Female Students at Chinese College Not Down to Sign American-Style Abstinence Pledge

A Chinese college is facing backlash after requesting that female students sign a chastity pledge as part of a course called No Regrets Youth.

The pledge takes the form of a “commitment card,” which reads, “I promise to myself, my family, my friends, and my future spouse and children that I will refuse all kinds of premarital intercourse before I step into a lifelong monogamous marriage.” Beneath the pledge is a space in which to sign one’s name.

The BBC reports:

While there have been complaints from students at the college itself – which isn’t named in the report – there has been a huge online response, with many social media users criticising the college for using an “outdated” approach. “It’s hard to imagine that this would brazenly appear at a college in the 21st Century,” writes on person on the Sina Weibo microblog site.

“Whether or not to have premarital sex is for adults to choose as they please,” says another user. “Why should anybody promise? For a university to do this is really unsettling.”

Others seem to have no problem with the pledge itself, but object to the fact that male students aren’t required to sign it. “This is a simply wonderful provision, but why does it not include boys?” asks one person. Another says: “Men should sign – isn’t this sexist?”

The BBC also issued the sickest burn disguised as straight news reporting:

“While abstinence pledges have existed in U.S. colleges since the mid-1990s, they’re very rare in China.”