Feminist scholar Chizuko Ueno gains following among Chinese

Chizuko Ueno, a sociologist who has been a leading figure in women’s and gender studies in Japan, has found a big audience among females in China.

Her books have been translated and published in Chinese. Readers say Ueno’s words resonate so much with the circumstances of their daily lives.

A video uploaded in mid-February on Bilibili, a Chinese video-sharing website, shows online conversations between Ueno, 74, and three female Peking University graduates in their 30s.

“At your weddings, did you pledge to live together with your husbands ‘until death do us part?’” Ueno asked the Chinese women.

Two of them laughed and made X signs with their arms to signal “no.”

The video, containing earnest discussions on feminism and women’s lifestyles, has been viewed more than 180,000 times.