Fincher focuses on the history of a small group of female activists known as the Feminist Five, who have been hounded by the authorities for innocuous acts such as trying to hand out stickers on International Women's Day. She argues persuasively that the activism the five awakened is already challenging the authoritarian state, with more and more women taking control of their bodies and rejecting 'China's patriarchal institutions of compulsory marriage and child-rearing.' -- Keith B. Richburg * The Washington Post *
In Hong Fincher's estimation, the official hostility toward feminists in China as part of a global rise of authoritarianism and backsliding of democracy will affect not only China's women but its economic future and will have worldwide repercussions. This is a fascinating and earnest book. * Publisher's Weekly *
Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China shows how the [feminist] movement has risen on social media and taken root abroad and in cities like Guangzhou. Hong Fincher argues that the Chinese Communist Party relies on patriarchal crackdowns for its post-Soviet survival-and, further, that anyone concerned about rising authoritarianism globally needs to pay attention to what is happening in China. * Harvard Magazine *
In Betraying Big Brother, journalist Leta Hong Fincher examines the feminist movement that's rising in mainland China, and explores how the Feminist Five continue to covertly educate other women to confront and resist the country's sexist policies. -- Evette Dionne * Bitch Media *
In Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China...Hong Fincher explains that far from a small movement on the fringes of Chinese society, feminism is on the rise, from the burgeoning and ongoing #MeToo movement, to increasing calls for protections for survivors of domestic violence... to protests against workplace discrimination. -- Esther Wang * Jezebel *
In her sprawling and detailed recent book, Betraying Big Brother, Fincher aims to tell the story of the women's rights movement in China through their saga. Fincher bases her narrative on interviews with [the Feminist Five] and their allies, while supporting their stories with deep research into the roots of the government's crackdown on feminism. * Bookforum *
The book brings the clash between China's grassroots women's movement and the state's manipulation of women to life. Hong Fincher explores the struggles of young feminist activists who are detained and vilified for seemingly innocuous campaigns - handing out stickers warning against sexual harassment on public transport, or parading through the streets in soiled wedding dresses to protest domestic violence..This book is a pertinent primer for anyone who wants to understand the aftermath of China's one-child policy, and the country's fledgling feminist movement. -- Katrina Hamlin * Reuters *
Through interviews with China's famous Feminist Five, arrested in 2015 on orders of the Chinese government, and other leading Chinese activists Hong Fincher draws a portrait of the modern Chinese feminist movement and its pushback against interpersonal, governmental and digital control over their lives. * Autostraddle *
A deeply affecting book.... Hong Fincher's vivid, blow-by-blow account of the women's experiences is a valuable work of journalism, and she offers interesting evidence of a wider feminist awakening. -- Susan Greenhalgh and Xiying Wang * Foreign Affairs *
A compelling piece of original research...Leta Hong Fincher, an American journalist-turned-academic, argues that the same party that pushed through the elevation of women's status in the 1950s is now trying to engineer their return to the kitchen. [for Leftover Women] * The Economist *
Important and interesting...gender relations, in many ways so much more advanced in China than in India, are going backwards as traditions that were seemingly flattened by Mao re-emerge. [for Leftover Women] * Financial Times *
Leftover Women should carry a health warning: this book will severely raise your blood pressure. Leta Hong Fincher's subject - researched through statistical analysis, sociological surveys and extensive first-hand interviewing - is the toxic vitality of sexism in China today. [for Leftover Women] * The Guardian *
A chilling account of the pressures on Chinese strivers ... One hopes that Leftover Women will soon be translated into Chinese, as it is likely to resonate deeply with urban educated women. It seems the party has forgotten the Mao-era dictum: 'Women Hold Up Half the Sky' [for Leftover Women] * New York Times *
In Leftover Women, Leta Hong Fincher convincingly argues that an orchestrated state campaign co-opts women to marry and buy marital homes, often to the detriment of their careers and financial independence. [for Leftover Women] * Wall Street Journal *
In clear, concise chapters, Fincher, whose previous books include Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, lays out the origins of the movement and its exponential growth, as well as the Chinese government's violent attempts to extinguish it. The U.S. president may be walloping China via trade war, but Leta Hong Fincher argues that the most existential threat to Xi Jinping's regime comes from within. -- Claire Landsbaum * Vanity Fair *
A necessary read to understand the role of women in Chinese society and why the feminist movement may be one of the few social movements to overcome the Chinese government's persecution. -- Elizabeth M. Lynch * China Law and Policy *
