总部位于纽约的人权观察组织认为，女性面临的职场歧视还有其他形式，比如中国企业经常对女性求职者提出身高、体重、声音或者样貌方面的要求，往往与岗位本身无关。该组织称，三大科技业巨头还经常自夸公司有“美女”或是“女神”，助长了普遍存在的职场性别歧视。
腾讯道歉
“这是公然地物化女性，”人权观察的执行董事肯尼思·罗斯在香港举行的新闻发布会上表示，“工作环境很不友好。”
艰难斗争
大洋另一端的美国硅谷，科技公司正深陷歧视女性的指控，而从这份报告来看，中国职场性别歧视也是无处不在。这也显示出，中国政府领导层若想兑现反对职场歧视的承诺要面临多大挑战。
从一些指标看，中国女性的生活环境已经改善。全球知名管理咨询公司麦肯锡称，中国的产妇死亡率下降，女性的高等教育入学率有所上升。麦肯锡定于本周二发布的报告称，中国在抵制职场性别歧视方面的进步超过亚太区其他国家的平均水平。
#MeToo标签
报告发布之际，中国正努力控制日渐成型的反性骚扰运动#MeToo，审查了诸多类似#MeToo的社交媒体话题。在美国，已有多位知名的高管因性骚扰辞职或者被解雇，其中不乏好莱坞大牌制作人哈维·韦恩斯坦、美国全国广播公司（NBC）主持人马特·劳尔和亚马逊影业主管罗伊·布莱斯之类名流。然而在中国，很少有人真正追究性骚扰。
在中国企业界，2017年1月，腾讯曾为公司部门年会上安排有性暗示的游戏道歉。在场者在网上发布的图片显示，参加游戏的女员工要双膝跪地，用嘴打开夹在男员工双腿中间的水瓶盖。
人权观察组织称，歧视女性的不仅包括科技企业。研究人员分析2017年中央政府招聘要求发现，有1700多个岗位限制应聘者为男性或者男性优先，约占职位总数的13%。
世界经济论坛2017年对各国女性经济机会的排名中，中国排在全球第86位，较2016年第53位的排名出现下滑。同样在世界经济论坛对女性全球地位的调查中，中国在女性教育程度方面排在第102位，也低于2006年，当时排名第78位。在健康与生存方面，中国排第144位，和十年前的排名持平。在政治权利方面，中国排第77位，十年前排在第52位。
旧金山的一位天使投资人马瑞（音译）表示，中国职场女性在相貌上面对很大压力。“颜值”，字面意思就是外表指数，已成为日常工作中常见词。
“颜值”指数
马瑞说：“背后的潜台词就是，用‘颜值’判断基本的工作能力很正常。没有人提出质疑。乍听起来非常无礼，但十分常见。要抵抗潮流相当困难。”
面向女性企业家初创公司的新加坡风投机构SoGalVentures创始人孙伊晴指出：“这让男性可以根据外貌评判女性，类似措辞让人觉得女性就应照此评价。”
译者：Pessy
审稿：夏林
WorkplacediscriminationinChinaoftenbeginswithhelp-wantedads.
JobrecruitmentwebsitesroutinelyfeatureadvertisementsfromprominenttechnologyemployerssuchasAlibabaGroupHolding,BaiduandTencentHoldingsforpositionsthatareopenonlytomen,accordingtoareportreleasedbyHumanRightsWatchonMonday.
AndtheNewYork-basedgroupsaidjobdiscriminationagainstwomentakesotherforms:Chinesecompaniesoftenhaverequirementsontheheight,weight,voiceorappearanceoffemaleapplicantsthathavenothingtodowiththeirqualificationsforthejob.Withthethreebiginternetcompaniesboastingtheyhave“beautifulgirls”or“goddesses,”thoseadscontributetowidespreadgenderdiscriminationintheworkplace,HumanRightsWatchsaid.
“Sexualobjectificationofwomen—treatingwomenasamereobjectofsexualdesire—isprevalentinChinesejobadvertising,”thereportsaid.
HumanRightsWatchanalyzedmorethan36,000advertisements,mostofthempostedsince2013,oncorporateandgovernmentwebsitesandsocialmediaplatforms.Researcherslookedfortermsrelatedtogenderpreferencessuchas“menonly”and“suitableforwomen.”
AsearchofAlibaba’swebsiteinJanuaryfound“menonly”or“menpreferred”adsforjobsincludinggovernmentaffairsseniorspecialistandcrowd-sourcingdeliverymanager,accordingtothereport.HumanRightsWatchsaidthee-commercegiant’srecruitmentsocialmediaaccountpublishedphotosofyoungfemaleemployeesanddescribedthemas“latenightbenefits.”
TencentApology
ATencentadfeaturedamaleemployeesayingthepresenceofbeautifulwomenwasonereasonhejoinedthecompany,andinaBaiduadamalestaffsaidhavingattractivefemalecolleagueswasonereasonhewashappyatwork,HumanRightsWatchsaid.
