Here is her new dialogue column, "Gentlewomen, Step Forward."
Each issue will focus on a woman or group of working women, chronicling how they step by step from the shadows to the spotlight and her swings at every intersection. How she took a "step forward" and ushered in what kind of transformation she ushered in, until she came to you and me.
I hope that the stories, reflections and expressions of these women can enrich our thinking dimension and give millions of women the courage to take a step forward.
"Gentlewomen take a step forward", from here, from now on.
Today is the 9th issue.
This time, we invited the host and media person Yang Lan.
Executive Producer - Her Sister
Author - granular ann
On March 18, 1996, the headline in the financial section of The New York Times read: At 27, a Talk Star Sets Out to Transform Chinese TV.
This host refers to Yang Lan.
That year, she graduated from Columbia University, and photos of her long hair and fluttering hair appeared in the newspapers, with a bright smile on her face, and seemed to have some confidence to return to China to start a career.
From the original "Zhengda Variety Show", to the later "Interview with Yang Lan", "Women of the World" and "Hello! Big Girl", Yang Lan, as a woman, recorded a changing era and became a widely known female role model.
Not long ago, her sister met Yang Lan and had a conversation with her.
But she said to me:
"I'm not a role model, I'm already quite tired just being myself."
It's not too late
If you talk about intellectual women, many people will think of Yang Lan for the first time.
In that era when information was not yet developed, Yang Lan could freely talk with heads of state and business leaders in front of the camera, talking about current affairs, economy, and cultural changes.
This image of an intellectual woman has become the collective memory of a generation of television.
And the story of Yang Lan and TV starts from "Zhengda Variety Show", from which she set off, jumped, and then jumped into the torrent and boarded the train of China's TV golden thirty years.
In the winter of 1990, Yang Lan, who was about to graduate from Beijing Foreign Chinese College, came to CCTV to participate in the host selection of "Zhengda Variety Show".
The judges at the scene asked her directly and sharply: "Do you think you are beautiful?" ”
Yang Lan stood out for a witty answer: "I'm not beautiful, but I'm not ugly either." ”
This 22-year-old fledgling girl, who partnered Jiang Kun and became the first host of a variety show that was popular all over the country.
In the fourth year of joining "Zhengda Variety Show", Yang Lan won China's first "Golden Microphone Award", and everything went incredibly smoothly.
But those subtle things were wrong, only Yang Lan himself knew.
When she first started as a host, she found that female hosts were always supporting roles or assistants next to male hosts, and people always thought that female hosts were better at broadcasting, or hosting children's and life programs.
"I wanted to challenge it then. I think women also have their own ability to learn, think and professionally. ”
She was in her early twenties at the time, ambition and anxiety coexisted, and she was at odds with others.
The huge popularity is terrifying, and the source of all this seems to be the platform of CCTV, Yang Lan did not have enough confidence in his knowledge and ability at that time.
"There was a feeling of walking on thin ice."
This bowl of youth rice, if not put down at this time, may be increasingly "devalued" in the future, Yang Lan felt age anxiety for the first time.
So, she put down the work that everyone envied at hand, left CCTV, and went to study and study.
After graduating with straight honors and returning from school, Yang Lan let go of his hands and feet and did a big job.
Launched the interview program "Yang Lan Studio" (later known as "Yang Lan Interview"), talked to heads of state, and also talked freely with business elites such as Bill Gates and Buffett, with an audience of more than 300 million people around the world.
Founded Sunshine Media Group, entered the business world, produced many TV programs and documentaries, and wrote several best-selling books...
At the age of 30+, from a host to an all-round media person who is alone, Yang Lan does not have the panic of the past, she sees how she has come step by step, has succeeded in entrepreneurship and failed, experienced gains and losses early, and got the gift of life earlier.
This kind of experience, washed out by time and rich experience, coupled with sufficient knowledge reserves, shapes the Yang Lan we see today, confident, intellectual, and calm.
Now that Yang Lan is no longer young, she mentioned to me the oil poem she wrote when she was 50 years old:
"Life is a gift that should be celebrated. There are surprises every year, good and bad.
Success or failure of honor and disgrace is like a mirror, who can see clearly. The talent is like mountains and flowing water, and the packaging is often simple.
The so-called destiny is to go with the flow, follow the scale of the heart, time is easy to pass, only my true colors are the same! Youth is easy to age, only true feelings cannot be disappointed! ”
Maybe youth is gone, but maintaining the true color and true feelings is the most precious.
"I have traded my youth for a lot of wealth emotionally, intellectually, and cognitively of the world, and I think it is particularly worthwhile."
That girl who walked on thin ice in front of huge fame and fortune has gone through 30 years, passed many levels, and received many recognitions.
Today, from her knowledge to her career, Yang Lan is a well-known positive sample of women.
But she felt a little ashamed:
"I never wanted to be a role model for anyone, I wanted to be myself, like myself, believe in myself, and enjoy doing something."
Big girl, go everywhere
Many people say that Yang Lan has lived out the style of a big woman in this era.
Big ambition, big pace, big career, personally participated in many major events written into history.
