighur women’s bodies became a battleground for China’s coercive population control The New Arab, August 2020

Is the Pandemic Reshaping Geopolitics? Foreign Affairs, June 2020

‘American Carnage’ Now Playing in China POLITICO, June 2020

Big Brother’s Patriarchal Authoritarianism The Wire, June 2020

In China U.S. showdown, Beijing’s steely propagandist sharpens her attack Washington Post, May 2020

21 Book, TV Film and Podcast Suggestions for Asian Americans, by Asian Americans Huffington Post, May 2020

Women leaders are doing a disproportionately great job at handling the pandemic. So why are there so few of them? CNN, April 2020

A movement to pass mothers’ surnames to their children is gaining traction in China Quartz, April 2020

Bloomberg News Killed Investigation, Fired Reporter, Then Sought to Silence his Wife NPR News, April 2020

Domestic violence reports rise in China amid COVID-19 lockdown Globe and Mail, March 2020

Home is Not a Safe Place For Everyone Huffington Post, March 2020

China’s domestic violence epidemic Axios, March 2020

In China, Fans of ‘Sex and the City’ Would Rather be Miranda than Carrie VICE, August 2020

Interview with Radicals and Revolutionaries Lab podcast, February 2020

When Bloomberg News’s Reporting on China was Challenged, Bloomberg Tried to Ruin Me for Speaking Out The Intercept, February 2020

Betraying Big Brother is “a vivid, insightful read that will empower feminists around the world.” The Interpreter, January 2020

“Betraying Big Brother is a necessary read to understand the role of women in Chinese society” China Law and Policy, Jan 2020

Interview with Brazilian magazine Exame on publication of Portuguese edition of Betraying Big Brother Exame, January 2020

Across the Globe, a “Serious Backlash Against Women’s Rights” New York Times, December 2019

Dismissal of Chinese professors seen as progress on #MeToo Times Higher Education, December 2019

Video interview with ChinaFile on Betraying Big Brother December 2019

China’s attacks on Uighur women are crimes against humanity Washington Post, October 2019

Interview with Spanish magazine cuarto poder on Betraying Big Brother Cuardo Poder, Dec 2019

In China, courts deny women divorces in the name of “social harmony” The Economist, Oct 2019

Abortions, IUDs and sexual humiliation: Muslim women who fled China for Kazakhstan recount ordeals Washington Post, Oct 2019

Silenced at home, finding a voice overseas: China’s feminists cultivate the expatriate community South China Morning Post, Oct 2019

Asian universities contend with their #MeToo moment Times Higher Education, Oct 2019

LA Review of Books podcast - Leta Hong Fincher on Feminism in China September 2019

“Thwarted at Home, Can China’s Feminists Rebuild a Movement Abroad?” ChinaFile, August 2019

“Leta Hong Fincher gives an impassioned and moving account of the modern women’s rights movement in China” The Gallyry, August 2019

“I Felt Like I Was Drowning”: On Women’s Rights in Taiwan LA Review of Books, August 2019

A Prosperous China Says “Men Preferred,” and Women Lose New York Times, July 2019

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher on “Betraying Big Brother” The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder, June 2019

The War on Women: The View from China - interview with Leta Hong Fincher Project Syndicate podcast, June 2019

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher on my books “Betraying Big Brother” and “Leftover Women” Engendered podcast, June 2019

This woman [Zheng Churan] is running to save the love of her life Buzzfeed, June 2019

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher on the resilience of the Chinese feminist movement China Digital Times, June 2019

Without memories of 1989, Chinese activists of a new generation struggle for social change LA Times, June 2019

LGBTQ rights in China: Halfway out of closet? Nikkei Asian Review, June 2019

How the feminist movement is challenging global authoritarianism - Leta Hong Fincher Q&A for Aspen Ideas Festival, May 2019

What Scares China’s Leaders? The Atlantic, April 2019

Why do Election 2020’s male candidates get better coverage than women? Quartz, April 2019

Leta Hong Fincher interviewed about Betraying Big Brother on The Atlantic’s Masthead podcast April 2019