“There’sjustablatantobjectificationofthesewomen,”saidExecutiveDirectorKennethRothatapressbriefinginHongKong.“Thiscreatesahostileworkenvironment.”
Inanemailedstatement,Tencentsaidithasinvestigatedtheincidentsandwillmakeimmediatechanges.“Wearesorrytheyoccurredandwewilltakeswiftactiontoensuretheydonothappenagain,”itsaid.“Tencentvaluesdiversebackgroundsandrecruitsstaffbasedontalentandability.”
Baidusaidit”deeply”regretswhatitdescribedas“isolatedinstances”ofjobpostingsthatdidn’talignwithitsvalues,andthatthecompanyhadremovedthoseadsbeforethereportwasreleased.Baidusaidwomenaccountfor45%ofitsemployees,withmid-andseniorpositionsreflectingasimilarnumber.
Alibabasaiditconductsregularreviewsofrecruitmentadsandhas“well-definedguidelines”onprovidingequalopportunitiesregardlessofgender.Itsaid47%ofthecompany’semployeesarewomenandwomenleadersoccupyone-thirdofitsmanagementpositions.
UphillBattle
ThereportoffersaglimpseintohowubiquitoussexistpracticesareinChineseworkplaces—astechcompaniesinSiliconValleyarestrugglingtocombatallegationsofdiscriminationagainstwomen.ItalsounderscoresthechallengesPresidentXiJinpingfacesintryingtofollowthroughonapledgetofightagainstworkplacediscrimination.
Bysomemeasures,conditionshaveimprovedforwomeninChina.Maternalmortalityrateshavedeclinedandtertiaryeducationrateshaverisen,accordingtoMcKinsey&Co.ThemanagementconsultancyissettoreleaseareportTuesdayshowingChina’sprogressonworkplacegenderissuesisaboveaveragecomparedwithothercountriesintheAsia-Pacificregion.
“China’stechnologysectorstandsoutasashiningexampleofaspacewherefemaleentrepreneurshiphashadglobalimpact,”McKinseysaidinanemailedstatement.
#MeTooHashtags
ThereportscomeatatimewhenChinahassoughttocontrolanascent#MeToomovement,withthegovernmentcensoringhashtagssimilarto#MeToo.WhileHollywoodmogulHarveyWeinstein,NBCanchorMattLauerandAmazonStudiosbossRoyPriceareamongprominentU.S.executivestohaveresignedorbeenfiredbecauseofsexualharassment,Chinahasn’thadasimilarreckoning.
Inthecorporateworld,TencentinJanuary2017apologizedforasexuallysuggestivegameorganizedatadivision’sannualpartyafterattendeespostedfootageonlineofkneelingfemalestaffwhoappearedtotrytousetheirmouthstoopenwaterbottlestuckedbetweenmen’slegs.
Techcompaniesaren’ttheonlyemployersthathavediscriminatedagainstwomen,HumanRightsWatchsaid.Ofpostingsforcentralgovernmentjobsin2017thatresearchersanalyzed,about13%—ormorethan1,700postings—includedarequirementorpreferenceformaleapplicants.
Chinawas86thworldwideina2017WorldEconomicForumrankingofcountriesofferingthebesteconomicopportunitiestowomen,downfrom53rdin2006.Inthesamesurveyofwomen’sstatusworldwide,Chinaranked102ndineducationalattainment,downfromNo.78in2006;Chinawas144thinhealthandsurvival,comparedto114thadecadeearlier;Chinawas77thinpoliticalempowerment,downfrom52nd.
Chinesewomenintheworkplacefaceintensepressurebasedontheirlooks,saidRuiMa,aSanFrancisco-basedangelinvestor.Theterm“yanzhi,”orphysicalappearancemetric,ispartofeverydaybusinesslanguage,shesaid.
‘Yanzhi’Metric
“Theunderlyingideaisthatit’stotallynormaltorelyonyour‘yanzhi’asaprimaryjobcompetence,”Masaid.“Peopledon’treallyquestionit.Itsoundsextremelyoffensivebutit’sbeennormalized.It’sgoingtobeextremelyhardtofight.”
AnoperationsstaffmemberatXiaomi,theBeijing-basedsmartphonemakerthatistargetinga$100billionvaluationinaninitialpublicoffering,saidonthesocialmediaplatformWeChatMomentsrecentlythatthecompanymostlylooksat“yanzhi”whenhiring.HealsosaidXiaomi’sfemaleemployeesarebeautiful—andareevenmorebeautifulwhenusingtheXiaomi6Xphonetotakeselfies.
“Thisgivesmenthelibertyandentitlementtojudgewomenbasedontheirappearance,”saidPocketSun,Singapore-basedfounderofSoGalVentures,whichinvestsinstartupsledbyfemaleentrepreneurs.“Thiskindoflanguageleadspeopletothinkthatthisisthewaywomenneedtobejudged.”
Inastatement,Xiaomisaiditiscommittedtofairnessintheworkplaceandalwaysplaces“highstandardstoensureequalitywithintheorganization.”