BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program presents \;Zhuoy i Wang\, professor and chair of East Asian languages and literatures at Ha milton College.This talk frames the 2024 Chinese blockbuster Her Story (Ha o dongxi) as a “stand-up film” and explores how the movie borrows not only the quick\, verbal wit of stand-up\, but also its risky politics of “punc hing up” in a censored environment. The talk first places Her Story in con versation with the recent rise of Chinese female stand-up comedians\, espe cially the debates around Yang Li and the weaponization of “women’s punche s\,” a term anti-feminist internet users now deploy to cast almost any fem inist critique as an illegitimate blow. Against this backdrop\, the film p ulls some of its punches with ironic disclaimers that seem to step back fr om direct feminist “punching\,” avoids taking on the most overtly patriarc hal and misogynistic viewers\, and instead trains its sharpest critique on performative “feminist men.” The talk then shows how Her Story “sheathes the blade” by hiding pointed references to COVID lockdowns\, tightening in formation control\, and the decline of investigative journalism inside a f eel-good\, almost utopian story of women’s alliances as spaces of care\, h ealing and muted resistance. It concludes by considering what this mix of pulled punch and sheathed blade reveals about disillusionment and stubborn \, necessary hope in contemporary China.Zhuoyi Wang is professor and chair of East Asian languages and literatures at Hamilton College. He is the au thor of Revolutionary Cycles in Chinese Cinema\, 1951–1979 (Palgrave Macmi llan\, 2014)\, co-editor of Maoist Laughter (Hong Kong University Press\, 2019\; named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2020)\, and co-editor of Teaching Film from the People’s Republic of China (Modern Language Asso ciation of America\, 2024). He has published more than 30 articles and has delivered over 150 invited talks across the United States\, the United Ki ngdom\, Canada\, East Asia and Southeast Asia. DTEND:20260206T180000Z DTSTAMP:20260510T212649Z DTSTART:20260206T163000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:The Pulled Punch and the Sheathed Blade: ‘Her Story’ (2024) as a Fe minist Stand-Up Film UID:RFCALITEM639140308099366926 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program presents \;Zhuoyi Wang\, professor and chair of East Asian langua ges and literatures at Hamilton College.

This talk frames the 2024 Chinese blockbuster Her Story (Hao dongxi) as a “s tand-up film” and explores how the movie borrows not only the quick\, verb al wit of stand-up\, but also its risky politics of “punching up” in a cen sored environment.

The talk first places Her Story in conv ersation with the recent rise of Chinese female stand-up comedians\, espec ially the debates around Yang Li and the weaponization of “women’s punches \,” a term anti-feminist internet users now deploy to cast almost any femi nist critique as an illegitimate blow.

Against this backdrop\, the film pulls some of its punches with ironic disclaimers that seem to step b ack from direct feminist “punching\,” avoids taking on the most overtly pa triarchal and misogynistic viewers\, and instead trains its sharpest criti que on performative “feminist men.”

The talk then shows how Her Story “sheathes the blade” by hiding pointed references to COVID loc kdowns\, tightening information control\, and the decline of investigative journalism inside a feel-good\, almost utopian story of women’s alliances as spaces of care\, healing and muted resistance. It concludes by conside ring what this mix of pulled punch and sheathed blade reveals about disill usionment and stubborn\, necessary hope in contemporary China.

Zhuoyi Wang is professor and chair of East Asian languages and literatures at Hamilton College. He is the author of Revolutionary Cy cles in Chinese Cinema\, 1951–1979 (Palgrave Macmillan\, 2014)\, co-e ditor of Maoist Laughter (Hong Kong University Press\, 2019\; nam ed a Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2020)\, and co-editor of Tea ching Film from the People’s Republic of China (Modern Language Assoc iation of America\, 2024). He has published more than 30 articles and has delivered over 150 invited talks across the United States\, the United Kin gdom\, Canada\, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

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