Betraying Big Brother “captures the irony of having an international day dedicated to women’s rights when governments across the world are stifling those rights” Buzzfeed March 2019

China’s women’s movement has not only survived an intense crackdown, it’s grown - Guardian op-ed by Leta Hong Fincher, March 2019

This International Women’s Day, support liberal democracy by defending women’s rights against authoritarianism South China Morning Post op-ed by Leta Hong Fincher, March 2019

How the arrest of 5 Chinese women galvanized the country’s feminist movement - CBC radio interview with Leta Hong Fincher, March 2019

The Chinese feminists fighting patriarchy from abroad PRI, May 2019

Leta Hong Fincher interviewed about Betraying Big Brother on The Theory of Everything podcast, May 2019

Betraying Big Brother named one of Vanity Fair’s top eight political books of fall 2018

Betraying Big Brother named one of Newsweek’s 61 best books of 2018

Betraying Big Brother named by Bitch Media as one of 15 best nonfiction books for fall 2018

Betraying Big Brother named one of 14 best foreign policy books of 2018 by Foreign Policy Interrupted

Betraying Big Brother named one of 50 best feminist books of 2018 by Autostraddle

Leta Hong Fincher Looks at the Rise of Feminism in China Video interview with USC’s US-China Institute 2019

Betraying Big Brother named top book out of “13 must-read books for anyone interested in feminism” by Ezvid Wiki in 2019

New York Times review: “She argues that misogyny is at the core of China’s authoritarian regime and that a feminist movement, if not suppressed, could prove to be the country’s ‘most transformative movement.’ ” December, 2018

Betraying Big Brother named one of Time Out Shanghai’s “eight books on essential International Women’s Day reading list” March 2019

“The west believe they taught us feminism” Leta Hong Fincher featured in Guardian video March 2019

New York Times: Stop Asking Women About Childbearing Status, China Tells Employers February 2019

Guardian: Can China recover from its disastrous one-child policy? March 2019

BBC World News TV interviews Leta Hong Fincher about China’s feminist movement Oct. 8, 2018

TIME Magazine: Author Leta Hong Fincher Shows Why the World Should Pay Attention to China’s Feminists

NPR’s Here and Now interviews Leta Hong Fincher on her book Betraying Big Brother, China’s feminist movement and #MeToo

LA Review of Books review: “Hong Fincher makes a provocative and persuasive argument about the significance of the feminist movement in China, asserting that it is already a political wave the likes of which China has not seen since 1989.” February, 2019

Washington Post review: Betraying Big Brother “argues persuasively that the activism the [feminist] five awakened is already challenging the authoritarian state, with more and more women taking control of their bodies” November 21, 2018

How young Chinese women are taking on Xi Jinping Profile of Betraying Big Brother in Australian Financial Review, March 9, 2019

Leta Hong Fincher interview with Uncommon Sense at Australia’s RRR on her book Betraying Big Brother March 12, 2019

Robin Morgan interviews Leta Hong Fincher on her book Betraying Big Brother WMC Live February 24, 2019

Foreign Policy review: "With a dearth of information about non-Western feminist responses to sexual assaults...Hong Fincher has filled an important gap and showed how a generation of Chinese women is making great strides." January 2019

The Patriarchy Strikes Back in China Foreign Policy excerpt of Betraying Big Brother January 2019

How #MeToo Is Taking on a Life of Its Own in Asia TIME magazine, October 9, 2018

BBC Woman’s Hour interviews Leta Hong Fincher about her book Betraying Big Brother October 2018

ABC News The World interview on Betraying Big Brother February 2019

BBC News: Why has “dating leave” been given to Chinese women? February 2019

“In her sprawling and detailed recent book, Betraying Big Brother, Fincher aims to tell the story of the women’s rights movement in China through their saga.” Book Forum review December 2018 

Interview with Little Red Podcast on Betraying Big Brother January 2019

Reuters Breakingviews podcast with Leta Hong Fincher about Betraying Big Brother October 2018

Harvard Fairbank Center podcast on Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China November 2018

“Hong Fincher’s book tells the story of the feminist movement in China, and the women she writes about are operating in almost unimaginably hostile conditions” New Statesman, October 2018

