Gender debate: boy in China wearing skirt to school starts national conversation about male and female roles
- A father’s decision to allow his 7-year-old boy to wear a skirt to school has been met with mixed reactions both at school and online
- Experts say gender identity is a very controversial issue in China, with many claiming gender identities that vary from the traditional are a Western import
When a 7-year-old boy said he wanted to wear a skirt to school “because it’s breezy and pretty”, his parents weren’t too surprised. They went to the mall with their son, who then picked out a blue skirt.
But when his father wrote about the experience on social media, it sparked a discussion about gender-neutral education in China.
The father, a 31-year-old stay-home dad in Beijing who called himself Haixing, wrote on question and answer website Zhihu last month about his son’s experience.
“My wife and I were fully prepared for what we’re facing today, and admired our son’s courage because he knows girls wear skirts,” the father wrote.
But as their son entered the school’s gates, he was met with surprise from the security guard and some teachers, who pointed at him and said, “Isn’t that … a skirt?”