Three experts on gender and sexuality in modern China presented their research and campaign work at a panel discussion on November 8. Drs. Yang Shen, Minjie Chen and Ying Xin (Iron) talked about online dating, sex education for youth, and the LGBTQ issues in China.
Ying Xin (Iron), Executive director of Beijing LGBT Center, talked about the LGBT community in China and introduced the term SOGIE to the audience - Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression. Ms. Xin discussed attitudes towards the three and she had an important message to the students and faculty members in the audience to “do more research!”. She talked about how the fields of SOGIE studies are shrinking. “If we don’t have research, how can we convince the government that LGBT issues are important,” she said.
Yang Shen, PhD., London School of Economics, presented her research on dating preferences of online daters in Shanghai. She said that young “Chinese daters are caught between tradition and modernity.” Arranged dates by a matchmaker – like their parents - are still popular in China, but young people also want a more Westernized type of relationship that focuses on romanticism and companionship.
Minjie Chen, PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, talked about the differences between theory and practice of sex education for youth during the Republic of China. Ms. Chen also talked about sexual education in contemporary China, mentioning a progressive 2010 report teaching children of all ages how to identify body parts and protect themselves against predators.