Creation: Proletarian Liberation Struggle Association Political Economy Group
ㅤㅤAccording to reports, recently at various domestic auto shows, a man wearing a blue and white striped T-shirt has repeatedly appeared, attracting attention online for his strange gaze “staring at female models,” which has been dubbed “eye-killer.” After gaining popularity, he is called “Stripe Brother.” On online platforms, “Stripe Brother” has multiple times interacted with car models via live streams, recreating the “eye-killer” scene, garnering tens of thousands of followers. This person continues to appear at auto show sites engaging in voyeuristic behavior, prompting many streamers seeking traffic to focus their cameras on “Stripe Brother” and start live broadcasts.
ㅤㅤOn November 19, the Commercial Model Committee under the China Textile Industry Association issued a statement that the behavior of “Stripe Brother” constitutes vulgar hype and advised models not to cooperate. It stated: “Such conduct severely violates the elegant style upheld by the fashion industry and the principles of public order and good customs, and has a negative impact on the healthy image of the modeling industry.” On November 21, the Commercial Model Committee under the China Textile Industry Association commented on the post that “‘Stripe Brother’ has been banned on the platform, and his account can no longer be found through short video platform searches.”
ㅤㅤ"Car model" refers to automotive models, who stand beside cars at exhibitions to attract visitors and promote marketing. Unlike the general clothing modeling industry, the majority of car models are women, often dressed provocatively, emphasizing female sexual characteristics far more than typical fashion models. The profession of car modeling itself symbolizes the moral corruption of men and the oppression of women under patriarchal society. When these models, dressed in revealing clothing, stand beside cars and are surrounded by vulgar gazes and camera lenses, car manufacturers convey advertisements such as “Buy this car to own a woman like this.” In this industry, women are not only treated as accessories for luxury cars but are also portrayed as “vases” that must depend on men. The bourgeois aesthetic demands women transform their bodies into images that are unsuitable for labor and only satisfy male sexual fantasies—white, young, slim—keeping them in a long-term unhealthy physical state and spiritually parasitic on men. Even more shameful is that the bourgeois society still hosts “car model beauty contests,” blatantly commodifying women and comparing them as goods, with media often spreading stories like “Big boss takes certain car models as mistresses.” The car modeling industry can be said to be a complete product of capitalist patriarchy.
ㅤㅤIn a patriarchal society, men as the masters of the family, owning private cars, have always been a symbol of the bourgeois male identity. Data shows that in 2022, the number of female drivers in China was 160 million, accounting for 31.8% of the total 502 million drivers nationwide; meanwhile, women purchasing new cars made up about 34%, still far below men. Although recent years have seen an increase in the number and proportion of women obtaining driver’s licenses or buying new cars, women are constrained by dual oppression from household and social labor. Choosing cars as transportation often only serves to facilitate taking children to school and commuting to work, still bound by family restrictions. Only a tiny minority of bourgeois women, dependent on the bourgeoisie or engaged in exploitation themselves, can “enjoy” cars like bourgeois men.
ㅤㅤThe monopolistic bourgeoisie in the automotive industry, which can hold large-scale launch events for new cars and sales, caters to the preferences of bourgeois men. The bourgeoisie has reshaped society with their own ideas, especially turning women increasingly into “vases” for their aesthetic enjoyment. As the Commercial Model Committee of the Chinese bourgeoisie mentioned, forcing car models to wear extremely revealing and sexually suggestive clothing to sell their looks is considered “the elegance and public morality of the fashion industry.” Many morally corrupt petty bourgeois men, unable to afford luxury cars on display, are still attracted by such public displays of pornography, further fueled by media coverage that promotes bourgeois commercial marketing.
ㅤㅤSo, why does the bourgeois government ban this tiny online celebrity “Stripe Brother,” who embodies the true thoughts and intentions of 100% male participation in auto exhibitions, under the label of “vulgar hype”? Do they not know that dressing female models like that is meant to attract the gaze of lecherous men? Before this notice was issued, many self-media and streamers described “Stripe Brother’s” lecherous stare as “doing what all men want to do,” “true nature,” and “not being hypocritical.” Such blatant display of the widespread moral corruption among men in society, aimed at suppressing feminism and attempting to cover up gender oppression with Confucianism, is undoubtedly very unfavorable to the current bourgeois government. Under “Stripe Brother’s” videos, many people have spontaneously opposed such shameless behavior, calling for reports on this person. To cope with the rising calls for women’s liberation, the bourgeois government slightly punishes this overly vulgar internet celebrity, seemingly to maintain “public order and good customs,” but in reality, it is warning the widespread “lower-head men” to “quietly indulge in fantasies, don’t be so obvious.” Unfortunately, anyone with conscience and support for women’s liberation will not be deceived by such petty tricks. This ban, rather than cleaning up the atmosphere, reveals the bourgeois government’s attempt to maintain “male image” and further conceal the Confucian essence of male oppression of women.
