Since 2020, university students across China have launched a grassroots initiative to combat menstrual stigma by placing “menstrual pad mutual aid boxes” in campus restrooms. These boxes, often accompanied by signs reading “Take one if you need it, donate if you can,” provide free sanitary pads to anyone caught off guard by their period—offering both practical relief and a symbolic challenge to the cultural silence surrounding menstruation.
In her 2021 graduation project from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Chinese performance artist Zou Yaqi staged a provocative social experiment titled “21-Day Survival Challenge.” For three weeks, Zou assumed the persona of a wealthy socialite, using counterfeit luxury items, strategic self-presentation, and social engineering to access elite spaces in Beijing—such as five-star hotel lobbies, first-class airport lounges, and high-end restaurants
Rooted in decades of grassroots organizing, the cannabis reform activism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is one of the longest-running student-led efforts for marijuana legalization in the United States. Led by the Cannabis Education Coalition (CEC), founded in 1991, this movement combined cultural celebration with political advocacy, using public festivals like Extravaganja to destigmatize cannabis and promote drug policy education.
