AI meets feminism
Liu Siyi's innovative website combines her expertise in gender studies with AI technology to create a comprehensive and accessible resource for Gen Z exploring feminism and gender issues.
Intimate relationships, menstrual stigma, and sexual harassment — these are gender-related issues that many women encounter during their lives. However, when they seek to gain a better understanding of feminism and gender studies, it's easy to feel lost due to the limited resources or guidance available.
These were the same challenges faced by Liu Siyi, a 24-year-old from Pu'er in Southwest China's Yunnan province, who is currently pursuing a master's degree in Media and Gender at the Communication University of China in Beijing.
Drawing on her personal experiences and academic knowledge, Liu decided to combine her interests in gender issues with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create a feminist website.
Titled "Gen Z x Gender Exploration Guide", the website gathers over 200 high-quality resources, including podcasts, movies, books, music, video games, academic papers, communities, and organizations.
It even features a custom-built ChatGPT — Gender Study Helper — designed by Liu herself to provide easy-to-understand introductory guides on gender topics.
Liu describes the website as "a manual on gender and feminism", structured with young people's preferences and learning paths in mind.
According to her, many people encounter the concept of feminism through everyday gender-related topics or trending social issues, so she places this content at the beginning of the website.
Following this, she recommends various gender-friendly media works popular among Gen Z. Finally, she introduces serious scholars and academic research.
Liu explained that most feminist classics were written many years ago, which is why beginners, especially young people, find it hard to relate to or apply them without a contemporary connection.
"Feminism is crucial, but it needs people to keep it vibrant and relevant to the times," she said. "You need to find ways to connect what you care about with the present era."
