菲比·張

Zhang Xiqing is an outlier2 in Chinese society.

At 33， the designer based in the southern city of Shenzhen is happily unmarried， has no plans to have children with her boyfriend， and left her job at tech titan Tencent for a start-up because she wanted to “try something new”.

“I wanted to live just for myself， and just for us，” she said.

But Zhang faces immense pressure from her family， who insist that she is “getting old” that a woman “of her age” should be married with children.

She does her best to deal with the pressure to conform to convention but it can be a lonely path to follow.

Now， however， she is drawing inspiration from a reality show that has become a hit on Chinese television.

Instead of giving young ingenues a shot at fame， Sisters Who Make Waves， produced by Hunan Television， has invited established actresses and performers over 30， and some in their 50s， to compete for a spot in a five-member band.

The show has been a hit， especially among women， since it started airing in June. The first episode was played more than 300 million times on Mango TV， the channels official cellphone app.

For women like Zhang， the shows attraction is the way it portrays more experienced women using their confidence and expertise3—rather than youth—to get what they need.

In other performance-based reality shows， it is common for contestants to break down and cry under the pressure-cooker atmosphere but in the Hunan TV programme， the women exude4 confidence on stage and in discussions with production staff.

“Seeing you on stage， I am no longer anxious about my age，” one viewer commented on Weibo， Chinas Twitter-like microblogging service.

Hangzhou resident Hu Jing is obsessed with the show.

Hu was in business for about 10 years and worked for non-profit groups in her spare time， helping disabled women， LGBTQ5 groups and people with rare diseases.

Three years ago， she decided to devote herself full-time to her charity work， becoming the executive director of the Huatian Social Services Centre in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

Despite her contributions to the community， Hu said she constantly battled societal pressure that “a woman should not stay single”.

“Raising a child takes at least one-third of a womans money， time and energy. If I instead spend all that on charity， my life is more meaningful，” she said.

She found parallels between herself and celebrities on the show. Regina Wan， her favourite contestant， started out as a singer but turned to acting when her albums failed to sell.

Wan had treated every role seriously， Hu said， and tried her best. She even lived with the cast on set when she was five months pregnant.

“Her persistence， patience， and hard work had inspired me. I thought about myself doing social work. I also have to persevere and try， even if nobody notices me，” she said. “I hope to learn to be patient like her， and hope the rest will fall in place6.”

Other viewers resonated with the setbacks of some of the stars， who battled personal and professional difficulties. Many of the women in the show spoke of being offered fewer roles， especially compared with men in their age.

“The [women stars] present a real， comfortable image on screen， but there must be unimaginable pain behind that. Even if they cry on the show， they are only showing the tip of an iceberg，” said Marilyn Zhang， a civil servant who lives in western China.

“I think at this age， in this phase in life， its laudable that they can still choose their own paths and go out of their comfort zones.”

Marilyn Zhang said she could relate in some ways to7 the struggle of the women， having become depressed in the past few years due to her mothers death and the societal pressure she experienced because she was not married.

A feminist blogger who goes by the pen name Shaoxi said the overwhelming popularity of the show reflected the desperate need for women in China to see themselves portrayed in a different light.

“Women need to see themselves presented other than as a fair-skinned ‘beautiful younger sister figure， or an ageing wife or mother，” she said.

On TV， women are often portrayed in romantic dramas in cute， dependent， sentimental roles， or as a mother-in-law who picks fights and is consumed with domestic work.

“These ‘sisters on the idol show presented the public with a different possibility，” Shaoxi said. “They are no longer young， some have families， most dont. But their images arent vague， arent those of a wife or a mother， but sparkling versions of themselves.

“Age has not put them in an awkward spot， instead， it has made them more confident， more in control of their lives.”

But some critics say the show falls short of8 its ideals.

Wu Changchang， an associate professor of journalism at East China Normal University， wrote on Shanghai-based news portal Sixth Tone that the show was “hollow feminism”.

Wu argued at its core the programme was a reality show， “a competition between those who have something to lose and those who dont”， grounded in resources and connections. Furthermore， the show still emphasised “attractive appearances， svelte9 figures， dewy skin， unrealistic pep10， and extreme self-discipline”.

But Shaoxi said judging an entertainment show on “what degree of feminism” it contained was missing the point11. While the producers were in pursuit of profit， the programmes popularity said something about the female audience.

“It means that compared with the past， more are favouring strong， independent women，” she said. “You see a ‘sister in her 50s being herself， living her life， and being divorced and with children and she is fine. Thats a powerful role model.”

And its one that Zhang Xiqing， the designer， could use， with few women in senior management positions at her company.

When she sees the show， she is drawn to the personalities who have suffered setbacks in their career， yet are ambitious， hard-working and patient.

“I hope I can be more like them，” she said.