China’s New Feminists LA Review of Books China Channel excerpt from Betraying Big Brother, October 2018

China’s #MeToo Activists have Transformed a Generation Foreign Policy, January 2019

Feminism and femininity in Xi Jinping’s “New Era” The Interpreter, November 2018

Why the Communist Party wants to stifle #MeToo in China Inkstone News, November 2018

Interview with RTHK on Betraying Big Brother, Hong Kong International Literary Festival November 2018

Betraying Big Brother on list of top fall books - by the New Internationalist October 2018

Tank Magazine interview with Leta Hong Fincher November 2018

Betraying Big Brother “by far the most complete account yet of the story of the Feminist Five, who were detained for several weeks in 2015 for planning to hand out anti-sexual harassment information on public transport on International Women’s Day” Hong Kong Free Press October 2018

Betraying Big Brother in “Hope is a Good Book” collection “highlighting voices that have shone through the political and social gloom” Strand Bookstore, October 2018

Axios interviews Leta Hong Fincher on her book Betraying Big Brother October 2018

Betraying Big Brother "brings the clash between China’s grassroots women’s movement and the state’s manipulation of women to life" Reuters Breaking Views October 2018

Betraying Big Brother “deserves to be read and talked about – not only to understand better the plight of women in China and across the world, but also to better understand legitimacy-building in an undemocratic China.” Mapping China review, October 2018

India’s She The People interviews Leta Hong Fincher on her book Betraying Big Brother October 2018

FreshEd podcast with Leta Hong Fincher on Betraying Big Brother October 2018

What the Brett Kavanaugh controversy can teach China about feminism and social change South China Morning Post

Yue Xin, a #MeToo and Labor Rights Activist in China, Has Been Missing for Weeks After Being Detained by Police Jezebel, Oct. 2018

Brett Kavanaugh, Gender Inequality and the Decline of Democracy Medium, October 6, 2018

Leta Hong Fincher on Feminism and #MeToo in China Jezebel, September 2018

Betraying Big Brother a "meticulously sourced...study of modern China - its politics and popular culture" South China Morning Post, Aug. 2018

How #MeToo changed China, one year on SBS, October 2018

Hour-long WBAI radio interview with Leta Hong Fincher about Betraying Big Brother WBAI’s The Jordan Journal, Oct. 12, 2018

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher The Diplomat, August 31, 2018

Asia Experts Forum interview with Leta Hong Fincher Claremont McKenna Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies

Given the right to larger families, Chinese may hold off AFP, August 28, 2018

China could scrap two-child policy, ending 40 years of limits The Guardian, August 27, 2018

Betraying Big Brother "a fascinating and earnest book" with "riveting stories" Publishers Weekly, August 27, 2018

Off the Shelf Harvard Magazine September-October 2018

Harvard Fairbank Center: The Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher September 2018

"Leta Hong Fincher’s upcoming book weaves the stories of Chinese feminists into the fabric of Chinese history in a way that can’t be censored or erased" Young China Watchers Summer Reading List, August 7, 2018

“Betraying Big Brother is both enlightening and harrowing, but it also provides cause for hope” The China Forum, August 2018

Why Young Chinese Aren't Rushing Into Marriage NPR Morning Edition July 31, 2018

Chinese authorities are offering wedding subsidies and cash payments to lure 'high quality' women into having more babies Business Insider July 31, 2018

Betraying Big Brother "urgent", "sweeping" and "crucial reading" - Hong Kong Review of Books July 27, 2018

China's two-child policy is having unintended consequences The Economist July 26, 2018

Chinese college teaches female students to be ‘perfect’ Washington Post, June 25, 2018

Want a Divorce in China? You Might have to Fail a Quiz First New York Times, May 30, 2018

Chinese Feminists Push #MeToo Movement Amid Censorship NBC News May 3, 2018

China's Universities Face a #MeToo Moment Wall Street Journal April 22, 2018

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher in Oxford Review of Books ORB April 5, 2018

How Feminists in China are Using Emoji to Avoid Censorship WIRED March 30, 2018

China Silences its Feminists on International Women's Day Radio Free Asia March 9, 2018

