An absurd incident has emerged at Tongji University in Shanghai, where a female student was required to remove her pants for an examination related to menstrual pain. (Video screenshot)
[People News] A female student at the Jiading campus of Tongji University recently applied for sick leave due to severe menstrual pain, only to be told by the campus doctor that she must 'remove her pants for examination' in order to receive a sick note. The revelation of this incident quickly ignited a wave of public outrage, bringing to light the deep-seated contradictions between 'privacy rights and medical self-certification' within the university's sick leave policy, while also stirring heavy memories of historical violations of women's dignity.
1. Why is 'removing pants for verification' required for menstrual pain leave?
Reports from 'Fast Technology' and 'Qianjiang Video' indicate that a female student at Tongji University's Jiading campus posted about the school's requirement for a sick note from the campus hospital for menstrual pain leave. However, when she sought medical assistance while enduring severe pain, the campus doctor insisted that she must 'remove her pants for examination' before he would issue the sick note.
In response, a staff member from the Tongji University hospital explained that severe menstrual pain typically warrants 1 to 2 days of sick leave, but whether a pants-off examination is necessary 'depends on the doctor's judgment based on the specific situation.' A gynecological examination may be conducted if needed to confirm whether the patient is menstruating or to rule out other conditions.
This 'medical explanation' did little to quell the outrage. Netizens pointed out that a visual inspection after removing pants can only confirm 'bleeding' and cannot assess 'how much pain' is being experienced. This practice essentially presumes that students are 'faking illness to deceive' and imposes a presumption of guilt on all, forcing everyone to endure the invasion of their privacy and humiliation due to the actions of a very small number of individuals who may commit fraud.
In fact, such incidents are not isolated. In May 2025, a report emerged from Gengdan College at Beijing University of Technology, where a female student was asked to remove her pants for an examination when she requested leave due to her menstrual period. The school even stated that 'basically all female students on their period need to do this.' As of now, Tongji University has not released an official statement.
2. Chinese netizens react strongly: Forcing students to attend classes while sick
In response to the school's strict checks, Chinese netizens and university students have engaged in lively discussions.
Many netizens have sarcastically questioned: 'If I take leave for a stomachache, does the doctor need to put their hand or an endoscope into my stomach to check?' and 'If I take leave for a migraine, do I need to have my skull opened for inspection?'
Students have criticized the administration for treating them as 'lazy,' arguing that the cumbersome and humiliating examination procedures effectively force students to attend classes while sick, achieving the goal of 'punitive obstruction of leave requests.'
Numerous professionals have pointed out that diagnosing dysmenorrhea primarily relies on medical history and ultrasound; visually inspecting by having students remove their pants is completely disconnected from modern medical practices and serves merely as a form of anti-fraud check.
Online public opinion strongly advocates for universities to adopt corporate practices by establishing a fixed monthly quota of 'physiological leave' that does not require a diagnosis, thereby granting women basic trust and dignity.
3. From the 'Great Leap Forward' to modern campuses
The incident at Tongji University also brings to mind the tragic experiences of rural women during the Great Leap Forward period (around 1958-1960). At that time, under political slogans like 'Women can hold up half the sky' and 'Equal pay for equal work,' many women were compelled to engage in high-intensity labor such as water conservancy construction and deep plowing, completely disregarding their physiological needs and suffering.
Oral histories and research records indicate that, during that period, grassroots officials were extremely stringent in their scrutiny of menstrual leave to prevent women from 'slacking off and skipping work.' Some team leaders and inspectors even forced menstruating women to 'take off their pants for a blood test,' and in some cases, male leaders would reach into women's pants to check for blood, approving leave only with a smirk upon confirming it.
Many women were compelled to dig mud and carry heavy loads in cold ponds during their menstrual and pregnancy periods, working just as hard as men, which resulted in severe long-term consequences such as uterine prolapse and habitual miscarriages.
Under the oppressive pressure of totalitarianism, women's physiological privacy was drastically violated, leading to significant exploitation and harm to the female population. The excessive concentration of power stemming from the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian regime has also resulted in a rise in incidents of sexual harassment and personal violations.
From the crude 'pants-off blood test' conducted by grassroots officials during the Great Leap Forward to the contemporary 'pants-off fake leave note' disguised in professional attire at universities, the intersection of history and reality reveals a consistent truth: under the communist authoritarian regime, citizens' personal safety and individual rights can be stripped away at any moment.
(First published in People News)
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