Today is International Women's Day, called sanba jie (三八节) in Chinese. It's kind of a big deal here. Most women who work outside of the service industry get the day off, there are events and gatherings, and we get free admission to museums and sightseeing destinations like the Forbidden City. Stopping by on an errand this morning, our landlord even wished Jessica and I well on our special ladies holiday. The Chinese observance of this holiday just gives me a warm feeling inside, despite the rather large contradictions it contains.
Sanba means 3-8 in Chinese (jie just means 'holiday'), and became the nickname for Women's Day because the holiday always falls on the 8th day of the 3rd month. Sanba also means bitch, and as you can guess, this is far from purely coincidental. Sexy Beijing did an episode on sanba last year, though it isn't one of my favorites:
Now I love numbers that become nouns just as much as the next guy. I am always asking my peeps to give me the '411' (114 in China, just as 911 is 119 here), referring to homicides with the catchy '187', or patronizing retail outlets called '420', but I think sanba has got to be my favorite. Firstly, while doing its very best to demonize uppity women, it makes absolutely clear why we need them. If you slander someone using a word whose power comes from its association with an idea like gender equality, you inadvertently highlight the level of socially acceptable animosity against such an idea. Thus, it is because the idea of a sanba can exist in the public consciousness that we need sanbas in the first place.
Secondly, I can't see how anyone can use the word in seriousness without finding it patently hilarious. I don't think I've ever actually been called an sanba, at least to my face, but if it happened, I'm pretty sure I'd burst out laughing - "Are you really calling me International Women's Day? What a dick."
And then I'd summon my sanba army.
4 comments:
I'll bet the English word, meaning literally "female dog" doesn't translate very well either. Although it can't be as inscrutable as calling somebody a number.
However, the number-as-insult does point the way to a brighter tomorrow when all the people of the world can insult each other across linguistic and cultural barriers and be perfectly understood. Until then we'll all have to make do with hand gestures.
My niece is 3'8, and that little female dog better start growing fast. That's a sanba of a time for little girls.
Happy Woman's Day!
Maybe they should celebrate Sanba once a month...get it? Then it would reeeeeally be funny. Get it?
(p.s. i've tagged you for a meme. i have a bet going in my head that you won't do it because it's too nerdy. if i win, i have to give myself five dollars. go to my blog for more details)
flaming banjo:
I eagerly await that bright day of efficient cross-cultural slander. At present, not even hand gestures are universal. I still flip off drivers who cut me off on occasion, but only because it makes me feel a little better.
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