On 21 April 2016, students of the Sociology of Law Course had a special class: They went on a trip to the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing with Professor Zheng Yongliu. As the saying goes, “It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books””. However, Professor Zheng believes that learning does complement travelling to provide a clear vision of the world. Or rather to say, a close contact with nature can broaden students’ horizon, free the mind, and make discussions more active and more productive.

（The picture shows students discussing in the Olympian Lake）

The theme of this course was Cultural Feminism. The three student speakers had prepared printed course materials for each student for reading. Their speeches were delivered in three parts. The first part was about the historical development of the Cultural Feminism, the second part explained the female image described by the Cultural Feminism, the last part dealt with  the legal theory of the Cultural Feminist.

（The picture shows the speakers, from left to right, Liu Xiao, Wu Tong, Xu Hua）

Xu Hua made the general introduction on the historical development of Cultural Feminism. He explained that during the historical evolution, early Cultural Feminists’ views had been gradually amended and supplemented, being designed to emphasize the integration of female characteristics into a social reform, which aimed at the creation of a new society full of love, kindness, mutual aid and other female characteristics. The position of the Cultural Feminists is to uphold respect and tolerance of gender differences, but at the same time to systematically correct the discrimination against the interests, needs and qualities of women.

Wu Tong made a comparison between the desired image of women and the criticized image of women. The former is reflected in the social rights’ movement, freedom of love and sexuality, a right of birth control and other rights, when the latter included some women’s over-reliance on men, being imprisoned at home or imitation of male.

Liu Xiao held a speech about the formation and the theoretical framework of Cultural Feminist Jurisprudence --- the "people in networks" instead of "the rational man", stressing that the legal system should reflect the female characteristics and set a correct and equal foundation, by means of redefining the relationship between the government and the individuals and emphasizing the special protection of women which the legal system should stipulate.

(The picture shows Professor Zheng discussing with students)

Under the guidance of Professor Zheng, students asked the speakers questions about what they had said and had a vivid discussion with each other. When asked about the causes of gender differences, students expressed two different opinions, some insisted that it is caused by the innate physiological difference while others believed it is formed by society. Professor Zheng pointed out that although the gender difference is related to human’s physiological structure, it has been shaped and widened in social development. This is not a True of False question, but a question of how to face up to the link between these two factors and make use of this link. The discussion also related to the differences between the Cultural Feminist approach and the Freedom Feminist approach, the reason why it is named as "cultural feminism" and other issues. From this trip, students learned a lot and had an impressive experience in the Olympic Forest Park.

Article and photos by Chen Lingyu (CESL Master’s Student from the 2015 intake)