by AUDRIE TAN
It’s been such a bleak month in news that even Wendi Murdoch’s pie antics seem worthy front-page fodder. Right up there with the recent Oslo bombing and shootings, starving children in Kenya, and of course, the News of the World scandal that continues to glut the headlines. I’d even go so far as to say it’s probably been the pinnacle of the silly season, which—thankfully—is coming to an end. While I think we can all agree that the NOTW/Murdoch scandals belonged where they belonged—in the news—the whole media-bred instant celebrity story should have never been allowed to leave the sidebar. And if you’ve been living under a rock, well, good for you. This is all you’ll need to know: Outraged protester sneaks into Parliament, attempts to cream Rupert Murdoch, owner of NOTW tabloid, with pie of shaving foam, but is dutifully stopped by Murdoch’s more youthful wife, Wendi, who defends him in a stunning display of martial prowess. The end.
But no, it’s not really the end. Because Wendi Murdoch also happens to be Wendi Deng, or more precisely, 邓文迪. You don’t have to be able to read to know it’s Chinese (or some derivative of er, Asian—if you think that’s a language). Perhaps that’s why I’m so shamelessly—and regrettably—drawn to her story, and why I feel it may have more bearing on this site, even though I just wrote it off as a sad excuse for a news story. There are generally two camps of people on the Wendi issue, which is, essentially—why did she do what she did at Parliament? Diplomats will say she is an ambitious woman. Others, less politic, think she’s nothing short of a golddigger. I reckon it all boils down to the same. There is, however, a slight difference in the use of ambitious, other than the obvious reasoning that it has a nicer ring to it. It’s a veiled remark, if you will. While not necessarily congratulatory, it leaves less of a bad taste than golddigger (which is quite blatantly derogatory).
When I lived in Shanghai, it seemed like all Chinese women—local and immigrant alike—were clamoring to marry any Caucasian male in sight (and there were many). The general consensus is that Caucasians are richer than all other expatriates, something I know now to be completely misconstrued. Often, these marriages have a short half-life. The generation gap, for instance, spans several decades. Then there’s the separate issue of cultural differences and divorce suits —a few months into married life, the glass seems more than half empty. In many of these relationships, the allure of the green card seems to be what really ties the knot. My mother has a name for these women—ambitious. She really means they are shrewd and cunning. But she also acknowledges that they are smart in this regard. There’s a systematic method to golddiggery: In fact, China has specialized schools instructing their girls on the art of cultivating ambition—or snagging rich men for husbands. It’s a lucrative business, because this is the definition of success to many modern Chinese women.
The Straits Times in Singapore (and many other major news outlets) recently launched a lengthy foray into Wendi Deng’s personal life, from the time she left China with an American couple, married the husband and got a green card, to her stint at Yale and later “fortuitous” encounter with Rupert Murdoch, who divorced his second wife to marry Deng. The story sounds all too familiar. When news broke of Deng’s athletic skills and wifely instincts in the pie episode, few wondered at why she did what she did. “PR” and “money” emerged as common themes in the discussion. These are fair enough assumptions, given Murdoch owns a multi-billionaire dollar empire. But Deng has her supporters, who give her names like “Super Wife” and “Wendi to the Rescue”. In China, she’s hailed as the new national role model for “boosting the image of Chinese wives”.
When news of that caliber reaches fan-club status, it’s gone awry. See, my beef with women like Wendi Deng isn’t her affinity for older men, or her pie-foiling skills, or even her instant celebrity status. It’s more an issue of conscience and scruple: How is she, a high-profile Chinese woman, representing the Asian community through her actions? (She is, without a doubt, an incredibly accomplished woman. But this doesn’t detract from the fact that she’s practically bulldozed her way to the top.) I wonder if this episode has really served to boost the image of Chinese women, or has it simply furthered the stereotype that all Chinese are morally incontinent golddiggers? Perhaps more importantly, what will her two young children with Murdoch, Grace and Chloe, think of their mother when they are old enough to understand? Will they, like many of Deng’s cheerleaders, embrace her success and ambition—or will they, having read the reports, see her as little more than a serial homewrecker?
Watch video of pie shenanigans at Parliament, July 19.
Photo: The New Yorker
Awesome post
I love it!