On May 28, 2025, the Proletarian Liberation Struggle Association held its second mass meeting of 2025. On the first day of the agenda, the first part of the conference report—the Association Activity Report (Overview)—was read aloud. The first part summarized the development of the association over the past two months, reviewed our work and achievements, and also reflected on mistakes and lessons learned. Since the conference report involves confidential association activities, most of it cannot be made public. Here, only a portion discussing the analysis and summary of the bourgeois view of love is disclosed for everyone to study and exchange.
… During the rectification movement, Fenghuo keenly perceived that the bourgeois view of love is the core of bourgeois ideology, elevating the rectification movement to a higher stage and proposing the main task of the rectification movement—to eliminate the bourgeois view of love. Regarding the bourgeois view of love, or the bourgeois attitude toward gender relations, Engels had long told us, “The ancient practice of mixed marriage, under the influence of capitalist commodity production, is increasingly changing, becoming more adapted to capitalist commodity production, and increasingly turning into blatant prostitution. Its moral corrosive effect is also greater. Moreover, its moral corruption of men is much more severe than that of women. Prostitution only degrades the unfortunate women who become victims, and they have not fallen to the extent commonly imagined. On the contrary, it corrupts the character of all men.” It is precisely the material oppression of women in modern capitalist patriarchal society—from the workplace, family, school, and society—that causes serious inequality in gender relations, and forms a stubborn, reactionary male chauvinist ideology that oppresses and manipulates women in the worldview of men. Views on love and marriage most clearly reflect a person’s moral outlook because they fully embody a person’s class stance and political viewpoint. One major reason the bourgeois view of love is prevalent in our association is the lack of scientific analysis of its class essence; even among our ranks, there is a tendency to separate views on love from political views. The bourgeois view of love, disguised under a super-class cloak, smuggles countless reactionary bourgeois ideas, seriously damaging collective interests and undermining revolutionary activities. In fact, as part of the worldview, views on love must be connected to a person’s political ideology. One cannot politically oppose capitalism while supporting capitalism in life. However, many male comrades with extremely serious bourgeois views of love do not consider the class essence of this reactionary bourgeois view but instead cover it up with glorifications of the oppressor as “deeply affectionate scoundrels” and slanders of women as “shameless sluts.” Many male comrades hide their perverted bourgeois view of love while beautifying extreme gender oppression as “sincere devotion” and “mutual consent,” even excusing it with reactionary bourgeois human nature theories like “food and sex are natural.” In response, Fenghuo thoroughly exposed the connection between the reactionary bourgeois view of love and the entire bourgeois worldview and traitorous philosophy, emphasizing: “Messing with women is messing with revisionism!” In revolutionary organizations, restoring male oppression of women inevitably involves personal usurpation of reputation and status and inevitably connects to following the revisionist line and restoring capitalism.
Through this thorough criticism of the bourgeois view of love, many male comrades have gained a profound understanding of the moral corruption of men in capitalist society and the differences in views on love between men and women. The views on love expressed by female comrades within the association are of petty-bourgeois nature, at most a variant of love supremacism, reflecting petty-bourgeois ideas of personal liberation. However, the bourgeois view of love expressed by many male comrades is a very dark, malicious, and ugly ideology of human oppression. It reflects the extreme selfishness of the bourgeoisie in views on love.
The bourgeois view of love is the manifestation of bourgeois individualism in views on love. Its core is the bourgeois ideology of harming others for self-benefit and profit-seeking. To satisfy their vulgar desires, it destroys women’s independent personality and dignity, unrestrictedly infringes upon and possesses women, treating them as objects to be casually toyed with. The essence of the bourgeois view of love is a reactionary combination of hedonism and egoism. On one hand, it promotes a reactionary (toward women) bourgeois lifestyle; on the other hand, it beautifies the brutal behavior of harming others for self-benefit under the guise of super-class love. It is a pathological sadistic psychology, a shameless possessiveness toward women, cruel, selfish, and extremely pursuing sexual stimulation, taking others’ pain as something to enjoy for one’s own pleasure. It is under the influence of this reactionary worldview that Chinese society has witnessed so many public and hidden, legal and illegal sexual crimes such as molestation, enticement, rape, and sexual abuse. It is under this reactionary worldview’s influence that Chinese society has become a living hell where malicious wolves and tigers surround women, and no matter how vigilant they are, they inevitably fall into traps.
“The bourgeoisie is not only a selfish class but an extremely selfish, profit-seeking class that will sacrifice all others’ interests to gain even a little benefit for itself.” The reason the bourgeois class nature is reflected in so many petty-bourgeois men, even among all male comrades in our association, is precisely because of the oppressor status of men in this capitalist patriarchal society. “Nowadays, in most cases, the husband must be the income earner, the breadwinner, at least among the bourgeoisie. This places the husband in a dominant position without any special legal privileges. In the family, the husband is the capitalist, and the wife is equivalent to the proletariat.”
“Taking pleasure in others’ pain can only arise among exploitative classes who consider harming others as natural and among those who have developed a habit of harming the oppressed.” Our male comrades in the association are Marxists and must never allow such dark, malicious, and cruel oppressive thoughts to exist within themselves! They must never tolerate holding such reactionary views on love and inflicting or intending to inflict cruel oppression on women! As Marxists living and fighting, we must not allow such a reactionary bourgeois worldview to remain within us! We must transform our worldview and establish a correct, bright, and great Marxist worldview, starting by removing these filthy thoughts from ourselves!
All female comrades, through this ideological struggle, have recognized the essence of bourgeois love, fully understood the reactionary nature of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois views on love, especially the male bourgeois view of love. At the same time, they have purged the remnants of petty-bourgeois love thoughts within themselves, fully realizing that women’s liberation cannot be achieved through individual struggle but only through social liberation. This has removed obstacles blocking women’s revolutionary path, strengthened revolutionary determination, and brought great growth. The progress of female comrades is also the progress of our entire association because women’s liberation and proletarian revolution are inseparable. A proletarian revolution without the participation of the vast oppressed women will ultimately not succeed. We must understand one thing: whether one acknowledges the existence of gender oppression and supports the women’s liberation movement is the touchstone distinguishing true Marxists from false ones. For the awakening and progress of female comrades, we true Marxists must sincerely congratulate and support them to continue on the path of revolution forever.
“We mourn those who have passed and vow: to be pure, intelligent, brave, and upward-moving ourselves and others. To remove false masks. To remove the world’s confusion and violence that harm oneself and others. We mourn those who have passed and vow: to remove meaningless suffering in life. To remove the confusion and violence that create and enjoy others’ suffering. We also vow: that all humanity shall receive just happiness.” …
