Lecture sparks debate on 'traditional feminine values'
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Over the past two weeks, the discussion of traditional feminine values has become a heated topic on China's social networks, with major attention paid to a lecture on traditional culture that netizens slammed as retrogressive.
Ding Xuan, a lecturer from the China Women's United Foundation and vice-chairwoman of the Hebei Provincial Traditional Culture Studies Association, gave a speech recently at Jiujiang University titled "How to be a Model Woman in the New Era."
Her words, however, astonished many internet users because of the obvious discrimination against women and ignorance of common sense in science.
In a video that was shared online, Ding says:
"Women wear sexy dresses in order to attract men's attention. Such women will bring bad luck to their parents and children, and are prone to sickness, tragedy, infertility and sexual abuse. They will also trigger natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis."
"When a man beats his wife, she should endure it in silence, and those who are beaten often are less likely to fall ill".
An online search showed zero results for an organization called "China Women's United Foundation". Using Ding's name in a search with the official website of the Hebei association also brought zero results.
The university said in an online statement on May 24 that Ding was invited to give a lecture to strengthen students' sense of responsibility to pass on the country's fine cultural traditions. The lecture was held on the Mother's Day, which fell on May 14, to encourage female students to become good wives and mothers in the future.
Internet users don't agree with Ding's opinions. Some said that equality of men and women is achieved through generations of effort, and few people would like to live in a family like the one described by Ding.
"Men and women currently enjoy equal status in a marriage, so that men will take care of their wives, and a couple share family duties and build their family into an ideal one in their mind with their joint efforts," said Wu Xiaoyue, a 30-year-old married woman in Shanghai.
Lin Zi, vice-chairwoman of the Shanghai Psychological Counseling Association, said Ding's sensational remarks reminded people that when passing traditional culture to people of the current generation, it needs to be fine-tuned with the development of the times.
One of Ding's most controversial claims was "a woman's best dowry is her virginity."
"The part shocks me the most is that even in modern China, society's preference for virgins persists, which I believe is a sign of retrogression," Sina Weibo user xiaoxuem commented.
The hit Chinese TV show Ode to Joy, which follows the lives of five young women living in Shanghai, touched on this topic recently, when a main character's fiancée broke off their engagement when he found out she had had sex before.
Some believe this is a clear example of a sexist double standard.
"Many young men are hypocritical as they embrace sexual liberation for themselves but insist their partners must have remained celibate," said Peng Xiaohui, a sexology professor at Wuhan's Central China Normal University.
Source: ChinaDaily, Global Times
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