Naomi Wu, a Chinese woman also known as SexyCyborg on many social media sites including Reddit and Twitter, is a maker celebrity, a subculture that combines the tech-based DIY and hacker cultures. Most makers are males living in the west. Wu stands out among them for three reasons:

1. Her look. Wu is a pretty girl, and she is open about the fact that she has had plastic surgery. Many call her a “Reddit bombshell” because of her active participation on Reddit.com and sometimes-provocative outfits (nudity warning).
2. Her creativity. Wu is also a serious maker—someone who can tweak, hack, and bend technology to her will. She has created some really cool stuff such as 3D-printed platform heels and a Wearable Fiber Optic Implant Trans-illumination. In some of her Reddit and YouTube postings, she demonstrates how she builds something from beginning to end.
3. Her location. Wu lives in China, a country that is often known for tech copycats rather than creators and innovators. Wu represents a new generation of Chinese who are eager to be creative and different.

For these reasons, Wu is often the target of online harassment. She has also been featured in western media, such as Forbes, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times. But since spring of this year, Wu has been engaged in a nasty dispute with Vice magazine, which did a feature article about Wu.

According to Wu’s account, prior to the Vice interview, she “exchanged several emails with Vice magazine making it clear what the scope of the article would be. The key points being no discussion of sexual orientation or my relationships.” Wu also said she didn’t want to discuss the harassment she received online.

In addition, she reminded the Vice reporters that fighting for sexual equality and inclusion in China carries certain risks, so the reporters need to be careful what they write about her. The email exchanges Wu provided show Vice agreed to her request. To Wu, these emails served as an agreement. Vice disagreed.

In its final published version, Vice touched on a few topics that Wu isn’t comfortable talking about publicly, including her relationship status and the rumor that a white man is the real brain behind her creativity. The article also mentioned that Wu uses an illegal virtual private network, or VPN, to open accounts with western social media sites banned by the Chinese government such as Twitter and YouTube, and gets paid by mostly western fans:

Wu’s fans are passionate in their fandom. Hundreds of them sponsor her