Liberation of Gender and Sex in Soochow University, Aimed at Campus Diversity

When it comes to gender and sex, there is still discrimination and misunderstanding in the society. Gender equality has become a social issue that more and more people pay attention to for over half a century. In order to help students gain a deeper understanding of this issue, the first Gender Week at Soochow University was officially held from April 27 to May 15 in 2015 by the 25th Student Association of the Social Work Department, Nan-Rung Club, Comrade Association, Vaulting Horse Club, and Human Rights Program jointly.

During the Gender Week, plenty of lectures were given on issues such as homosexuality, AIDS, and sex. "The purpose of holding this series of activities is to deepen people’s understanding of these controversial issues and help them think about these issues from different perspectives,” said one of the organizers, Chen-An Chou, who was a third-year student in the Social Work Department. "By doing so, we could raise people’s consciousness of gender and explore new gender issues. This will bring more gender diversity to Soochow University.

The first lecture of the Gender Week was "Exciting Home Party World” in April 29th in Building C Room 110 on Main Campus. The lecturer was Professor Dao-Quan Zhong in the Social Work Department. People generally consider that a home party involves certain risks and hold negative views about it. Dispelling the general public’s myth and misunderstanding about home parties, Professor Zhong shared the thoughts and narratives of home party participants and discussed the locations, types, risks safety issues, and drugs of home parties. Moreover, after the lecture, there were free tests for HIV and syphilis provided by Taipei City Hospital KunMing Branch. To ensure anonymity, people could call the hospital the next day to get the test results.

There was "Gender Revolution History Memorial wall” on exhibition from May 4th to May 8th in the gallery on Main Campus, presenting ten historical moments in gender history since the 20th century. The exhibition not only introduced significant events and related developments of gender equality but also recorded people’s struggle for their rights in recent history. During the Gender Week, in many places at Soochow University, students could get condoms and related pamphlets for free that could help them stay away from diseases and protect both themselves and their lovers. Gender equality is more of an attitude that should be put into practice in daily life than a slogan. Issues about gender equality is everywhere in our lives. As long as we are willing to make some changes by ourselves, gender equality will have a better future.