Long overdue appeal against discrimination

The comedy sketch 'Joy Street'in the 2015 Chinese Spring Festival Gala sparks claims of discrimination against women.

Quoting an "emergency consultation" by concerned viewers, the letter said the show on "at least 44" occasions demonstrated barefaced discrimination against certain groups, including single women of marriageable age and women of "manly" manners, short people, southerners, stay-at-home moms, domestic workers and senior citizens, among others.

Besides asking the Administration to stop reruns of some of the problematic content, and CCTV to openly apologize, the protesters urged the former to act and root out any discrimination based on gender, region, age, stature and disabilities in China's media.

That it was only 25 people, most of whom described themselves as feminists, who found the show offensive and protested does not render their concerns unworthy.

On the contrary, it is an essential topic that has been ignored for far too long because of our collective insensitivity.

We applaud the protesters for making such a long overdue wake-up call. We in particular admire their endeavor to remind the authorities of what they have committed to regarding non-discrimination.

No matter whether they are willing to meet the protesters' demands, both the Administration and CCTV should review the Beijing Declaration of the Fourth World Women's Conference, held in 1995, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and General Principles of the Civil Law, and do some serious soul-searching.

It would be a shame if political correctness in this country does not incorporate respect for dignity of its citizens.