"Leftover Women" named one of Beijing Time Out's best books on women in modern China February 21, 2018

Xi Jinping's authoritarian rise in China has been powered by sexism by Leta Hong Fincher, Washington Post, March 1, 2018 

Leta Hong Fincher, Author of Acclaimed 'Leftover Women', Discusses the Uprising of Feminism in China The Beijinger, February 22, 2018

China Dropped its One-Child Policy. So Why Aren't Chinese Women Having More Babies? by Leta Hong Fincher, New York Times, February 20, 2018

China is in a muddle over population policy The Economist, February 8, 20018

China's feminist movement braves a government crackdown on #MeToo The Verge, February 9, 2018

China is Attempting to Muzzle #MeToo by Leta Hong Fincher, National Public Radio, February 1, 2018

Rise of 'morality schools' for Chinese women sparks outcry Associated Press, February 1, 2018

China's #MeToo Moment The New Yorker, February 1, 2018

BBC World TV interview with Leta Hong Fincher on #MeToo movement in China BBC World TV, January 25, 2018

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher about #MeToo and Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China Roundhouse Radio, January 24, 2018

#MeToo reaches China: As claims are made against two professors, Beijing struggles to keep a lid on movement The Telegraph, January 13, 2018 

#MeToo makes its way to China, but will the government censor it? The Verge, January 11, 2018

How did #MeToo get started in China? Not even government censorship can silence it Bustle, January 9, 2018

Chinese women share #MeToo stories despite possible censorship Teen Vogue, January 9, 2018

Chinese women reveal sexual harassment, but #MeToo movement struggles for air Washington Post, January 9, 2018

China's women break silence on harassment as #MeToo becomes #WoYeShi Guardian, January 8, 2018

Will #MeToo spread in China? BBC, January 6, 2018

Racy Virtual-Reality Assistant Pulled After Questions Raised, Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017

No #MeToo in China? Female journalists face sexual harassment but remain silent Hong Kong Free Press, December 5, 2017

China's sexual harassment problem SupChina News, December 4 2017

China's mixed messages to working women Financial Times, November 30, 2017

Why China needs a #MeToo campaign but won't allow it: Conversation with Leta Hong Fincher Sinica Podcast, November 30, 2017

China's burgeoning feminist movement - Interview with Leta Hong Fincher -   BBC, October 27, 2017

Women fail to crack China's glass ceiling as party picks new leaders Reuters, October 25, 2017

China refuses to admit it has a rape problem Foreign Policy, October 25, 2017

Why China has so few female leaders CNN, October 23, 2017

Sexual harassment at work is a global problem. Now, the world is finally talking about it. PRI's The World, October 20, 2017

China's 19th Party Congress: Interview with Leta Hong Fincher Foreign Policy Interrupted, October 20, 2017

In China women 'hold up half the sky' but can't touch the political glass ceiling Guardian, October 13, 2017

Oh Look, China's Another Country That's Not Promoting Any Women Buzzfeed, October 19, 2017

Anger as Chinese media claim harassment is just a western problem The Guardian, October 17, 2017

As China Prepares for New Top Leaders, Women are Still Shut Out New York Times, July 16, 2017

Talking Policy: Leta Hong Fincher on Feminism in China World Policy Journal, June 2, 2017

Trump officials say the UN supports coercive abortion in China. But does it? PRI's The World, April 28, 2017

Are Chinese women still holding up half the sky? Market takes its toll on their hard-won rights Financial Express, March 15, 2017

"Old like Yellowed Pearls" - The Struggle of China's Leftover Women The Politic, February 10, 2017

Women in China: One step forward, two steps back The Irish Times, December 27, 2016

How Chinese feminists can inspire women to stand up to Trump The Guardian, November 23, 2016

China's Feminist Five Dissent Magazine, Fall 2016

Unmarried and 27? In China, That Makes You a "Leftover Woman" VOGUE Magazine, October 3, 2016

Gender Inequality in China: A conversation with Leta Hong Fincher CSIS China Power podcast August 30, 2016

