In recent years, China’s LGBTQ+ community has been swept up in the Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression. In May 2023, a well known LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Beijing announced it was closing due to “unavoidable” circumstances. Last February, two university students filed a lawsuit against the education ministry after they were punished for distributing rainbow flags on campus.
Yup, most of the world has gendered clothing. But this is China, where for decades they rejected that. Their school uniforms still rejects gendered clothing.
https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/chinese-school-uniforms-korean-students-jealous/
It’s only relatively recently come back from Western fashion.
They’re literally trying to fight against what your talking about to such a degree that even your normal concept of gendered clothing is different. And I know that’s hard to wrap your head around, but that’s exactly why I’m saying, it’s not exactly what you think.
*Edit: Let’s look at this from another angle. China has been trying to enforce gender neutral ideas for some time, like gender neutral clothing. All this push for gender equality has lead China to become the home to the most female billionaires in the world.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/wu-yajun-china-has-two-thirds-of-worlds-self-made-women-billionaires-meet-the-richest-8296901.html
The Chinese government is 25% female.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/239113/sshare-of-women-in-chinese-national-parliament/
So it’s in China’s position that while not great now, by constantly pushing gender neutral laws and trying to prevent sex being displayed in public, they’ll create equality.
As you point out though, that often leads to oppression and other terrible side effects.
I’m saying, I do not believe i personally understand the situation enough to make a judgement call. I just want people to be aware of what’s actually happening and not that it’s some kind of governmental anti-LGBTQ+ push. It’s China trying to be China for better or worse.