This also confirms Yang Lan's cognition of current women:
Now, we can fully use "big" to describe women, bigger vision, bigger pattern, but also greater actions and responsibilities, they can boldly be themselves, stride around.
The aesthetic that requires women to be weak and submissive is outdated.
In the vast field of gender struggle, Yang Lan is present as a woman from beginning to end, seeing those discrimination, prejudice and inequality.
From the beginning as a female host to play a supporting role as a male host, to the later production of "Women in the World", observing this era from a female perspective, Yang Lan's female consciousness has long been germinated.
In "Women of the World" more than ten years ago, she interviewed the female designer of "Shen Qi", and also cared about the "ant tribe" girls who were trapped in life.
Tell women's stories, female power, regardless of high or low.
At the forum, she asked, "Why are women only asked 'how do you balance work and life?'" Male entrepreneurs should face the same problem."
About Yang Lan, many people will remember a classic picture.
At the 2001 Olympic bid in Moscow, Yang Lan made a cultural theme statement on behalf of China, and at the end she told a story:
"700 years ago, fascinated by Marco Polo's description of this distant land, people asked him, is your description of China true? Marco Polo replied: I have told you less than half of what I have seen!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to discover for yourself a real China. ”
That night, Beijing's Olympic bid was successful, and Yang Lan, as a woman, was written into history as a business card.
The year before last, Yang Lan wrote a book called "Big Girl", and last year, he made another show called "Hello! Big Girls" is an attempt to inspire more ordinary women with updated definitions and more unrestricted women.
The book "Big Girls" contains three parts:
Being: A firm self-identity that does not follow the crowd or be shaped according to the expectations of others.
Becoming: Women are constantly having room to grow and learn to realize more possibilities.
Belonging: Sisters support each other, girls help girls, we can all do better.
We can believe that this is the experience of people who came from her after she walked a path as a woman.
And she also knows that the opposite of women is never men, and women and men should stand in the same position to face outdated gender biases, she said to me:
"So my understanding of 'women's rights' is women's rights. Force is not the power of power, but the benefit of interests. ”
That curious yearning for the new world was buried in Yang Lan's pulse.
Gender will not be her limitation, she has been free to dance with the times and go to the new world.
Hers took a step forward
In recent years, Yang Lan has made many new moves.
Participated in "Talk Show Conference" and "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", did e-commerce live broadcasts, and updated new images on social media that were different from before.
The outside world has also wondered that Yang Lan seems to have stepped down from the "altar" and was stained with the fireworks of the world. To this, she replied:
"I'm a person who asks questions for a living, and I love to ask not only 'why' but also 'why not'. So something new came up, and I was quite impulsive to give it a try. ”
Curiosity about the world is the driving force behind Yang Lan's continuous strides.
She agrees with Romain Rolland's statement that "creation is true happiness", realizing value in creation and gaining a sense of existence.
Recently, Yang Lan participated as the initiator in a program called "New Life All Things", which is her new creation.
She admired the subtlety of those intangible cultural heritage skills, so she brought young and thoughtful designers to learn from the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage skills.
Together they learned about Fuchun tea, Bai tie-dye, bamboo weaving, Su embroidery, etc., observing the incredible pinnacle of craftsmanship, and re-examining the traditional and advanced oriental beauty and handmade beauty with today's eyes.
If the soul elements that have flowed in the tradition to this day can be integrated into the current way of life, it will produce new vitality.
How to pass on the renovation of ancient culture and how to chase the new trend of the times, Yang Lan is here and is running tirelessly.
As early as 2016, she made a documentary exploring artificial intelligence.
Next, she will be the person in charge of creating an immersive digital art space.
Yang Lan's surging curiosity did not diminish with age.
"How to use scientific and technological means, combined with artistic and cultural expressions, to create a unique media experience that belongs to this era is something I especially want to do."
She has always been the woman who boldly took a step forward, and experienced a wonderful half of her life in a non-stop pace.
Therefore, she has always encouraged women to take a step forward, not limited to the present, to expand new possibilities in life and see different landscapes.
She hopes that women will not demand perfection from themselves, "we don't need to live like others, we need to live what we want."
To read, to be wise, to make friends, to open up the world.
When I asked Yang Lan "what specific things women can do to take a step forward", she gave three succinct suggestions:
First, you need to have a room of your own.
This room is not an absolutely physical concept, but a spiritual space of its own. You must have your own opinions, have your own analysis and views on the problem, and do not follow the crowd.
Second, you always have to look at the world with fresh eyes.
As you learn to grow, your mindset, mindset, and body, will remain active, sharp, open, and young.
Third, have your girlfriend circle and social circle.
These friends will help you when you are helpless.
Yang Lan didn't want to be a beacon for anyone to look up to, and since having a daughter, this awareness has become even stronger.
She doesn't need her daughter to be "another Yang Lan", she has her own life to live.
So in the end, Yang Lan said to her sister and to all women:
"You don't need to have a rich background, you don't have to come from a solid family, reading and learning can change your destiny."
You don't have to know someone in a high position, you don't have to be presumptuous, rely on your own efforts, seize every opportunity, speak with your own strength, you will be seen and heard. ”
You see, Yang Lan came all the way, exactly like that.
And you can also stride out of your own future.