Chinese officials accuse online stand-up shows of stirring ‘gender antagonism’

A provincial authority in China has lashed out at online stand-up comedy shows, accusing some of attacking men and “stirring up gender antagonism”.

In its notice on Sunday, the Zhejiang provincial publicity department did not refer to any specific content but its comments come as a number of performances by women comedians addressing gender-related topics have gained popularity in recent weeks.

The shows provide a unique space for discussing social issues, including problems faced by women, but the Zhejiang department said some of the content had “gradually deviated from humour and simplified gender topics into pitting men and women against each other”.

The department said such content was “an effective way to attract eyeballs” and that “getting clicks doesn’t equal having value”.

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It said that an “extreme online environment” magnified antagonism, so that some jokes about male characteristics could be understood as “attacking all men” and some jokes making fun of phenomena related to women could be labelled misogynistic.