China education: school under fire after teacher tells girls to have a ‘clean heart and body’ and boys to be ‘real men’ and not effeminate
- A teacher who has a reputation for giving speeches about sexuality and purity is at the centre of a fresh controversy at a Beijing secondary school
- At one point the teacher told female students: ‘lust is the worst vice. Who is responsible for this sin? You are just ruining yourself’
A speech at a Beijing secondary school telling girls to have “a clean heart and a clean body”, while boys should curb their effeminate side has triggered controversy in China.
The speech was made by a female teacher surnamed Suo and was addressed to eighth grade students at Beijing Haidian Experimental Middle School, the Chutian Metropolis News reported.
Earlier this week the school released excerpts of Suo’s “growing-up classes” speech which was delivered to male and female students separately. For boys, the topic of her speech was to be the master of one’s fate and to be a real man; for girls, the topic was to cultivate a noble personality.
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“Girls, you should have dignity and cherish yourself. If you wear little clothes or short skirts on the street, by exposing arms, legs or even navels, boys will develop evil thoughts,” Suo said in front of hundreds of female students.
“Lust is the worst vice. Who is responsible for this sin? You are just ruining yourself,” she said.
Suo said girls should have a “cotton-like” character, work diligently, be quiet and spend less.
“Girls, you should act like cotton, clean and gentle, and keep yourself as pure as jade. You should have a clean heart and a clean body.”
Suo said a noble personality means to be respected and liked by others, according to the news report.
In a separate speech to male students, Suo said everyone was born with both masculine and feminine traits.