張西晴（音譯）在中國社會不同于常人。

這位33歲的設(shè)計師住在南方城市深圳，未婚，沒有與男友生兒育女的打算，生活幸福。她從科技巨頭騰訊離職后，去了一家初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，因為想“嘗試新事物”。

她說：“我只想為自己、為我倆而活?！?/p>

但她面臨來自家庭的巨大壓力。家人老是念叨，說她“年紀越來越大”，“她這個年紀”的女人應(yīng)該結(jié)婚生子了。

她竭力抗壓，不從流俗，但走的可能是一條孤獨之路。

不過，現(xiàn)在一檔在中國熱播的真人秀電視節(jié)目讓她深受激勵。

湖南衛(wèi)視制作的《乘風破浪的姐姐》沒有給青春新秀一舉成名的機會，而是邀約一群已過而立之年、有的已年過半百的成名女演員和女藝人來競逐五人團出道位。

該節(jié)目自6月份開播以來，一直深受觀眾特別是女性觀眾的歡迎。第一期節(jié)目在湖南衛(wèi)視官方手機應(yīng)用芒果TV上的播放量超過3億次。

對于像張西晴這樣的女性來說，這檔節(jié)目的吸引力在于展現(xiàn)一群有閱歷的女性憑著自信和才藝——而不是依仗青春年少——來實現(xiàn)追求。

在別的才藝表演類真人秀中，選手在高壓氛圍下情緒崩潰、失聲哭泣是司空見慣的事，但在湖南衛(wèi)視的這檔節(jié)目中，女選手們在舞臺競演和與節(jié)目制作組人員磋商時都盡顯自信。

一位觀眾在微博（中國類似推特的平臺）上評論道：“目睹你們在舞臺上的風采，我不再為自己的年齡而焦慮。”

杭州居民胡靜（音譯）對這檔節(jié)目非常著迷。

胡靜曾經(jīng)商約10年，業(yè)余時間為非營利性組織工作，向殘疾婦女、性少數(shù)群體和罕見疾病患者提供幫助。

3年前，她決定全職投身慈善工作，成為東部城市杭州華天（音譯）社會工作服務(wù)中心的執(zhí)行董事。

雖然對社區(qū)多有貢獻，但胡靜說自己還不斷與“女人不該一直單身”的社會壓力抗爭。

她說：“撫養(yǎng)孩子至少得耗費女人三分之一的金錢、時間和精力。如果我把這一切都投入慈善事業(yè)，我的人生會更有意義?！?/p>

她發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己與節(jié)目中明星之間的相似之處。她最欣賞的選手萬茜出道時是歌手，但在自己的專輯賣不出去時轉(zhuǎn)向了演藝圈。

胡靜說，萬茜認真對待接演的每個角色，全力以赴，甚至懷胎五個月時都在片場與演員們同吃同住。

“她的執(zhí)著、耐心和努力激勵了我。我想到了從事社會工作的自己。即使默默無聞，我也必須堅持和嘗試。我希望學著像她那樣有耐心，希望接下來一切順利。”

引起其他觀眾共鳴的則是部分明星所遭受的挫折，她們要與個人生活和職業(yè)生涯中的困難抗爭。節(jié)目中，許多女星都談到戲約變少，與同齡男星相比尤其如此。

生活在西部地區(qū)的一位張姓（英文名瑪麗蓮）公務(wù)員指出：“（女星們）在熒屏上呈現(xiàn)的是從容自在的真實形象，但其背后肯定有難以想象的痛苦。即使她們在節(jié)目中哭泣，顯露的也只是冰山一角。

“我認為，在這個年齡，在人生這個階段，她們?nèi)阅苓x擇自己的道路，走出自己的舒適區(qū)，這值得稱道?！?/p>

張女士表示，女星們的奮斗在某些方面讓她頗有同感。過去幾年，由于母親去世，又因自己未婚而遭受的社會壓力，她變得很抑郁。

一位筆名為韶溪（音譯）的女權(quán)博主表示，該節(jié)目爆紅反映了中國女性亟須以不同的形象展現(xiàn)自我。

她說：“女性要以別樣形象示人，而不是膚白‘貌美的小姐姐，抑或年歲漸長的妻母?！?/p>

電視上展現(xiàn)的女性形象往往不是言情劇中嬌俏依人、多愁善感的角色，就是忙于家務(wù)、動輒找茬吵架的婆婆。

“這檔偶像選秀節(jié)目中的‘姐姐們呈現(xiàn)給公眾的卻是另一種可能的形象?！鄙叵f，“她們不再年輕，有些人已結(jié)婚生子，大多數(shù)人則不然?？伤齻兊男蜗蟛⒉荒：?，并非人妻或人母，而是光彩照人的自我。

“年齡并未讓她們處境尷尬，相反，年齡讓她們更自信，更能掌控自己的人生?！?/p>

但一些評論家說，這檔節(jié)目并未達到其初衷。

華東師范大學新聞學副教授吳暢暢在上海報業(yè)集團旗下澎湃新聞國際版“第六聲”網(wǎng)站上撰文指出，該節(jié)目展現(xiàn)的是“空洞的女權(quán)主義”。

吳暢暢認為，該節(jié)目本質(zhì)上是真人秀，是“‘有恃無恐類姐姐與‘背水一戰(zhàn)類姐姐基于資源和人脈的比拼”。此外，節(jié)目依舊凸顯“美麗容顏、苗條身材、水嫩肌膚、逆天活力和極度自律”。

但韶溪表示，用女權(quán)主義的表現(xiàn)程度來評價一檔娛樂節(jié)目，那是根本沒看懂。盡管制片人是追求利潤的，但該節(jié)目走紅多少說明了女性觀眾的態(tài)度。

她說：“這意味著，與以往相比，更多人青睞堅強、獨立的女性。你看，50多歲的‘姐姐活出真我，過自己的生活，雖然離異帶著孩子，但活得很好，具有強大的榜樣力量。”

這一榜樣就可供設(shè)計師張西晴效法。她所在的公司鮮有女性擔任高管職位。

她觀看這檔節(jié)目時被明星們吸引了，這些明星雖然在職業(yè)生涯中遭受挫折，但仍然雄心勃勃、勤奮堅忍。

她說：“我希望自己能更像她們?！?/p>

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>