WHILE IT'S HOT · NO.011 · 2026-08-04
#momo大军 “the momo army” — 180M reads · 23K comments
Why millions of Chinese women online all call themselves momo
A pink dinosaur avatar, one shared name, millions of women hiding in plain sight. The anonymity trick that says everything about what it costs to speak up online.
What happened
Open any comment section on Xiaohongshu and you’ll meet momo — the same pink dinosaur avatar, the same name, thousands of times over. It isn’t one person. It’s a shared mask.
What they’re saying
[AUTHOR TO WRITE: translated comments from momos on why they wear the mask.]
What I see
[AUTHOR TO WRITE: what a million women choosing the same name says about speaking as a woman on the Chinese internet.]