Time and economic development. Social development has not caught up with economic development because the pace of economic development has been ridiculous.
Yea, these things take time to catch up, you can still see this on the West. Its mostly the old people that are reactionary on social issues, newer generations require some heavy indoctrination to turn out as conservative as them.
China went from economically backwards to a highly developed in the span of 30 years, id bet the avg age in China is above that!
I once saw an interesting video made by people in the Shanghai LGBTQ+ scene. I haven’t been able to find it since but I hope someone knows which video I mean.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Be more specific. What do you consider “conservative”? What do you consider “progressive”?
By “socially progressive”, I am referring to the things we usually refer to when it comes to social progress: acceptance of LGBTQ+, rights for women, anti-racism, respect for youth and elderly, etc.
By “conservative”, it would mean opposition to such advances in social progress.
I’m not the best at wording this.
I can’t speak for China, only Vietnam.
LGBTQ+
When it comes to LGBT, we are generally quite indifferent to it. It is not our jobs to interfere in other people’s business. That was my impression of our social attitude towards queer people.
Legally speaking however, our laws are still behind in some aspects, such as not yet recognizing same-sex marriage, but it does not ban it either. Same-sex couples are allowed to held symbolic weddings as well as living together under the same roof. It’s just that they won’t enjoy the same legal rights and obligations as required for hetero couples. But fret not, our laws are getting more and more open, it was more open in the 201X than the 200X, and it will not doubt be more open in the future.
Women rights
The Communist Party of Vietnam in all its time of existence has been tirelessly advance women right and gender equality. I can confidently say that right now, I can feel no social discrimination between men and women. Women occupy just as many jobs as men do. In my household, my father and my mother are equal in decision making.
Anti-racism
I don’t think racism is relevant to Vietnam.
But we do have ethnic minorities (I am of Nùng ethnicity, while the overwhelming majority of Vietnamese population is of Kinh). Ethnic minorities often receive favorable aids from the government in term of poverty eradication and education.
Respect for youth and elderly
Our culture inherits Confucian elements, and our government encourages positive traits such as filial piety while discouraging negative traits that are no longer compatible with modern time and socialism.
As a Chinese person, I can share my own observations from both online and real life:
LGBTQ+ There is almost no public promotion of LGBTQ+ issues in China. LGBTQ+ individuals are not considered a mainstream group, and most people are indifferent to them. Online, many references to LGBTQ+ are just jokes or memes meant to entertain, not necessarily to mock the community. For instance, phrases like “Bro, you smell so good” are popular online jokes. In real life, if you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, it doesn’t really matter to most people; everyone has their own life. However, if LGBTQ+ individuals try to date heterosexuals, it usually leads to discomfort. If a child wants to identify as LGBTQ+, it depends on their parents, and most parents do not approve. Also, since LGBTQ+ concepts are seen as coming from Western countries, some LGBTQ+ individuals who are perceived as overly admiring Western culture can face backlash. Chinese public opinion generally acknowledges heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, but concepts like “72 genders” and “gender fluidity” are seen as incomprehensible. Phrases like “My gender is an attack helicopter, and I want to screw a tank” are commonly used to mock the plethora of gender identities in the West.
Women’s Rights As a socialist country, women’s rights are well-protected in China. Prostitution is illegal (to combat human trafficking). In stable government jobs, women make up a large proportion. However, there are some peculiarities: women have maternity leave, and some declare pregnancy right after being hired to receive paid maternity leave and then resign afterward. In government jobs, some women may claim they cannot handle the workload and pass their responsibilities to male colleagues or other female colleagues, leading to a form of hidden hiring discrimination in some companies and government units.
Anti-Racism Chinese people generally focus on a person’s actions rather than their race. Discrimination tends to be based on an individual’s behavior, regardless of skin color or ethnicity. Ethnic minorities in China receive preferential treatment, with special funds to promote their traditional cultures and extra points on college entrance exams. However, as the economic conditions of some minorities have become comparable to the Han majority, places like Shandong are considering abolishing these extra points. Ethnic minorities like Tibetans and Mongolians also have the option to take their college entrance exams in their native languages. During my university years, Mongolian students often joked that they didn’t ride horses to school.
Respect for Youth and the Elderly I don’t quite understand the concept of “respecting the youth.” Is it similar to bowing to someone in Japan? In China, as the birthplace of Confucianism, respecting the elderly and caring for the young are considered traditional virtues and are commonly practiced in daily life. However, due to the “Peng Yu case,” where a judge asked, “If you didn’t knock the old person down, why did you help them up?” many people are now wary of helping fallen elderly individuals for fear of being extorted (which has happened multiple times). Such extortionists are referred to as “taking advantage of their old age.”
I think “respecting the youth” is trying to figure out how the older generations view the younger generations.
In the USA, there is a pretty strong current of “anybody younger than me” is always inferior, lesser, worse. So a younger person’s opinion is attacked or ignored by someone who is older no matter how correct a younger person’s opinion may be.
It could be understood as, “When do the the older generations accept the younger generations as a peer?” or “When do the younger generations become accepted by the older generations as an equal?”
“72 genders” is incomprehensible to me too, and I believe that it is incomprehensible and illogical to most people in the world who are not familiar with the West.
The crux of the issue lies in the separation of the concept “gender” and “sex”. Wheras “sex” is material and observable, “gender” (as defined by Western leftists[1]) is anything but. It is measured by having the person “identifies” themselves as one.
But if a concept is not observable and not material, how is it different from a god? Should we, who adhere to dialectical materialism and scientific principals, see it as anything of worth?
Or maybe I am wrong, maybe the fluid gender can be objectively measured as a material concept with observable effects. If you think I’m wrong, please explain.
Western leftists are Westerners who identify themselves as leftists. They are not necessarily our comrade. ↩︎
China is relatively conservative in shit like LGBTQ rights. I think China can be a bit more progressive in that regard. Another one is a long overdue series of crackdowns on their private sector.
BTW, I recommend following @darrion_nguyen on Twitter if you want to know more about Vietnam, he is more knowledgeable than me regarding Vietnam and anything geopolitics.
