Baidu users object to Women’s Day logo

Sunday was International Women’s Day, designated by the United Nations and recognized by many governments around the world as a time to celebrate women. But how exactly should women be celebrated?

刚过去的周日是国际妇女节，这是一个联合国确立、很多国家政府予以承认的女性的节日。但人们应该以什么方式向女性表达祝贺呢？

Baidu, a Chinese search engine, featured on its home page a princess doll twirling on top of a music box surrounded by jewelry and other accessories.

中国搜索引擎公司百度在它的首页上呈现了一个在音乐盒上旋转的小公主玩偶的形象，周围环绕着首饰等物件。

Chinese social media exploded with criticism that Baidu was trivializing women.

中国社交媒体上立刻爆发了对百度歧视女性的指责。

“Baidu’s Women’s Day logo made me sick,” a user with the handle Ru Qing Ru Xiao posted on Sina Weibo.

“百度搜索妇女节的logo成功恶心到我了，”一位网名叫如卿汝笑的用户在新浪微博上说。

“The Chinese still see women as an ornament, a Barbie doll, an easily manipulated windup toy,” the user added. “This is what a happy woman should look like in the eyes of many.”

“中国还真就是把女人当个观赏的玩意儿，一个音乐芭比娃娃，被人控制，周围都是鲜花珠宝，这就是某些人眼里幸福女人应该的样子，”她写道。

Another Weibo user wrote: “Baidu and Google have demonstrated two opposite understandings of what this day means. I’m with Google.”

另一个网友说：“今天百度和谷歌分别给我们展示了这个日子正反两个含义。我比较认同谷歌。”

Some interpreted it more benignly, noting that as the figurine spins in Baidu’s animated illustration, it transforms from a teenage girl to a bride and then a mother, as the items encircling her change from lipstick to jewelry and then to a stroller and a milk bottle.

也有人给出了比较正面的解读，他们指出，百度动态图上的小人一边旋转，一边从小女孩变成新娘，又变成母亲；她周围的物品也从口红变成首饰，又变成婴儿推车和奶瓶。

Baidu’s communications officer, Kaiser Kuo, said by email that the design “was by no means intended to objectify women or to encourage materialism or consumerism.”

百度媒体总监郭怡广在电子邮件中说这个设计本意“绝非物化女性，或鼓励物质主义或消费主义”。

He wrote: “Baidu is a company that employs roughly 100 women for every 108 men — a ratio that compares favorably not only with other tech companies in China, but globally. Every day we celebrate the accomplishments of women in their careers.”

他写道：“百度公司雇员的男女比例是100名女性比108名男性——这不仅优于国内科技公司，在全球范围内也是很好的。每天，我们都在宣扬女性在职场中的成就。”

Mr. Kuo said the artist who conceived Baidu’s illustration for Women’s Day was a woman who was inspired by “the music boxes she loved as a child.”

郭怡广说，百度聘请的插画师也是女性，她设计妇女节图标的灵感来自“她小时候特别喜爱的八音盒”。

The illustrator, Y. Nana, had not responded by Monday to a request for comment. On her Weibo account she wrote: “My idea was simple: for all women to relax and think about their innocent dreams and a carefree life, if only for one day. Even women astronauts grew up loving dolls, right?”

这位名叫Y. Nana的插画师周一时没有回复采访请求。她在微博上说：“我想法很简单，就是希望整天忙碌辛苦的女人们可以暂时放下家庭，责任和各种社会压力，想想那些属于自己的纯真梦想和快乐人生。我想就算女科学家女宇航员，也喜欢过洋娃娃吧。”