A Chinese language online game on ‘gold diggers’ is fuelling a debate on sexism

“He is extra obedient than a canine… If solely extra of those dumb ones come alongside,” boasts a lady in a brand new online game that has fuelled a debate on sexism in China.

The gamers within the live-action Revenge on Gold Diggers are male protagonists lured into relationships by manipulative ladies who’re after their cash – how the person responds shapes the remainder of the story.

It topped the gaming platform Steam’s gross sales checklist inside hours of its launch in June however controversy rapidly adopted. Some slammed it for reinforcing insulting gender stereotypes, whereas supporters say the sport cautions individuals about love scams.

So heated was the criticism that the sport’s creators quietly renamed it Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator the following day.

However that wasn’t sufficient to undo the harm. The sport’s lead director, Hong Kong filmmaker Mark Hu, has now been banned on a number of Chinese language social media platforms.

The sport’s creators insist they by no means supposed to “goal ladies” – moderately they needed to facilitate “open dialogue about emotional boundaries and the gray zones in trendy courting”.

Xu Yikun, an artist who tried the sport and located it deeply offensive, rejects that rationale. She accuses them of “a traditional enterprise mannequin that thrives on producing content material that sparks debate and divisions”.

Critics like her say the very time period “gold digger” reeks of misogyny.

“It is a label that is used, all too typically, on ladies,” Ms Xu says. “Sexist jokes and derogatory phrases like these have discovered their approach into our on a regular basis language.”

“You probably have a wealthy boyfriend, you might be referred to as a gold digger. In case you attempt to make your self look fairly, you might be referred to as a gold digger… Typically the label is used on you merely for accepting a drink from somebody,” she provides.

Some gamers, nevertheless, discover the criticism overblown.

“The sport is not attempting to say that every one ladies are gold diggers… I do not discover it concentrating on both gender,” says 31-year-old Zhuang Mengsheng, who used a pseudonym to talk to the BBC. “Each ladies and men will be gold diggers.”

And but, within the sport all of the “gold diggers” are ladies. From a fresh-faced on-line influencer to a go-getting entrepreneur they’re all proven scheming to get the lads to lavish cash and presents on them.

“Wish to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends,” considered one of them says.

The sport has divided even native media. A newspaper from the central Hubei province mentioned the sport was “labelling a whole gender as fraudsters”.

However Beijing Youth Day by day praised it for its “creativity”, citing the monetary affect of affection scams: round 2bn yuan ($279m; £204m) in 2023, in accordance with information from the Nationwide Anti-Fraud Centre.

“We have to put a cease to emotional fraud at once,” it mentioned in an editorial.

Controversy apart, gross sales of the sport have continued to soar. It’s now amongst China’s prime ten titles for the PC platform, surpassing even Black Myth: Wukong which is reportedly probably the most profitable Chinese language sport of all time.

“I do not get why persons are upset about this. In case you aren’t a gold digger your self, why do you have to really feel attacked by this sport?” says a 28-year-old man.

“I really thought the sport’s creators are very daring. These points [like emotional fraud] aren’t extensively mentioned sufficient in China.”

Some individuals on-line have advised the sport is impressed by the real-life story of a Chinese language man, often known as Fats Cat on the web, who jumped to his loss of life final yr after a breakup.

His loss of life sparked an intense dialogue on-line, the place the time period “gold digger” was liberally used, with some accusing his ex-girlfriend of exploiting him, main him to take his life. Police have dismissed these allegations.

Ladies who spoke to the BBC fear that the online game perpetuates problematic gender norms in China, the place society believes ladies belong at dwelling, whereas seeing males as the first breadwinners.

So for girls, marrying nicely has historically been perceived as extra essential than skilled success.

Official rhetoric from the male-dominated Chinese language Communist Social gathering endorses this – President Xi Jinping has repeatedly referred to as on ladies to embrace their roles as “good wives and moms”.

The federal government has additionally cracked down on a growing pool of activists demanding gender equality.

“I really feel a sport like that merely followers hostility between women and men,” says one lady who didn’t wish to be named, fearing hostility on-line.

“It casts ladies, as soon as once more, because the inferior gender who should in some way discover methods to please males to earn their livelihoods.”