Profile: Author Leta Hong Fincher explains how term 'leftover women' is Chinese propaganda South China Morning Post August 19, 2016

 In China, feminism is growing -- and so is the backlash Los Angeles Times June 15, 2016

China's "leftover women" and the left-out system Open Democracy May 16, 2016

SKII Causes Flood of Tears in China With "Leftover" Women Short Film Brand Channel April 28, 2016

Author Details Unapproved Cuts to "Leftover Women" China Digital Times April 21, 2016

Interview with ABC News 24 on China's 'leftover' women ABC News 24 April 16, 2016

SKII Takes on China's "Leftover" Women WWD April 17, 2016

Viral Ad Sparks Outpouring for "Leftover" Women in China VOA News April 12, 2016

Emotional advert about China's 'leftover' women goes viral BBC April 8, 2016

Emotional viral video empowers China's 'leftover' women Deutsche Welle April 8, 2016

SK II's new commercial challenges traditional attitudes towards marriage in China The Independent April 13, 2016

Leftover Women - How Millenial Women Must Fight Tradition Medium April 8, 2016

A Chinese feminist's defiant message to the government that jailed her Washington Post March 8, 2016

What future for women in Chinese higher education? Times Higher Education Jan 21, 2016

China’s domestic violence law is a victory for feminists. But they say it doesn’t go far enough. Washington Post Dec 29, 2015

'Leftover Women' reveals unequal shares of China’s growing wealth. Christian Science Monitor Dec 23, 2015

China's 'leftover women' fight back: Fincher. AFP Nov 2, 2015

Two's a crowd for many Chinese after one-child policy change. AFP Oct 30, 2015

China ends one-child policy, but it may be too late. McClatchy News Oct 29, 2015

China's Other Women. Time Oct 22, 2015

Hillary Clinton called Xi’s speech ‘shameless,’ and the Web went wild. Washington Post Sep 28, 2015

Despite real progress, Chinese women may be losing ground. Washington Post Sep 26, 2015 

China's Feminists will Mark Women's Conference with Deafening Silence. Guardian Sep 26, 2015

China's Feminists Won't Let the Government Stop Their Momentum. Buzzfeed Jul 6, 2015

Watering the gardens of others - China’s women are being shut out of the land and housing markets. The Economist Jun 12, 2015

Five Feminists Remain Jailed in China for Activities the Government Supports. Time Mar 19, 2015

China Detains 10 Feminist Activists, Totally Missing the Memo on How to Celebrate International Women's Day. Bustle Mar 12, 2015

For richer, for poorer: how China's laws put women second. Guardian Feb 24, 2015

China's Boyfriends for Hire. Foreign Affairs Feb 20, 2015

Home truths | At last, domestic violence is to be outlawed. The Economist Dec 4, 2014

China’s first anti-domestic violence law hailed as a step forward. Guardian Nov 26, 2014

China Has Finally Drafted a Domestic-Violence Law. Time Nov 26, 2014

Gender Inequality in China - Smokestack Nostalgia. BBC May 28, 2014

 
 
 
 
 

Interview with Leta Hong Fincher. Feminist Times Apr 16, 2014

 

Devils in Red Dress, The New Inquiry, 2013

On the Rise and Online: Female Consumers in Asia Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

2020

November 12. Doubling down on China, Inc. Panelist in CSIS online discussion. 9am EST.

October 27. The Women’s Rights Movement in China. Virtual presentation, Victims of Communism. 4pm EDT.

June 18. A feminist exploration: Covid-19 Heinrich Böll Foundation, online discussion with Montserrat Sagot, Olive Uwamariya and Paola-Irene Villa Braslavsky. 4pm CET.

January 7. The Albright Institute, Wellesley College. 9:15am.

January 22. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 5:30pm.

January 25. Global Democracies in Retreat. Vancouver Public Library. 2pm. In conversation with Taylor Owen and Joanna Chiu.

2019

January 22. UC Irvine Long US-China Institute. 3:30pm.

January 23. UC San Diego 21st Century China Center. 2pm. In conversation with Dayo Gore.

January 24. USC US-China Institute Los Angeles, 4pm.

