{"id":229189,"date":"2021-03-10T18:22:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T02:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=229189"},"modified":"2022-09-09T18:20:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T01:20:28","slug":"on-international-womens-day-students-reject-girls-day-as-women-fight-sexism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/03\/on-international-womens-day-students-reject-girls-day-as-women-fight-sexism\/","title":{"rendered":"On International Women’s Day, Students Reject \u201cGirl\u2019s Day\u201d as Women Fight Sexism"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Chinese college campuses, International Women\u2019s Day is preceded by \u201cGirl\u2019s Day,\u201d a recent invention that often degrades the students it purports to honor. On March 7, male students hang banners around campus, many of which propagate sexist stereotypes about their female classmates.\u00a0At Sixth Tone, Zhang Wanqing reported on female student\u2019s drive to abolish the unofficial holiday<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

The backlash continued this year. Joanne, the Beijing student, designed two posters that read \u201cInstead of perfume and lipstick, we prefer equality, freedom, independence, and respect\u201d and \u201cRefuse the trap of consumerism, say no to age discrimination, and give this day back to women.\u201d She shared them on microblogging platform Weibo in a post that has since gone viral.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cMany people think those of us who oppose Girls\u2019 Day are too extreme, and that the original intention of Girls\u2019 Day is good \u2014 but is it really?\u201d Joanne said. \u201cThis kind of deviation from the real Women\u2019s Day isn\u2019t just about age-shaming. It\u2019s also an insult to the women\u2019s rights pioneers who fought hard for equal pay, equal work, and abortion rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Together with Joanne, many other young women from domestic universities have joined the campaign to reclaim Women\u2019s Day in China. On social platform Douban, a female student shared a picture of an artificial \u201cgraffiti wall\u201d on campus that had been covered in slogans decrying the country\u2019s patriarchal order. Another student said several sexist banners at a different school had been reported to administrators and replaced with a more suitable message. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At VICE News, Viola Zhou wrote about a clutch of sexist banners displayed at the elite Tsinghua University that went viral on Weibo<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI fail at doing an analysis into your attractiveness,\u201d says a banner from Tsinghua University\u2019s civil engineering majors.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cWomen\u2019s Day is for commemorating women\u2019s protests for equal pay, not for men to express their lust,\u201d said the most liked comment under Tsinghua University\u2019s Girls\u2019 Day post.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Over the weekend, some female college students put up their own banners against Girls\u2019 Day, carrying slogans such as \u201csay no to age-shaming\u201d and \u201csmash the patriarchy,\u201d according to photos posted online.[Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Worth noting that almost every student @WanqingZhang65<\/a> spoke to for this story did not want to be identified by name, for fear of reprisals from their university.<\/p>\n

— David Paulk \u6ce2\u5927\u536b (@davidpaulk) March 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n