While the 8th of May comes and goes in Western countries with hardly anyone noticing, in China San Ba Jie, the International Women’s Day is cause for nationwide celebration and completes the purchasing trifecta of the new year.
Women’s Day has a long-standing tradition in China, with the very first related activity occurring in 1924 in Guangzhou. Due to the Communists Party’s stance on gender equality, women gained a lot more power in society after 1949. As a nod to their cause, the party made Women’s Day an official public holiday the same year of their ascension to power.
Traditionally women are given half the day off work on this Chinese public holiday in addition to receiving gifts in the fashion of Western Mother’s Day. Less materialistic gestures might include the men of the house cooking and taking over all housework for the day. Chinese excitement for the holiday is difficult to miss. A yearly set of Women’s Day Commemoration stamps is launched, the very first of which goes back to the 1953, representing a long-standing history of paying heed to the labours of women in China.
Sixty years later, the ramifications of the holiday’s popularity are rather different. More in tune with recent trends, a banner by Nanjing University in honour of women’s day measuring 70 metres wide has been receiving the Chinese online world’s attention not only for being the most “tuhao” (one of the trend words of 2013 describing exaggerated displays of wealth) but also for making no sense whatsoever. The overly long banner was clandestinely advertising an activity, and despite a lack of sense or informational value seems to have worked perfectly as it went viral online.
Women’s Day in the 21st century has further become the time of year when leading businesses kick-start their third round of promotions and offers, after Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. E-commerce especially has entered into a fierce bidding war, by lowering their prices on make-up, jewelry and any other predominantly female products in an attempt to jump on the San Ba band wagon. China’s men on the other hand do not only miss out on the reductions but find themselves purchasing what is potentially the third present for their women within a two-month period.
While one of the year’s leading days for e-commerce sales remains “double eleven”, or China’s Single’s Day, Women’s Day is not far behind. Last year, popular purchasing site Lefeng.com saw traffic to their site increase by 358 percent after their specially timed sales strategy paid off. On reflection, one can only marvel of the irony of the fact that the holiday introduced by the Communist party has turned into yet another field day for decidedly capitalist enterprises.
2014’s newest festival trend, however, seems to be more of a blessing for the travel industry. Latest reports reveal that ladies in their forties and fifties are taking Women’s Day quite literally; instead of spending it with their male partners, the weekend holiday allows for them to snatch up their female besties and spend a two-day mini-break in beautycare establishments, where they can truly put their feet up and relax far away free from familial duties. Spas in popular locations have therefore seen a stark increase in bookings, the majority of which are made up of small groups of middle-aged women.
As coincidence would have it the pronunciation of the holiday in Chinese, San Ba is a homophone of a derogatory term for women who are seen as nosy or gossipy, giving the holiday a slightly negative connotation. A trip to the spa on San Ba seems like a perfect occasion for a bit of gossiping, making this possibly one of the most ironically appropriate trends yet.
As a woman and feminist at heart, this very correspondent of course enjoys the idea of a very special holiday for the fairer sex. However, considering the principle of gender equality propagated by Communists and Western Liberals alike, one cannot help but ask “When is men’s day?” The Internet will tell you it took place on 19th November and was introduced to the world a mere 15 years ago by Trinidad and Tobago. I do not remember seeing the big Men’s Day sales discounting razors and electronics, do you?
