Famous Chinese female journalist Luqiu Luwei Lailuo! Let's take a look at the challenges she faced as a journalist and how she views women's rights.
Rose is a truth-seeking journalist who covers many international events around the world. From the war on terror in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq to the waves of the Arab Spring, she uses keen insight and professional observation to show the problems of different levels of society, while allowing the audience to feel the emotions and humanity contained in them.
The light of the Chinese became a "traitor"?
"On the Internet, I was shocked that someone used the word traitor to describe you. Because this word is rarely used to describe a woman, what do you think of this word?" Wei Xuan looked at Rose. Rose said that since the Internet and social media, the voice of criticism has not stopped.
Someone will attack your age, appearance, humiliate you with some really nasty words, etc. Rose laughed at herself that she might be older, and those who wanted to misogyny found it a bit inappropriate to use those words again, so she was not surprised to use a term that attacked male public intellectuals.
"When I first started dealing with these criticisms on the Internet, I once grayed my hair overnight, and I understand why cyberbullying leads to suicide, there are many repercussions." She said. But she said that she had a lot of nerves, so she gradually felt that if she listened more, it would be nothing.
The real experience of "War Rose"
Lu Qiu Luwei shared that it is very important to report on conflicts and wars. The more experience you have, the more you think and the more prepared you have to be. She spoke of her inexperience on her first trip to Afghanistan, where four journalists had already been killed on the way.
When you go to a strange place, you don't know if you can trust strangers who know that we are foreign journalists and have a lot of cash on us. Once before entering Iraq, she and the photographer were in a car accident, the photographer was injured in the cervical spine on the spot, and since then she can no longer carry the camera, she only had flesh and skin injuries, so she changed the photographer and continued to advance into Baghdad.
(Recommended reading: 2020 Syrian Documentary: As a female doctor in a war zone, she faces not only a weapons war, but also a gender war)
Photo|《Talk with Xuanxuan》
The hardships of women war correspondents
"The requirements and restrictions on women in the Middle East are extremely high, and there are many difficulties for being a female international journalist." Wei Xuan said. Rose said that as a foreigner and a journalist, the locals should be more respectful and safer, and most of this is true.
But many times the crowd was terrifying, and she said that covering demonstrations was more dangerous than covering battlefields. When crowds gather, especially emotional, in crowds, especially women, just endure it and it will pass, because you don't know who to look for.
"Do you keep touching it like this?" Is it touched maliciously?" Wei Xuan asked in shock, "That must be touched maliciously." Then I felt where these hands came from, and I wanted to pass through them quickly." Rose gestured as she spoke.
Rose went on to talk about cases of women war correspondents in the United States who were almost sexually assaulted during interviews, and mentioned that if they went to cover places of war or demonstrations, female journalists would encounter more sexual dangers than ordinary war correspondents.
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How Rose sees the boundaries of freedom
Rose used to be a journalist, so she would speak, record and record events in the moment, but when journalists and rulers have different perspectives or others, it is inevitable that there will be controversy. "How do you grasp the perspective of looking at a thing, the boundary with your freedom of expression." Wei Xuan asked curiously.
"I thought very simply, I just wanted to talk about something that I think is very important for the public information." Rose replied. If you're familiar with censorship, you know that there are two elements you might need to consider. One is from the public power, after you talk about it, you will be suppressed by the public power, and you will lose the platform to speak, just like her Weibo, which once had more than 8 million fans, there is no more.
She said that she was mentally prepared when she spoke, and life is a test many times.
"Do you want to speak, or do you want to continue false prosperity on a fake platform?" But you can't say anything." Rose said. If you're in the public domain, you're making choices all the time.
(Also screened: British female war correspondent documentary "First Look": The truth is the most advantageous weapon)
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Feminism and women's boxing
Wei Xuan was curious that Rose, as a rare female journalist in the Chinese-speaking area, talked about that as a feminist, someone will turn "power" into "fist", so how does Rose view women's rights and women's boxing?
Rose shared that when she taught gender classes at university, half of the two semesters were male students, and she asked these students why they were interested in gender classes, and Hong Kong male students said that Hong Kong girls have a high status and are curious about gender equality.
For Rose, the addition of boys in the classroom made up for a lot of her blind spots, and one of the projects impressed her by a boy who did why kindergarten was mostly female. And the student himself, as a tutor, has been thinking about why the family is reluctant to hire boys as tutors, and it is safer for tutors to invite girls.
Rose asked students to think about why people feel that boys are unsafe and girls are safer, which in itself is a cause of gender inequality. The demand for masculinity makes people feel aggressive, which will cause you to be treated very unfairly.
Students listen to a lot of data in class, but sometimes personal experience does not reflect universality. Rose emphasized that statistics are very important, accurate statistics will expand a very macro aspect, you will see that the real society is still this gender inequality, it is still a patriarchal society.
But in class, Rose also discussed that on a global scale, the gender pay gap exists everywhere.