{"id":207469,"date":"2018-06-08T19:38:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T02:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=207469"},"modified":"2018-06-11T18:45:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T01:45:44","slug":"translation-the-story-of-ma-hu-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2018\/06\/translation-the-story-of-ma-hu-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Translation: The Story of Ma Hu (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beijing-based women\u2019s rights activist Xiao Meili<\/a> recently introduced her friend Ma Hu with the first part of a three-part profile<\/a>. Part one told the story of Ma Hu\u2019s childhood, and how she dealt with her gender and sexual identity in a society that offered serious pressure for conformity on both fronts. CDT has translated part two, which tells of Ma’s experiences in Beijing<\/strong><\/a>, where she filed a lawsuit against China Post for gender discrimination, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. All bold text was carried over from the original Chinese WeChat post. CDT will translate the third and final part of this profile shortly after Xiao Meili posts it.\u00a0The essay begins as Ma Hu accompanies Xiao Meili on her 2013 protest walk<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long,<\/span><\/p>\n

And I\u2019m sorry that The Story of Ma Hu will have a third part. There are just too many things I want to tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, I asked Ma Hu: \u201cWhat was your first impression of me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ma Hu said: \u201cThis person is so tanned!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI saw your picture online and thought you were tall, but not so much in person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I saw your hands\u2014so small.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey Seemed So Fascinating to Me\u201d<\/h3>\n

[…]\u00a0Ma Hu was drawn to this life where she could walk all day without talking. She thought it was very healing.<\/strong> \u201cHenan braised noodles are so delicious. And, there are people who like eating raw garlic! Yes, you! Hahahaha. I felt at ease. In my hometown, only rural folks eat raw garlic. You\u2019d be laughed at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There were friends who joined and left the Walk at different points. We were treated to two great banquets by people from Zhumadian [Henan], the so-called worst people in China. They also let us stay for two nights free of charge. <\/span>We walked by empty towns and endless piles of trash. We walked by many coffins at night (Ma Hu remembered this vividly but I completely forgot). We walked from the greyish north to the greenish south.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we arrived in Wuhan, we were welcomed by friends from Guangbutun Feminist and Lesbian Group. They helped arrange all sorts of lectures and sharing sessions in Wuhan. These girls, who were the same age as us, started this group on their own and gave it quite a rustic name. The group was completely volunteer-based and they were doing it out of their passion. Ma Hu didn\u2019t talk much. She watched with curiosity: <\/span>\u201cI would love to hang out with these people. They seemed so fascinating to me. I would like to do something like this in the future, even if the conditions aren\u2019t good.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did the Walk Change You?<\/h3>\n

And further down south, an internet friend called Mu Lan was the next one to take us in. Mu Lan and her husband didn\u2019t want any children. On the day she came to see us, she had just been scolded by the seniors in her family for being anti-humanity. She majored in gender studies. Many of her classmates thought the best situation was <\/span>\u201cbeing able to both dive into the studies and also get out\u201d<\/strong>: You follow the gender theories when you\u2019re doing academics, but you live your life as it is. They thought Mu Lan was \u201cdiving in too deep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a great conversation with Mu Lan, but Ma Hu didn\u2019t say a word. I was worried that she had been bored. Many years later, she told me that this conversation left a deep impression on her: <\/span>\u201cAlthough Mu Lan couldn\u2019t step out to do things publicly, she has always been supporting us in her own way.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forty days had passed, but Ma Hu wanted to keep walking until the end. For a while, she was conflicted and worried that others might think she wanted to stay because she was in a relationship with me. But she was so drawn to this Walk. <\/span>She thought this this was not only performance art, but also a form of resistance and assembly that could simultaneously help people in a real way. In the end, she walked with me for 104 days until we reached our destination, Guangzhou.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDid the Walk change you?\u201d I asked Ma Hu. She said: \u201cYes, I was absorbing things along the way. I felt my mind was made clearer. But at the time I didn\u2019t yet connect the feminist perspective with my own life experiences\u2026 After that, I no longer wear my chest binder. During the Walk I realized people actually had the option not to wear a bra or chest binder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And after a while, Ma Hu said: <\/span>\u201cIt was hard for me. I used to have a hard time discovering people\u2019s kindness.<\/strong> I was disoriented at the time. And I ran into all these people, some of whom were feminists, and others simply strangers. And they were all very kind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caochangdi Art District<\/h3>\n

After the Walk, I went back to Beijing and Ma Hu came along too. Looking for cheaper rent and a freer, more artsy atmosphere, we decided to move to Caochangdi Art District.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just after we arrived at the destination, the mover asked while squatting in front of the alley, smoking: <\/span>\u201cWhat the hell is this place. There isn\u2019t even cell phone reception. How much are you paying for this? \u2026 1500 yuan?\u201d<\/strong> Then he clicked his tongue and shook his head, as if we were two fools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caochangdi is an urban village located near Beijing\u2019s Fifth Ring Road. Half of the village is art space. There are spacious red-bricked houses, the bricks exposed on purpose. <\/span>The villagers thought these houses were unfinished, and that the builders ran out of money to cement the walls.<\/strong> The other half of the village is filled with self-built houses where migrant workers live. <\/span>These houses are densely built, with very narrow spaces in between. At first sight, it looks like a miniature Hong Kong, but unfortunately the people are not scaled down.<\/strong> The cell phone reception was indeed bad\u2014I had to climb to the rooftop everytime I needed to make a phone call. There were always so much poop in the alleys, and I\u2019m not sure if it was from dogs or humans. Outside of the village, there is a long overpass that leads to the spaceship-like Wangjing SOHO. Beijing is like that<\/span>, people living such different lives on the same piece of land.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Source: Xiao Meili)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Going to Beijing!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ma Hu wanted to become an artist but didn\u2019t know where to start. Having graduated only a short time ago, she wasn\u2019t particularly worried. She wanted to gather some more experience. She found a job at an art auction house. Her daily duties were making phone calls to painters in the second and third-tier cities, most of whom were old men, and asking whether they wanted to auction off their paintings, <\/span>then asking these same people to buy the paintings for a high price.<\/strong> That way, the auction house could collect service fees and the painters could claim their works were worth big bucks. <\/span>\u201cIt was a rough job. Why did I do something like that?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ma Hu in Beijing (Source: Xiao Meili)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

