{"id":233076,"date":"2021-08-17T21:27:49","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T04:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=233076"},"modified":"2022-09-09T18:11:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T01:11:56","slug":"alibaba-metoo-case-shines-light-on-toxic-corporate-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/08\/alibaba-metoo-case-shines-light-on-toxic-corporate-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Alibaba #MeToo Case Shines Light On Toxic Corporate Cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tech companies\u2019 toxic cultures are the latest focus of China\u2019s resurgent #MeToo movement. In an essay posted on internal Alibaba message boards and later leaked to the public, a female employee alleged that a client assaulted her and her manager raped her<\/a> after she was compelled to binge drink at a work dinner. The resulting wave of criticism targeted China\u2019s patriarchal corporate world\u2014in which drinking to excess and demeaning women as eye candy is common\u2014as an incubator for \u201crape culture<\/a>.\u201d At NPR, Emily Feng reported that the woman\u2019s earlier attempts to report her assault were silenced by Alibaba<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Back at work, the woman says her manager pretended nothing had happened. The woman approached two other managers to report the incident, but they refused to fire the alleged perpetrator. She alleges that one manager told her: “Our work is very important. Why should such a small incident derail something so important?” Both have since resigned.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] The woman says she attempted to share her story in work chat groups, but her messages were quickly deleted. Frustrated, she brought a loudspeaker to the Alibaba canteen, hoping to broadcast her allegations to other employees \u2013 only to be quickly surrounded by dozens of office security guards. Furious, she began writing an essay describing her experience that has now gone viral.<\/p>\n

“I have been calm for too long,” the woman wrote. “I trusted all of you, but what have you done for me?” [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At The Wall Street Journal, Chao Deng and Keith Zhai reported on the response to the allegations within Alibaba and across China<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

In an open letter to management on Sunday, more than 6,000 Alibaba employees asked the company to set up a dedicated team to review sexual-assault cases and a hotline for employees to report such issues, according to a copy of the letter seen by the Journal.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] An explosion of anger filled comment sections on Weibo over the weekend, with people lamenting both the alleged assault and its handling by Alibaba, China\u2019s largest e-commerce company. A hashtag referring to the woman\u2019s allegations topped Weibo\u2019s trending list on Sunday morning, with related posts attracting more than half a billion views.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you discover one cockroach in the room, there will already be a whole bunch of others,\u201d one Weibo user wrote in a comment that garnered tens of thousands of likes. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The toxic sexual cultures of China\u2019s leading technology companies have long been an open secret<\/a>. Internet users circulated a 2017 GQ story illustrated with images of naked women bathing in broth<\/a> that asked, “Can a banquet without girls still be called a meal?” It went on, “No matter how much meat is on the menu, a banquet without women is a ‘vegetarian affair.'” In 2018, JD.com CEO Richard Liu was arrested for criminal sexual misconduct in Minnesota after a young woman alleged he raped her after an alcohol-fueled banquet<\/a>. Criminal charges were later dropped but a civil suit is ongoing<\/a>. Alibaba itself has been infamous<\/a> for institutionalized gender discrimination. At The New York Times, Li Yuan wrote that while the Alibaba case may be an industry-wide wake-up call, unhealthy or even criminal habits may prove difficult to change<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Not so long ago, Chinese tech companies invited popular Japanese porn stars to their events to drum up publicity. Qihoo 360, a cybersecurity company, invited a Japanese porn star to dance with its programmers in 2014, while some of its female employees wore revealing outfits.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Even punishments at tech companies can be sexual in nature. Mr. Cheng has said he punished one male executive by ordering the executive to \u201crun naked.\u201d A former Didi executive explained that others, too, were similarly told to run around the company campus in its early years, though men were allowed to wear their underwear and women could wear paper clothes over their undergarments.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] A widely circulated video showed that Jack Ma, Alibaba\u2019s billionaire founder, made a sex joke when he was hosting a group wedding ceremony \u2014 an annual event for the company that typically draws headlines \u2014 for his employees in 2019. \u201cIn work, we want the 996 spirit,\u201d he said, referring to the punishing work schedule of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. \u201cIn life, we want 669,\u201d he said. \u201cSix days, six times. The key is long-lasting.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Recent job ad for an investment manager in China. \ud83d\ude21 Able to drink is listed as a desired skill. I would be so pissed to read this. Many investment job ads used to specify men only and this one here is indeed for female but then look at the actual description \u2026 \ud83e\udd2f pic.twitter.com\/S0S3TCbGzF<\/a><\/p>\n

— Rui Ma \u9a6c\u777f (@ruima) August 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n