30 Chinese female stars over 30 are making waves in China.

邓晶 供稿

Idol survival shows are flourishing in China, as the public enjoys “producing” an idol group by choosing members from a pool of trainees. A recent girl group knockout reality show swaps teens and twenty-somethings for a cast of mid-career female celebrities who are all over the age of 30, with the eldest contestant aged 52.

偶像选秀节目在中国掀起热潮，大众热衷于选拔成员、“养成”偶像团体。最近，一个淘汰制女团真人秀却将出演者从十几二十几的练习生换成了30岁以上的“中生代”女明星，其中年龄最大的选手已经52岁。

Chengfengpolang De Jiejie, or “Sisters Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves” in English, is produced by Mango TV, a streaming site backed by Hunan Satellite TV. The contestants, namely “sisters”, are all established and familiar names from different backgrounds. Within three-months training, they will sharpen their vocal and dance prowess and battle it out to secure a spot in a five-member female group. 

《乘风破浪的姐姐》由湖南卫视旗下的流媒体网站芒果TV制作。参赛者，也就是“姐姐们”背景各异，但都具有一定的知名度。在为期三个月的训练中，她们将提高声乐和舞蹈能力，并为在五人女团中获取一席之地而战。

The heated discussion online mainly centers around aging and ageism. In the notoriously ageist entertainment industry, female celebrities often confront the stigma that comes with age and suffer from the lack of job opportunities as they get older. The reality show instead offers the band of entertainment industry "has-beens" a stage where they can step back into the spotlight and “transcend time and reinvent themselves” as the show's manifesto-like preamble says. 

网上围绕年龄变老和年龄歧视展开了热烈讨论。在充斥着年龄歧视的娱乐产业中，女艺人常常要面对因年龄增长而带来的困境，工作机会也逐渐减少。相反，这个真人秀节目为娱乐圈的“过气”明星们提供了一个舞台，让她们可以回到聚光灯下，正像节目宣言所说的那样“超越时间，重塑自我”。

While the reality show is widely applauded as a riposte to the society's rampant youth-obsessed pop culture, some viewers complain their aging anxiety has gotten worse after watching the show. It disturbs some viewers when the “sisters” in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s are still commended by some audience members and media for looking young as in their 20s. "My heart quivered as I heard 50-year-old Christy Chung say she still feels as young as 20 physically and would always be 18 at heart," reads a Weibo post by Tang Shuang, a senior fashion editor of Vogue China. She argues that "the show actually points out the predicament faced by women — a woman's actual age is neither acceptable for the public nor for herself."

虽然该真人秀作为对当今社会盛行的青春流行文化的一种反击而广受好评，，但也有观众抱怨，在观看节目后，他们的年龄焦虑变得更加严重。因为一些观众和媒体称赞30+、40+甚至50+的“姐姐们”看起来和20多岁一样年轻，这让他们感到反感。《Vogue》中国版的高级时装编辑唐霜在微博上发文称，“看到乘风破浪的姐姐里50＋的钟丽缇说自己状态永远22岁，心理永远18岁时，我心里真的发颤”。她认为这个节目“实际上更强化了女性的困境：真实的年龄状态是不被接受的。不被大众接受，也不被女性自己所接受。”

To what degree the “sisters” will challenge discriminatory attitudes regarding age and gender remains to be seen. Whether Sisters Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves can give rise to a continuing conversation over gender stereotypes and help spark real changes, but it’s certainly off to an interesting start.

“姐姐们”将在多大程度上挑战社会对女性年龄和性别的歧视还有待观察。然而，不管能否引发针对性别成见的持续性讨论，能否带来真正的改变，《乘风破浪的姐姐》无疑是一个有趣的开始。

knockout n. 淘汰赛

prowess n. 技艺

riposte n. 还击

rampant adj. 泛滥的