A new video series called ‘Manchester Nightlife’ has gone viral on TikTok with over 6.8m likes – and it needs to be called out for misogyny.
The videos in question film women, mostly from Manchester, on nights out. TikTok user @dinamimi59, also known as Walking in China, has amassed over 350,000 followers for its content. The account began by filming ‘Chinese nightlife’, and has now moved to the UK and focuses on northern cities. The hundreds of videos on the profile all have one thing in common: they focus on women – who look like they have absolutely not consented to being filmed. The TikTok user – who is understood to be a man – films women in groups, enjoying themselves, drinking and partying; they film women alone, sitting on curbs, eating chips or texting.
After watching a lot of these videos and reading thousands of comments, it seems like the camera is hidden or shot with a long lens from afar – as most of the women are unaware of its presence. A woman who was featured in one of @dinamimi59's videos said: “I was in this video, and I did not see the camera. I find it so strange."
Amy Adams has appeared in two of the videos, and told her TikTok followers: “I have to talk about this account because it's so creepy, and this is the second video I have been in of ‘Waking in China’.”
“All of the girls in this video are being recorded without their consent. It’s basically this guy who records girls on nights out in Manchester and then uploads it to TikTok for all of his followers to see, and these videos get loads of views as well, but I think the whole premise of the account is so disgusting as well, because he puts it as like ‘nightlife in Manchester’ when in reality it's just some guy recording young girls on a night out,” she explained.
“Do men not also go out in Manchester? Are men not a huge part of nightlife, too?”
Amy went on to say: “I think you may argue that recording in public it's legal, there's nothing wrong with it, just because it isn't wrong doesn't make it right… If you actually go onto the videos and then you look through the comments, this is what I find the most disgusting: it's loads of men in the comments saying stuff like, ‘With what they’re wearing, they're asking for it'”.
“[It's] basically objectifying and sexualising these women in these videos, and what that does, it's creating this community of misogynistic men who basically have the ideology that a woman will get harassed, and it's her fault because of what she's wearing. When in reality, it's never anyone's fault because of what they're wearing,” she argued.
The videos have gained even more attention in the last few days, with a tweet going viral on X, currently on 37.6m views. Ian Miles Cheong posted it with the caption, “Manchester nightlife. Why do so many young women do this to themselves?” A lot of people, myself included, were confused with this framing and considered it sexist. What exactly is it that these women are doing to themselves? Having fun? Wearing makeup? Getting dressed up?
“It's plain to see that these videos exist to sexualise young girls while humiliating and mocking them.”
Carol Vorderman replied to the tweet echoing this sentiment, saying: “What? Dress up as they wish and have a great night out being independent. Why do so many midlife men practise misogynistic attacks against women they don't know? Could it be they feel threatened?”
The videos themselves are voyeuristic and creepy, but it's the reactions to them that I find even more troubling. After sifting through thousands of comments, I was struck by how many were misogynistic. A large majority shame the women, asking “how much” and talking about red light districts. One user commented, “How much do they cost?” – it had over 500 likes. This is layered; not only is it clear these men dehumanise sex workers, but they also assume women who wear short clothing are sex workers and see that as an open invitation to objectify them.
The pretence that these videos show nightlife is part of the reason I think these videos have been allowed to exist and stay platformed, since the person behind them edits and films in an almost documentary style. These videos are not educational, and this user is not journalistic – if they were, where are all the men? Do men not also go out in Manchester? Are men not a huge part of nightlife, too? No, it's plain to see that these videos exist to sexualise young girls while humiliating and mocking them. For what? Simply existing, having fun and slaying.
Young girls and women do not exist for the entertainment of men. We do not go on nights out to be consumed as content. The idea that women wear certain clothing or go to bars for attention from men is an outdated, insidious and pervasive falsity that society perpetuates.
GLAMOUR has contacted Walking in China for comment.
For more from Freelance Journalist Chloe Laws, follow her @chloegracelaws.
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