E-Commerce Giant JD.com Scraps “Singles Day” Collaboration With Comedian Yang Li After Male Backlash

Caving to online male backlash that included a threatened boycott, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced that it would scrap its November 11 “Singles Day” shopping festival collaboration with comedian Yang Li (杨笠, Yáng Lì). Yang, a stand-up comic and comedy screenwriter known for her iconic jabs at the male ego (e.g. “How can he look so average and still have so much confidence?”), has been targeted in the past by male critics claiming to be offended by her comedy and accusing her of stirring up “gender antagonism.” Despite Yang’s undeniable comedic chops, general popularity, and 2.5 million followers on Weibo, some of her previous endorsements—for Intel, Mercedes-Benz, and Shede Spirits—have faced similar backlashes. In 2021, Intel canceled Yang’s brand-ambassadorship deal and issued a public apology. Following JD.com’s recent announcement that it would not be collaborating with Yang—the statement was so vaguely worded that it did not even mention her by name—there was a secondary backlash, as some women shoppers vowed to boycott the e-commerce site or cancel their “JD Plus” subscriptions to protest Yang being canned. Men comprise 58% of JD’s customer base, according to Chinese big-data analytics firm QuestMobile, and founder Liu Qiangdong has been criticized for promoting a “bro-centric” corporate culture, often referring to employees as “my brothers” in internal speeches.

CDT editors have archived a number of recent articles and essays about the controversy. “Average-Yet-Confident Men Can’t Tolerate Yang Li’s ‘Offense,’ But They’re Perfectly Accepting of Liu Qiangdong’s Sexual Assault Offense,” an article by WeChat account Chanting A Spell Will Make it Rain, calls out the misogyny and hypocrisy of men who called for a boycott of Yang Li for her relatively tame joke about overly-confident mediocre men, while defending JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong, who was accused of the 2018 rape of a young Chinese woman while she was a student at the University of Michigan. (The case was slated for an October 2022 civil trial in a district court in Minnesota, but was settled out of court two days before the trial was to begin.) A portion of the WeChat article is translated below:

As the situation escalated, it turned into a massive, frenzied witch-hunt led by “average-yet-confident” men. In this preposterous manner, a female comic was stripped of her right to act as a commercial spokesperson. Comparing this with the tolerance exhibited by the same group of men towards Liu Qiangdong’s rape of a female college student, it is impossible not to feel disgusted. The incident highlights yet again the distorted gender perceptions held by these average-yet-confident men.

[…] The “confidence” that average men are so accustomed to does not derive from their abilities, achievements, or any objectively measurable standard. It is an amorphous form of social empowerment, a sense of superiority deeply rooted in our lopsided gender structure. It is passed down from generation to generation, thus perpetuating vested interests in the gender status quo.

In such a social structure, men are taught from childhood that their voices are more important, their opinions more valuable [than those of women]. So it is that when they encounter a woman who points out this hypocrisy, they feel uneasy—not because she makes them aware of the truth that gender inequality exists, but because she threatens their self-righteous sense of superiority.

Yang Li’s only “offense” was to gently lift the veil and point out the long-overlooked gender hegemony inherent in the phenomenon—one that we have all become so accustomed to—of “so average, yet so confident” men.

The reason Yang Li incurred their ire is that she made this gender hegemony visible, risible, and undeniable. [Chinese]

The movement to boycott JD over its partnership with Yang Li is but the latest in a series of pressure campaigns and boycotts mounted by Chinese netizens of various persuasions, sometimes motivated by nationalism or chauvinism. Past targets have included Nobel-laureate and novelist Mo Yan and bottled water company Nongfu Spring, accused of being insufficiently patriotic and too pro-Japanese; Japanese seafood products, boycotted in retaliation for Japan’s release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant; iPhones and KFC, targeted by Chinese ultranationalists; and H&M and other global retailers that stopped buying Xinjiang cotton due to concerns about forced labor and human rights abuses against Uyghurs.

In an article titled “The Yang Li Incident: Should JD.com Admit Defeat?” journalist Liu Yuanju explores the ramifications for corporations that bow to public pressure campaigns, particularly if they are motivated by hatred, chauvinism, or petty grievances:

When up against public opinion, companies must not remain passive, but must respond and adapt proactively. But mounting a proactive response is not the same thing as backing down or giving in. When faced with public anger and boycotts, it is not always realistic to try to curry favor, dodge the issue, or eliminate the problem by giving in. In fact, displaying fear or weakness will only fan the flames of public anger or boycotts.

When they discover that hatred and boycotts can cow and harm their targets, their hatred will only intensify. Therefore, companies that make short-term concessions may attract even more malicious attacks, placing themselves in even greater peril.

This is why JD.com’s decision to back down immediately triggered another wave of boycotts—this time, by women. Whether the protesters are feminists or male chauvinists, this is how they operate. It is simply a reflection of the brutal battlefield of public opinion in China.

