FACT CHECK: Is China Behind the Viral Anti-Marriage Campaigns on TikTok?

Have you ever watched the Disney Channel American sitcom That’s So Raven? Raven is a teenage girl with psychic powers and gets random visions that show a glimpse of the future.

Wouldn’t you want a glimpse of your future? Only to get a hint of what would happen if you went down a particular path. Imagine you are about to choose a career and have a random vision that you will be pretty miserable in the future because of it.

Would you still thrive and make it work by giving all your efforts, or would you change your present goal?

While you contemplate the hypothetical scenarios, China seems to be already a step ahead. A trend on TikTok shows a fictional version of the above concept. Watch the following video–

Here are the key takeaways from this 11 seconds video–

1. The fictional plot implies that the woman looks excited initially to get married.
2. But each time she puts her foot inside the sandal while the groom holds a ring, she gets glimpses of her future after marriage.
3. The vision implies that she will end up cooking, cleaning, struggling through pregnancy, and taking care of the baby.
4. In the end, she decides to ditch the wedding and run away for her independence.
5. One of the most critical inferences here is that the video is assumed to have originated from China.

There are several renditions of the theme of this video. All have a common denominator that implies that women don’t want to commit to a domestic life.

This gave birth to a dark conspiracy theory.

According to some netizens, the video is propagating an anti-marriage ideology among the TikTok community. Since TikTok’s inception is traced back to China, some theorists believe that China is bumping these videos in the algorithm to brainwash women (especially Americans) into believing that marriage will yield terrible consequences, take away their freedom, and diminish their feminist values. Per the conspiracy theory, these viral anti-marriage videos are Chinese propaganda, considering how many videos of the same concept are trending at the same time. However, no definitive proof suggests these videos are thoughtfully curated psyops by China to brainwash women with anti-marriage viral videos. 

Is China Behind the Viral Anti-Marriage Campaigns on TikTok?

The conspiracy theory suggests China uses Psyops to manipulate women with anti-marriage videos. But how does this really work?

• According to psychology, the concept of “Anticipatory Fear” can trigger a drastic response in anticipation of negative outcomes of future events.
• The plot, albeit comedic, creates a fear of a mundane life full of chores and losing one’s freedom and individuality.
• The video harps on anticipatory fear and implies to women that marriage will probably ruin their lives.
• The theory states that China is purposely bumping these videos on TikTok’s trending algorithm for maximum reach and brainwashing women into giving up their marriage goals.

However, there is no definitive proof that China is the mastermind behind these viral anti-marriage campaigns.

Debunking The Conspiracy Theory of Viral Anti-Marriage Campaign

As mentioned earlier, there are several renditions of these videos, and all have originated from different countries. This debunks that Chinese TikTokers are the only ones doing these videos.

Anti-marriage is a concept that suggests that women think marriage is terrible. But that is not true. Women who choose not to get married don’t mean they hate the traditional approach. It might also allude to the fact that their future goals don’t align with a married life.

“Women can have it all and do it all” is quite an unhealthy construct. Hence, women are choosing their lives on their own accord. No country, entity, or external influence can manipulate a woman’s prerogative.

However, we can’t completely discard the possibility that China might make such attempts of manipulation. There were incidents of psyops from China in the past.

But regardless, women should be trusted to make their own decisions.

What is your take on this theory? Would you get manipulated by such videos? Does China have the power to puppet an entire nation?

Let us know in the comments section below.