In the face of the powerful sexual violence that Lin Yihan encountered with Zhang Yajing in "The Chosen Man", what can we do? Let's break down how sexual violence happens and 3 ways to support survivors!
Lin Yihan incident V.S. "The Chosen Man - The Wave Maker" Zhang Yajing
Hello everyone, I'm Wanyun. 6 years after Lin Yihan's death, "Fang Siqi's First Love Paradise" is still a book that many people have not had the courage to open until now.
The story of a girl falling in love with a seducer has led to a discussion of sexual assault by the powerful.
Recently, the Taiwanese drama "The Chosen Man - The Wave Maker", in which the character Yajing played by Wang Jing also suffered from the teacher's powerful violence.
Today we are going to talk about the similarities between these two characters, and why the two have gone to completely different endings.
The book "Fang Siqi's First Love Paradise" is a fictional story about a girl who is seduced by a cram school teacher she admires, and when society and surroundings do not have enough environment to support survivors, the girl convinces herself that she is in love with the tragic story of taboo love outside of marriage. Of course, later we also learned that this novel story comes from the experience of the author Lin Yihan itself.
(The same screening: The sixth anniversary of Lin Yihan's death | "Power sexual assault" has not decreased, what can we do for survivors?) ）
Image|Interview with women's fans
The seduction formula of sex hunters
In the Taiwanese drama "The Chosen Man - The Wave Maker", Zhang Yajing, a PKR party worker played by Wang Jing, develops an extramarital affair with his teacher Zhao Changze. Like Fang Siqi, Yajing is beautiful, smart and ambitious. He and Fang Siqi, both of them, do not look like the typical appearance of victims as people imagine.
Both of them met teachers with abilities and talents when they were students, both of whom they admired at that time.
Yajing and Zhao Changze, at first glance, seem to be a consensual extramarital relationship, but in fact, the beginning of their "couple" relationship still comes from the "seduction formula" created by "sex hunters": actively creating a solitary situation and revealing marital unsmooth private affairs, as well as showing their vulnerability.
Through solitude and confession of private affairs, "transboundary space" is created, and a hidden confession message is released: "You are the most unique to me, and I will reveal all this to you that cannot be shown to others."
Zhang Yajing was deeply attracted by this show of weakness, and then changed from the student's "admiration" for the teacher to the "love" between lovers. The two began a relationship that did not see the light of day, and in order not to let things be made public by Yajing one day, Zhao Changze asked Yajing to love him and let him take nude photos.
In the story of "Fang Siqi's First Love Paradise", Li Guohua, a famous tutor, said that Fang Siqi was not credible because of "mental illness", Zhao Changze developed a relationship with Yajing while also slandering Yajing, going to different units, saying that she had work problems, reducing the credibility of Yajing's revelations in the future, and not just hoping to keep Zhang Yajing around.
(Read more: Gender Watch | Interpreting digital sexual violence: Someone P me naked, how do I prove that body is not me?) ）
Image|"The Chosen Man - Wave Maker" @ FB
In the end, Zhang Yajing saw all this clearly and disappeared for several years, only to begin to realize that she should stand up for herself. Fortunately, she came out, surrounded by seniors such as Weng Wenfang and Chen Jiajing, who were willing to support her actions without hesitation.
Even when she was about to give up, she still told her "let's not just leave it at that, okay", and Biajing herself was even more reluctant to give up. In the play, Weng Wenfang and Zhang Yajing have a conversation, it is a long time after the incident, Yajing has a deep self-blame for herself, Weng Wenfang told her:
"Who hasn't met a few bad guys in their life?"
"Successful people show weaknesses when they are most successful, and it is difficult to resist."
(Seeing this, I also think that Weng Wenfang may have experienced similar things to understand Yajing)
Survivors often go through years of struggle and pain before they have the courage to speak up for themselves, and some even realize they have been victimized until years later because they were so young when they were violated. In the story of "The Chosen Man - The Wave Maker", Zhang Yajing's justice was finally served.
However, survivors in the real world, after summoning up the courage to speak out, will face a long litigation period, and in the absence of sufficient evidence, it is more likely that justice cannot be served like the Lin Yihan incident.
The 6th anniversary of Lin Yihan's death, what has changed?
Lin Yihan's death has led to a discussion of sexual assault by power in society and also promoted the amendment of relevant laws.
In 2017, the Legislative Yuan passed the amendment to Article 9 of the Law on Remedial Education and Further Education in the third reading, which stipulates that the teaching staff of cram schools are required to disclose their real names, and when applying for case registration or personnel changes, they must also attach relevant documents for approval by the competent authority.
If sexual harassment or assault occurs in a cram school, it is necessary to notify the relevant unit to prevent unsuitable teaching staff from entering.
In the same year, the Presidential Judicial Reform Congress passed a bill to decriminalize adultery to prevent survivors of powerful sexual assault from giving up the opportunity to speak out for fear of being countersued.
Image|Interview with women's fans
Is it enough to amend the law?
Power sexual assault cases have not decreased because of the "Fang Siqi Clause", in addition to campuses, we have also seen more related incidents in the workplace and religion. The law is the minimum standard of morality, and if the social atmosphere still fails to support survivors, there will be more Fang Siqi and more silenced survivors in the future.
3 daily actions to support survivors of sexual violence
Readers are invited to do three actions together, so that the next Fang Siqi can have different endings.
1. Stop reviewing survivors
The most heart-wrenching aspect of sexual assault cases is that survivors must uncover their scars again and again, and they must provide enough evidence to prove that they were involuntary at the time of the incident. They have to explain what happened again and again, because if they are not clear, someone will question "You actually volunteered" and "You also enjoyed it".
On the other hand, the appearance of the survivor is not single, the survivor is also a living person, not the imaginary "weak, scared, stupid beautiful little girl", the survivor may also be very strong, may also be very intelligent and can speak well, may be plagued by alcoholism or other mental problems, or it may be the kind of person you don't like.
But none of this should be an excuse for us to review survivors.
Fang Siqi once said, "If I fall in love with a teacher, the whole thing is not true. Because admitting it is more painful than falling in love with him."
It is difficult for survivors of sexual violence to tell their stories, and if society continues to look at them differently, more Fang Siqi will appear, and the perpetrators will never be punished.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels
2. Listen sincerely and actively accompany you
It doesn't matter if you don't have a psychology major, just let the survivor know that they are understood and loved, and that's enough. Just like Weng Wenfang's character in "The Chosen Man", willing to listen, willing to believe and support, that is enough.
Everyone faces trauma differently and recovers differently, so even if we can't fully experience the survivor's pain, try to understand and accept their feelings. When survivors' emotions have an outlet to express, it is a big step to help them get better.
3. Respect survivors and there are times when you don't want to get better
In the face of the injured, we often are too active in hoping that the other person will get better, although the intentions are good, but it may cause more psychological pressure on the survivors. As long as physical safety is not involved, what we can do is to pace with the survivor's recovery, providing care while preserving the autonomy of the survivor.
On the sixth anniversary of Lin Yihan's death, I hope that there will be no more Fang Siqi in the world, and I hope that all wounded hearts can find an exit.