This is also why companies should adopt a more long-term attitude, even if it harms their interests in the short term. They should be courageous and fair, in order to foster more freedom and more tolerance. [Chinese]

An article by WeChat blogger Luo Beibei, titled “Support Yang Li, Support Female Comics, and Make Our Own Choices,” discusses how Chinese women can protect their right to speak out by demonstrating solidarity in opposition to male chauvinism:

Those who boycotted Yang Li showed amazing solidarity, so the best we can do is to exhibit even greater solidarity in defending the right of women to speak. We can also continue discussing how to put our feminism into practice. For example, I have the right to say that I don’t agree with every joke Yang Li has ever made. But the most important thing is that in defending women who speak out, we are also defending our own spaces in which we can speak our minds.

Continue to support Yang Li, continue to support female comics, and continue to support women who speak out. In this messed-up world, let us continue to make our own choices with more patience, more courage, and more solidarity. [Chinese]

Sixth Tone’s Ding Rui also reported on the JD “Singles Day” controversy, noting Yang Li’s pioneering role in Chinese stand-up, her perspective on her comedy, and the support she has received from comedy fans:

Yang has addressed her divisive reputation on several occasions. In one interview in 2020, she said that she was sorry if anyone found her jokes offensive, but stressed that it was natural for her humor to reflect her experiences as a woman.

[…] After years in the spotlight, Yang is no longer a lone figure in China’s stand-up scene. An entirely new generation of outspoken female comedians is now emerging; the country’s two most popular new stand-up contests feature 27 women — nearly one-third of the total contestants.

[…] Since JD.com announced the end of its deal with Yang, the comic has once again received support from many female netizens. Men have also spoken up for her, arguing that JD.com was wrong to drop Yang.

“JD.com’s handling of this matter has been quite poor … Yang’s mockery of us men is actually quite polite,” wrote one male influencer with 443,000 followers on Weibo. “The reality, as far as I can see, is that men in general are ‘so terrible, yet so confident.’” [Source]

In the Substack newsletter The East is Red, Yuxuan Jia, Research Associate at the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), described how growing and pervasive online hostility toward feminism underpinned the backlash that led JD to “chicken out to masculinist ‘boy’cotts”:

I don’t think Yang Li’s comments ever crossed into the realms of feminism or women’s rights, but they certainly struck a nerve with many Chinese men who feel disadvantaged by women’s status in contemporary society and disfranchised as women enter the workforce and even take on leadership roles. They are what I would call masculinists or anti-feminists.

Some of the Weibo comments from the controversy starkly revealed the bruised egos at play: “JD is infested with feminist parasites,” “These feminists have caused JD’s downfall,” and “This should teach other companies never to hire women.”

Feminism has become a tainted term in certain corners of the Chinese internet, especially in spaces dominated by “masculinists.” These groups resort to name-calling feminists, awakened women, or even women who are complaining of unfair treatment, with derogatory labels such as “feminist boxers” (女拳) [nÇšquán]. It is a homophone for “feminism” in Chinese, but carries a mocking tone, implying stupidity and irresponsibility. Another popular insult is “little fairies” (小仙女) [xiÇŽo xiānnÇš], which masculinists use derisively to mock women for their self-assertiveness and sense of entitlement.

[…] You know, in the end, I can’t help wondering how Yang Li herself would make a comedy bit out of this whole JD.com fiasco. For what it’s worth, here is my take:

JD.com canceled a partnership with me after a bunch of fragile male netizens protested over my old punchline (wink). JD, of course, rushed to apologize, because if there’s one thing these great men can’t handle, it’s a woman with a microphone. [Source]

Naturally, it is not only female comics who come under pressure to conform or pull their punches. The constraints on comedy in China are myriad, and often driven by political considerations. In May of 2023, comedian Li Haoshi (aka “House”) was accused of disparaging the Chinese military for a joke in which he compared feral dogs to soldiers by referencing a PLA slogan coined by Xi Jinping. Li was blacklisted from performing and his employer, comedy studio Xiaoguo Culture, fined nearly two million dollars and prohibited from producing comedy shows. The harsh punishment exerted a chilling effect on China’s already-beleaguered comedy circles. One essay from an anonymous comedy writer complained that “comics expend 80% of their energy writing jokes, and 500% of their energy dealing with censorship. It’s a tremendous waste of resources [and…] there’s nothing funny or valuable about it.” In recognition of China’s growing contingent of bold and talented stand-up comics, CDT editors chose Chinese comedians as “2023’s People of the Year.”

Over last weekend, as online reactions to JD’s sacking of Yang Li percolated, author Murong Xuecun posed the following question on X: “There is a Chinese man who is so average, and yet so confident. Who is the first person who comes to mind?” In a follow-up post, Murong Xuecun noted that he had received over 400 responses thus far, of which 60% pointed to the same person, although the nicknames varied widely: “He, him, Pooh, Winnie, pig, that pig, pig-head, bun, steamed bun, big brother bun, Dr. P [a brand of adult diaper], steamed-bun emperor, loosen-the-clothing emperor, lil’ notebook, elementary school Ph.D, 200 jin, 100 kilos…” All of the terms above—and many more, mentioned by Murong Xuecun in his other follow-up posts—are derogatory nicknames for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.