Strangle it is typical of Ling Jian's bold, beautiful, and highly sexualized exploration of the notion of the ‘Communist sister'. On the one hand, the gagging of the mouth addresses the repression of the political voice, and on the other, the bloated lips suggest a suppressed feminine sexuality. Strangle it typifies Ling Jian's masterful depiction of the feminine as an expression of his own discontent with the effect Communism has had on China both culturally and politically.