BEIJING - Chinese comedian Xiao Pa has drawn on a difficult childhood with a father who married repeatedly to tackle painful experiences through stand-up comedy.
"My father used up our family's entire marriage quota. He got married six or seven times," the 34-year-old Uyghur comedian joked on a competitive comedy show last year.
"I'd come home and find a woman I'd never seen before, and I'd get so nervous I'd ask, 'Are you my new mom?'"
Xiao Pa shot to fame with routines that used dark humor to revisit childhood trauma and poke fun at the absurdities of a male-dominated society, part of a wave of female stand-up comedians winning audiences in China by tackling subjects ranging from marriage and divorce to domestic violence and gender inequality.
Armed with little more than a microphone and their own experiences, the women are turning some of life's hardships into comedy, striking a chord with female audiences who see their own frustrations reflected on stage.
Stand-up comedy, known in Chinese as tuokouxiu -- a phonetic adaptation of the English term "talk show" -- has become hugely popular among younger Chinese, with female performers making particularly notable strides in recent years.
They come from a wide range of backgrounds. One woman in her 50s from a rural area found huge success with routines about her husband's violence and their eventual divorce. Another performer is a former flight attendant.
Drawing heavily on their own lives, the comedians deliver biting observations on China's deeply rooted patriarchy and gender issues, giving voice to frustrations that women have often kept to themselves and drawing thunderous applause from audiences.
"Women finally have a voice," female fans have said.
But not everyone is laughing. Some male viewers have accused the comedians of "stirring up conflict between men and women," reflecting the sensitivities surrounding public discussion of gender issues in China.
Female employment is high and women have made advances in Chinese society, but a gender gap remains, particularly in politics, where there are no women in the country's top leadership.
The growing popularity of female stand-up also comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping's leadership grapples with the country's accelerating population decline and aging.
With more young people reluctant to marry or have children due to economic burdens and other factors, the leadership has condemned the growing "no-marriage, no-child" sentiment as an "undesirable value" and tightened controls on related public discourse.
Feminist movements have also come under increased scrutiny from authorities, who view them as a potential source of social unrest.
That increasingly sensitive environment is beginning to cast a shadow over the comedy scene.
In February, Xiao Pa posted on social media about falling ill and spending two days in bed with a fever.
"If I'd had a husband and children, I would still have had to cook for them," she wrote.
Chinese media reported that her account was suspended over the post, which was accused of fueling tensions between men and women and discouraging marriage and childbirth. Her activities then stopped for several months.
The move prompted a backlash online, with some users arguing that restricting such comments did little to address the inequalities that had prompted them in the first place.
"Gender inequality in society and at home is the real cause of conflict between men and women," one user commented.
"This just makes me want to get married even less," another said.
The controversy highlights a tension in China's efforts to promote "positive views on marriage and child-rearing" and roll out measures aimed at encouraging people to have children while also curbing negative discourse surrounding marriage and family life.
For some women, however, the problem is not what comedians and others are saying about marriage but the conditions that have given rise to their jokes.
"It seems contradictory to pressure people to marry and have children without first addressing gender discrimination," said a Beijing office worker in her 30s.
