In 2022, Zhang decided to set up her own women’s-only gym, explaining that in recent years, Chinese women who are tired of the male gaze, who feel unsafe or ignored, have created women-only spaces. While choosing, I decided to join a small but steadily growing trend.
This phenomenon stands in stark contrast to China’s official clubs and elite politics, where women’s participation is often minimal, if not absent.
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China’s top women’s affairs official vows to promote marriage and family
In Modern Training, a woman is taught how to properly use a weightlifting machine by one of five female trainers during a typical weekday lunch break.
The trainer’s arm rests on the woman’s shoulder, and one hand traces her spine, helping her adjust her posture. “If the trainer was a man, you wouldn’t be able to build this level of intimacy,” Chan says.
This gym doesn’t advertise itself as a place for rapid weight loss, instead emphasizing better shape and resistance. More importantly, Zhang said she wants to create a community where women can come whenever they need and feel emotionally supported.
“When families come over, sometimes the father takes the kids to play and leaves the mother at the gym,” she said.
Similar services are popping up in multiple cities and across a variety of activities and interests. A search on social media turned up female-friendly spaces like book clubs, hostels, bars and gyms.
The website describes these venues as overwhelmingly places that offer “tolerance, comfort and warmth” and where “girls help girls” in a “safe space to express emotions”.
Most events are themed around feminist issues. A club in Chengdu, southwest China, recently promoted a documentary about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay.
As Xiaoli and Yanzi discovered when they opened a hostel called Cheer in 2023, not everyone initially intended to tailor their service to women, but over time they grew stronger. I realized there was a need.
The two friends originally wanted a female guest because the hostel in Dali, southwestern Yunnan province, had only one bathroom and would be easier to clean.
However, as I got to know more of my guests, I realized that many of them intentionally seek out women-only rooms when they travel. Some of the guests were on gap years, some were older, and one of the guests was a woman who was traveling with her mother.
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A single Chinese woman who is 173 cm tall says she is too tall to date.
Xiaoli and Yanzi started improving the hostel with women’s needs in mind. Emergency tampon boxes have been installed in bathrooms, vanities have been added to common areas, and security cameras have been installed at gates.
They also made connections with guests, including a woman who couldn’t book a room but visited the hostel several times.
She was sitting in the hallway watching a movie and knitting. One afternoon, the girl took a nap on the carpet in her common area, and when she woke up, she said she had left. She said: “She just came in and slept like a cat. All her valuables were scattered around her.”
Jantzi said she was moved by the trust the guests had in her and that it was a sign of trust built on connection and mutual support between women.
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Pei Yuxin, a sociology professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, southern China, said women are increasingly protective of their feelings in cultures where men are traditionally opinion leaders. This trend is said to be on the rise.
For these very reasons, Orange Lee moved in with three other women in a co-living project called Skithia last June. “We wanted an environment where women could nourish each other, an environment that was relatively honest, comfortable and safe,” she said.
Initially, Lee and another woman found themselves cooking for the entire family, leading them to explore ways to divide household chores fairly without falling into traditional gender roles. I did.
The project did not last long. After more than six months of operation, Scythia had to close due to lack of funds. Lee said being all-female meant giving up half of the potential market, which made it difficult to run the business.
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Chinese feminists oppressed by state, but ‘anger will find an outlet’
She’s also taken on other projects, including an online community that encourages women to “swap skills” and help each other, such as plumbing.
Lee said the project was short-lived but meaningful. By living together, Scythian women forged deep bonds and sought to repair the common trauma women experience in East Asia’s patriarchal system.
One woman grew up rarely receiving compliments, but she learned how to respond to them. Others noticed how her family treated her and she changed from always criticizing others.
Lee said Scythia women did not wear makeup or comment on their appearance and wore what they were comfortable in. “It’s part of the healing process,” she said.
Chan tells a similar story of a client who was large by societal standards, who was frequently pressured by trainers at other gyms to lose weight. She added that she had never been under so much pressure in her modern training, where she was supported to work towards her own goals.
Pei, the sociology professor, said men have always had clubs. “They could play ball together, drink together, sing karaoke together. But now women are starting to have that too.”