Disagreement around the comedy of Yang Li, a domestic female stand-up comic, went viral despite her increasing popularity.
Sunday, a netizen filed a complaint about Yang for "discriminating against men, inciting crowd's internal conflicts and creating gender opposition." He quoted her commentary at a Dec. 25 Tencent-sponsored stand-up show Rock & Roast.
"I feel like anything that I say about men would be regarded as wrong," Yang said. "If I refer to you as garbage, you wouldn't like it. But if I say you are a good person, you would think I'm insulting you." These remarks during her Dec. 25 show referenced her recent sarcastic commentary on men's overvalued confidence - "so mediocre but so confident."
Overnight, the complaint fueled an online argument that went viral. While some took offense and cursed Yang and insulted her "ugly look" others said these words weren't fair because Yang was delivering comedy. Yao Chen, an influential actor, posted on her Weibo account: "Each time when such offense is accepted it offers us a chance to understand human nature and lives."
In comparison with Chinese traditional forms of comedy such as sketch shows and vaudeville-style "crosstalk," the Western-style stand-up comedy, in the past few years, has been welcomed by younger people. Embedded with personal stories rich with experiences in friendship, love, work problems and urban anxiety, such stand-up comedy resonates with modern women, one netizen said.
Social media apps and short-video sharing sites such as Douyin and Kuaishou have amplified the effect of this new trend. The number of women audience members has grown along with the increasing popularity of comedy shows like Rock & Roast giving voice to women comedians, according to entertainment industry consultancy Beijing iMiner Data Technology.
Most of the viewers of stand-up comic shows are women, said iMiner Data Technology senior supervisor Wang Bei. The company's statistics indicate that more than 70% of female stand-up comedy fans are women aged between 25 and 34 while 80% of male stand-up fans are women 18 to 24.
"Female audience is keen to share such videos and comments on social media," Xing Yuan, a female rom-comedy scriptwriter in Beijing, told Business Times. "While male audiences are more 'silent' to what refers to relationship topics."
Views like Yang's may resonate well with females but can be viewed differently by men. Chu Yin, a law professor at University of International Relations, said on a Douyin video that Yang's supporters were "spoiled little princesses" and noted Yang had been using her feminism to make money.
Analysts said the Yang phenomenon reflects discrimination and prejudice in the male-dominated stand-up comedy industry but it doesn't mean men don't face gender discrimination elsewhere.
"Film and TV production companies often hesitate to hire male scriptwriters. When it comes to a rom-com," Xing said "most of my rom-com co-writers are females."
