A Chinese professor has made the headlines for the wrong reason, following his sexist blog post that detailed his crude methods of assessing female applicants for a news broadcasting graduate school based on physical appearance.
Shanghaiist reported that Qiao Mu, a former assistant professor at the news broadcasting school of Beijing Foreign Studies University, cited his decade-long experience in interviewing graduate school applicants for his chauvinist assessment of female candidates.
One such instance involved Qiao's lewd description of a female applicant having a large set of breasts made more obvious by a plunging V-neck top. He claimed in his blog that he first checks out the breasts and face of the females he interviews before ogling over the rest of their bodies.
Qiao's candid account on his sexist actions obviously drew pandemonium among Chinese netizens, with many of them questioning his professionalism over his raunchy interviewing criteria. Others, however, downplayed the remarks, justifying the importance of physical appearance in news broadcasting.
Sought for comment, the university released an official statement indicating that they are currently investigating the matter. They added that Qiao has since been dispensed of professorial tasks, having been relegated to library work following an offense he committed back in 2014.
Sixth Tone reported that Qiao intended his controversial blog post to be viewed in a casual manner, saying that he didn't claim his personal practices to be the standard fare for interviewing. He added that he treated every female candidate he interviewed with "utmost compassion and respect."
Qiao's attempt to make light of the situation went further by explaining that he wrote his account in a "fun, Web-friendly" manner. Such candor, however, does no help in efforts to crack down on sexism in several of China's professional settings.
Yibada previously reported about sexist acts committed at an annual division party in Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, best known for its online messaging service WeChat. Footage of the party depicted kneeling female staff as they try to pry open with their mouths bottles fitted in between men's crotches.
Although Tencent has since apologized for the incident, such reflects the continuing permeation of sexist attitudes in China's workplaces. Qiao's vulgar claims on conducting admission work implies that even the academe is affected by these flagrantly bigoted attitudes.