January 28. Pomona College Los Angeles, 12:15pm.

January 29. World Affairs Council San Francisco, 6:30pm.

January 30. UC Santa Cruz Humanities Institute. 12pm.

January 31. Stanford University 4:30pm.

February 1. UC Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies 3pm.

February 17. Harvard College HPAIR Conference #MeToo in Asia seminar. 10am.

March 6. Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Melbourne, Australia. 12:45pm.

March 7. Adelaide Writers Week, Australia. 12pm. “Feminism in India and China.” In conversation with Sohaili Abdulaili.

March 10. Sydney Opera House All About Women Festival. 4:15pm.

March 12. Chinese University of Hong Kong 4pm.

March 16. Beijing Bookworm Literary Festival. 2pm. In conversation with Yuan Yang.

March 17. Beijing Bookworm Literary Festival. 2pm. In conversation with Amy Qin and other experts.

March 22. University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs. 10am. In conversation with Lynette Ong.

April 12. Cornell ILR School Symposium. New York. 1pm. With Eli Friedman and other scholars.

April 24. University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for East Asian Studies. 2:30pm.

May 5. The Spirit of May Fourth: Intellectual Voices and the Future of China. China Institute, New York. 1pm. In conversation with Lydia H. Liu, Gail Hershatter and others.

May 8. PEN World Voices Festival, New York. 7pm. In conversation with Ma Jian and Chip Rolley.

June 6. ASIANET: The Asian Century, University of Oslo Norway. Keynote speech: China’s Feminist Awakening.

June 14. Discussion with feminist activists from China, New York. 6:30pm.

June 20. Chinese Youth Activism - Dialogue China discussion Washington DC. In conversation with Zhao Sile.

June 24. Aspen Ideas Festival - China’s Next Chapter. In conversation with James Fallows, Yang Lan and Zak Dychtwald. Aspen Colorado.

June 25. Aspen Ideas Festival Facebook Live interview with James Fallows and Zak Dychtwald. Aspen, Colorado.

June 27. Aspen Ideas Festival - Springtime for Strongmen. In conversation with Robert Kagan, Michael Abramowitz and Elliot Gerson about the rise of authoritarianism worldwide. Aspen, Colorado.

September 22. Town Hall Seattle. 7:30pm. China’s Feminist Awakening.

October 3. Loyola Marymount University. 11:30am. Women and China: The Revolution. Los Angeles, California.

October 10. Keynote speaker, Women’s Empowerment: An International Perspective, University of South Florida Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies conference.

November 5. Panelist, More than a One-Child Policy, Museum of Chinese in America. With Nanfu Wang, Maya Ludtke and Melissa Ludtke. New York. 6:30pm.






2018

July 26. Council on Foreign Relations, New York. With Lu Pin, Rachel Vogelstein and Liang Xiaowen.

September 19.  Harvard University Fairbank Center, Cambridge, MA, 12:30pm.

September 20. Porter Square Books, Cambridge MA, 7pm. In conversation with Moira Weigel.

September 25. China Institute, New York. 6pm. In conversation with Lu Pin and Dinda Elliott.

September 26. Strand Books, New York. 7-8pm. In conversation with Mona Eltahawy.

September 30. Politics and Prose at Union Market, Washington DC. 5pm. In conversation with Indira Lakshmanan.

October 5. Bristol Festival of Ideas, UK. 19:00 (7pm).

October 7. China Changing Festival, Southbank Centre, London. 12pm. 

October 7. Cheltenham Literature Festival, UK. 6-7pm. With Laura Bates, Helen Pankhurst and Agnès Poirier.

October 8. Young China Watchers London. London, 18:40.

October 16. Yale Law School 12:10-1:30pm. In conversation with Lu Pin.

October 17. Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, New York. 4-5:30pm. In conversation with Lu Pin.

October 18. CSIS, Washington, D.C. 4-5:15pm. In conversation with Mei Fong and Bonnie Glaser.

October 23. Bryn Mawr College, PA. 5-6pm. 

October 29-30. Hotchkiss School, CT.

