by Colette Hsu
2021 FJU Feminine Week is an annual event that promotes feminism and gender equality on campus. 2021 marked the third FJU Feminine Week, to be held from May 17 to 21 at Fenghua Square and LW214 in Fu Jen Catholic University, but canceled three days before its start date due to COVID-19. Two years ago, sisters Sabrina and Angela Ou, noticed that FJU did not have platforms for students to discuss feminist and gender equality issues. With the help of volunteers, they founded this event to advocate for feminist goals and encourage people to care about gender issues on campus.
Fembooks, the first feminist bookstore in Taiwan, photograph by Colette Hsu
Jasmine Wu, the leader of this year’s event and junior student in the Department of French Literature, has been a member of this organization since her first year. “I was very interested in feminism, and I was always willing to observe and discuss the problems of gender inequalities and discrimination,” she said. “One day, I saw recruiting information on Feminine Week, and I decided to join without any hesitation.”
Though this year was the third inauguration of FJU Feminine Week, it was to be only the second time a physical event was held. Due to the impact of COVID-19, Feminine Week was suspended last year. Instead, the event organizers recorded and uploaded videos of book recommendations and short speeches on social media. Apart from Wu, most of the staff members this year were newcomers.
Featuring keynote speeches and an outdoor book fair as the two main activities of the whole event are becoming a tradition of FJU Feminine Week, but the organizer always tries to make each year slightly different from the previous one. For the book fair, they cooperated with Fembooks, the first feminist bookstore in Taiwan. The owner of the bookstore also provided several suggestions on choosing books.
The central theme this year was, “The Manifesto of ‘Herselves’” (她們的自主宣言), aiming for participants to focus on bodily integrity, self-independence, and self-identification as a woman. For the keynote speeches, the organizers invited female influencers, including Noah and Yue-Yue (酒與妹仔), hostesses in a nightclub who share their experiences about their work online to challenge the negative stereotypes on working at a nightclub; Ann (安安), a trans woman and a YouTuber who demystifies gender identity and being a trans on her channel; and Chih-Yu Liu (劉芷妤), the author of a best-selling book, Goddess’ Buffet (女神自助餐), which is about the struggles of modern Taiwanese women with misogyny in daily life, just to name a few.
Though this year was the third inauguration of FJU Feminine Week, it was to be only the second time a physical event was held. Due to the impact of COVID-19, Feminine Week was suspended last year. Instead, the event organizers recorded and uploaded videos of book recommendations and short speeches on social media. Apart from Wu, most of the staff members this year were newcomers.
Featuring keynote speeches and an outdoor book fair as the two main activities of the whole event are becoming a tradition of FJU Feminine Week, but the organizer always tries to make each year slightly different from the previous one. For the book fair, they cooperated with Fembooks, the first feminist bookstore in Taiwan. The owner of the bookstore also provided several suggestions on choosing books.
The central theme this year was, “The Manifesto of ‘Herselves’” (她們的自主宣言), aiming for participants to focus on bodily integrity, self-independence, and self-identification as a woman. For the keynote speeches, the organizers invited female influencers, including Noah and Yue-Yue (酒與妹仔), hostesses in a nightclub who share their experiences about their work online to challenge the negative stereotypes on working at a nightclub; Ann (安安), a trans woman and a YouTuber who demystifies gender identity and being a trans on her channel; and Chih-Yu Liu (劉芷妤), the author of a best-selling book, Goddess’ Buffet (女神自助餐), which is about the struggles of modern Taiwanese women with misogyny in daily life, just to name a few.
Jasmine Wu, the leader of 2021 FJU Feminine Week, provided by FJU Feminine Week
In the second decade of the 21st century, even though Taiwan was ranked No. 6 in the world for gender equality last year (Focus Taiwan), not all people of different genders are fairly treated. “Many people nowadays have a myth that the issue of sexism has already improved, and now it has become a society of gender equality. Obviously, this is not true because there are still many cases caused by inequality and discrimination against women or members of the LGBTQ+ community that need to be worked on,” said Tingyi Mo, one of the new members of Feminine Week.
Mo said, “Though inequalities and discriminations nowadays are difficult to reduce in a short time, FJU Feminine Week provides a chance for students on campus to gain a basic understanding of feminism and become aware of some gender issues. Hence, it can be a seed to sow in their minds to discover more from now on.” Meanwhile, Mo hoped she could improve herself and share her thoughts on social issues by discussing with other members who share similar goals such as the desire to create a gender-equal world.
Despite that the annual FJU Feminine Week suspended again due to the local outbreak of COVID-19, the staff still hope that the spirit of their event will motivate people to realize the importance of bodily integrity, independence, and self-identification of women as well as all human beings.
Mo said, “Though inequalities and discriminations nowadays are difficult to reduce in a short time, FJU Feminine Week provides a chance for students on campus to gain a basic understanding of feminism and become aware of some gender issues. Hence, it can be a seed to sow in their minds to discover more from now on.” Meanwhile, Mo hoped she could improve herself and share her thoughts on social issues by discussing with other members who share similar goals such as the desire to create a gender-equal world.
Despite that the annual FJU Feminine Week suspended again due to the local outbreak of COVID-19, the staff still hope that the spirit of their event will motivate people to realize the importance of bodily integrity, independence, and self-identification of women as well as all human beings.