After she quit, Ma Hu looked for jobs at some painting studios but liked none of them. She became more of an introvert. She no longer wanted to go dancing with me at the art studios that we used to frequent. She didn\u2019t want to attend my speeches. When I went to <\/span>claim the Women\u2019s Media Award<\/span><\/a>, she adamantly refused to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most excessive incident came when a friend asked us to have hotpot together. We prepared beef slices and lamb slices, but when we were on our way to the friend\u2019s place, she went straight home as we walked past our apartment building. I tried to persuade her to go, but she just wouldn\u2019t. She ended up not going. When she was not happy, she would not answer any of my questions. <\/span>She was more stubborn than a donkey.<\/strong> This made me feel mad and powerless.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ma Hu in Beijing (Source: Xiao Meili)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Later I asked her: \u201cSo what was with you at the time?\u201d She said: \u201cI thought I was trying to escape, I didn\u2019t want to face a sad life. I didn\u2019t know what to do, and I thought you were trying so hard. It was not that I didn\u2019t want to meet people. It was because you were famous, and I didn\u2019t want to be remembered as your girlfriend. And perhaps I was trying to control you. I was insecure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ma Hu wanted to step out of the predicament. <\/span>She wanted to get more experienced with society and do something down-to-earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She saw couriers in the village going around on their tricycles and she thought of joining them. Couriers have relatively more freedom. <\/span>They could meet many people and maintain a certain distance at the same time. They could weave through this <\/strong>folded<\/strong><\/a> world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seven Tests for a Female Courier<\/h3>\n

1) Although China Post\u2019s job ad said <\/span>\u201cmale only<\/strong>,\u201d Ma Hu still sent in an application, just in case she was selected. She was invited to an interview that same day.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) The HR manager who interviewed Ma Hu said: <\/span>\u201cThere has never been a woman courier before. We don\u2019t hire girls.<\/strong>\u201d Ma Hu said: \u201cJust let me try.\u201d <\/span>She is very persistent<\/strong>. The manager couldn\u2019t make the decision and took Ma Hu to the director.<\/span><\/p>\n

3) The director thought <\/span>Ma Hu, being a girl, was not able to work as a courier<\/strong>. Ma Hu badgered the director for quite a long time, until finally he gave in and said: \u201cCome and try it out tomorrow then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

4) On the day of her trial, a courier took Ma Hu to the 798 Art District route. Ma Hu and the courier dropped off and picked up packages together. <\/span>\u201cIt was so hip. And people on street thought it was quite interesting to see a girl courier.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the trial, the director asked Ma Hu how she liked it. She said: \u201cIt was good, not too tiring.\u201d <\/span>But the director still tried to talk Ma Hu out of it. Ma Hu asked him to give her another day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

5) The next day, Ma Hu followed another courier to a district near 798. At lunch, the courier also tried to talk Ma Hu out of it: <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re a little girl, why don\u2019t you find another job? This job isn\u2019t for you. Don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A gatekeeper knew this courier well. He saw him with Ma Hu and mistook her for a boy because she dressed in tomboy style. The gatekeeper said to the courier: <\/span>\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be cool if you had a chick with you?\u201d<\/strong> The courier said: \u201cActually she <\/span>is<\/span><\/em> a girl.\u201d The gatekeeper went silent, and Ma Hu felt upset.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the second day, Ma Hu told the director that she felt good about it and was confident she could do the job well. The director said: \u201cGo get a physical checkup, send in your resume, and wait for notice.\u201d Ma Hu thought she had succeeded. <\/span>She thought she had finally become a courier after all her hard work, and she was very happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

6) After submitting her application, <\/span>Ma Hu bought a Thermos lunchbox and water bottle, and a back support wrap<\/strong>. She was ready to be a courier. She had friends who suggested other jobs but she declined. She thought she may get the offer from China Post at any minute and would have to start working.<\/span><\/p>\n

After waiting for 10 days without hearing anything, Ma Hu called China Post. The director\u2019s secretary answered her call and said the director went to the hospital, and that <\/span>Ma Hu\u2019s application was still sitting on his desk, waiting to be turned in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

7)\u00a0Another week passed with no progress. Ma Hu called again and was told: <\/span>\u201cYour application was rejected by headquarters. Headquarters said frontline staff (couriers) just can\u2019t be female.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

After being rejected, Ma Hu was furious and decided she had to sue<\/strong><\/p>\n

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