November 1. Verso Books, Brooklyn. 7-9pm. With Lu Pin, Rebecca Karl, Joanna Chiu, NvVoices and other activists.

November 7. University of Hong Kong 5-6:30pm.

November 8. Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong. 12:30pm.

November 10. Hong Kong International Literary Festival. 2-3pm. With Guadalupe Nettel, Laline Paull and Elizabeth LaCouture.

November 10. Hong Kong International Literary Festival. 3:30-4:30pm. In conversation with Maura Cunningham.

November 15. Williams College. 7:30-9pm.

November 20. Princeton University. 4:30pm.

November 29. Trinity University, Texas. 4pm.

2017

Challenging Authoritarianism through Feminist Activism: Insights from China. Leitner Center, Fordham Law School, New York. With Guan Er and Xiaowen Liang. December 2017.

From the Frontlines: Feminism in China, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. New York. December 2017.

"Engaging China: Feminism and Women's Empowerment". Robert Bosch Stiftung, Berlin. With Lu Pin. July 2017.

Keynote speaker at Redefine Chinese Women's Leadership Conference. Barnard College. April 2017.

High-Level Roundtable on Women and Legislative Reform - University of Pennsylvania Law School/UN Women, New York. March 2017.

Rebellious Lawyering: Feminist and LGBTQ Activism Under Authoritarianism. Yale Law School. With Lu Pin, Xiaowen Liang and Nancy Yun Tang. February 2017.

2016

Women in Publishing Society, Hong Kong. June 2016.

Association for Asian Studies, Seattle. April 2016.

Gender & Social Control in the Era of Xi Jinping. Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute. March 2016.

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. March 2016.

New School India-China Institute, New York. February 2016.

2015

University of Nottingham Ningbo China. December 2015.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Smith College Leadership Program for Women - November 2015.

Shanghai International Literary Festival. November 2015.

Hong Kong International Literary Festival.  November 2015.

University of San Francisco event, “Leftover Women – Gender Inequality in Contemporary China and Japan.” October 2015.

The Brookings Institution event, “Women, Sexuality and Social Change in China.” April 2015.

Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Cultural and Religious Studies. March 2015.

University of Toronto conference on Law and China. February 2015.

 

2014

Humanities of the European Research Area (HERA) conference, Precariously Yours: Gender, Class, and Urbanity in Contemporary Shanghai. Shanghai, December 2014.

Hopkins China Forum, Shanghai. December 2014.

Keynote speaker at annual meeting, Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce. November 2014.

Hong Kong Literary Festival. November 2014.

University of Minnesota Department of Sociology. October 2014.

CUNY Staten Island Department of Media Culture and Modern China Studies Program and CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in Manhattan. October 2014.

Yale University Council on East Asian Studies/Yale-China Association. October 2014.

University of Connecticut Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. October 2014.

Duke University Asian/Pacific Studies Institute. October 2014.

Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College Agnes Chen Memorial Distinguished Visitor. September 2014.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library. September 2014.

New America Foundation, New York. July 2014.

National Committee on United States-China Relations, New York. July 2014.

Human Rights Watch, Washington D.C. July 2014.

US Consulate, Hong Kong. July 2014.

Foreign Correspondents Club, Shanghai. June 2014.

UN Women/Austrian embassy, Beijing. May 2014.

EU Delegation embassy, Beijing. May 2014.

Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong. May 2014.

Young China Watchers, Hong Kong. May 2014.

University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre. April 2014.

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain/Young China Watchers, London. April 2014.

POWER 2014 conference on women, Beijing, April 2014.

Bookworm International Literary Festival in Beijing and Chengdu, March 2014.

Flamingo Group salon in Singapore, “Changing Values in China,” March 2014.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Division of Social Science Seminar. March 2014.

 

2013

CET Academic Programs, Beijing, July 2013.

Chinese talk on women and residential real estate at一元公社 女行论坛, Beijing, June 2013.

Beijing International Society at British Embassy Residence in Beijing. February 2013.

 


Letahong at gmail.com

Twitter: LetaHong

Represented by Marysia Juszczakiewicz of Peony Literary Agency

 

Pick up your copy of Betraying Big Brother today.