On April 20, 2000, Yeh Yung-chih, a 15-year-old student in Taiwan, was found injured in a pool of blood inside a school toilet. He was sent to hospital but died the following day. His death was ruled an accident. Later it emerged that Yeh had endured years of school bullying for his perceived effeminate behaviour. His mother claims her appeals to end the bullying were ignored by school officials. Discussions about pressure to conform to gender stereotypes flared again in 2020 when reports surfaced that Taiwanese schoolboys were refusing to wear pink surgical face masks because they didn’t want to be mocked, prompting male health officials to don them at a press conference and declare that no colour is exclusive to girls or boys. Taiwanese artist Chen Han-sheng says he was shocked and saddened by these incidents, and he can empathise because he was considered effeminate by his classmates. . @MOHW_Taiwan Minister Chen took time out from the regular #Coronavirus briefing to discuss the relevance of his pink medical mask. The big takeaway: No color is exclusive to girls or boys. #GenderEquality lies at the heart of #Taiwan values. pic.twitter.com/jTrsyC8FDf — 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MOFA_Taiwan) April 13, 2020 “When I was studying in middle school, I was also teased by my classmates, so I think I can understand what he [Yeh] encountered,” says Chen. To pay homage to Yeh and others who have endured gender discrimination, Chen created When I Was A Child, a mixed-media installation that also resonates with concerns about a call for boys and men in China to be “less sissy” which has had fatal consequences . Hong Kong firms under pressure to improve gender diversity in boardrooms His work is part of the “Women: From Her to Here” exhibition at WMA Space in Hong Kong’s Central district. The exhibition – in collaboration with the San Francisco Chinese Culture Centre – focuses on the issues of feminism, gender diversity and sexual equality. “Because of Yeh Yung-chih’s death, Taiwan made changes to gender equality laws,” says Chen, referring to the enactment in 2004 of the Gender Equity Education Act. “Despite this, many young students still encounter unequal treatment because of their gender temperament.” Also part of the exhibition is Madeleine Lim’s 1997 documentary Sambal Belacan in San Francisco, which explores the struggles of three lesbians from Singapore who emigrated to America to find a sense of belonging in their new home. Lim herself left Singapore for San Francisco because of the city’s strict censorship laws. Well received in the US, the film was banned in Singapore a year after its release, its frank depictions of nationality, race, and sexuality proving too much for the city state’s censors. A small but progressive step was taken in 2020, however, when the Singaporean government allowed a one-off screening of the film at the Singapore International Film Festival. In mixed-media installation Suits and Corsages , artist Huang Meng-wen explores not just her own gender journey but the broader queer history in her native Taiwan. Huang’s research led her to the Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou, a group of rebellious gender dissidents of the 1950s who wore suits to express their sexual orientation. Apart from wearing trousers as a declaration of their gender identity, Wen says their exquisitely tailored suits also showed that these women were in control of their own finances, she says. Despite this, Wen says they had to abide by certain social rules. “Their story ended up being brilliant yet regretful.” Hong Kong visual artist Nicole Pun’s photo series In & Out , which focuses on women’s hands and their role in intimacy, is also included in the exhibition, as is Ever Wanting (for Margaret Chung) , a film by US artist Tina Takemoto that explores the complicated life of San Francisco’s first Chinese-American female doctor, Margaret Chung (1889-1959). “Women: From Her to Here”, WMA Space, 8/F, Chun Wo Commercial Centre, Wing Wo Street, Central. By appointment only. For details visit wma.hk