Wu Zetian is Taking Apart Slut Shaming in Chinese Culture

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I want to convey my personal views on slut-shaming from the perspective of Chinese classical culture, because Chinese women’s clothing culture has always been more conservative than western. Society is progressing, but backward concepts still exist. Many girls and women are afraid of wearing the clothes they like because of those criticisms.

Wu Zetian was the only female emperor in Chinese history: It's very legendary how she broke through all kinds of obstacles to realize her dream from rock bottom. However, in order to prevent women from competing for power, later historians attacked her and called her slut and evil to warn other women.

The character in my editorial is representative of Wu Zetian as well as women in modern society. I put traditional costume elements together with feminine elements to create an anti-traditional “slut” image, She is strong and powerful and she wears whatever she wants.

Creative Direction/Styling/Setting: Yawen Deng | Photography: ChiXi | Makeup: YiHao | Hair: ZingCheng | Model: DaiJiaqi.