For the purpose of this essay, we will ascribe to a conception of “progress” that promotes equality in the realms of education, occupational opportunity, independence, geographic and marital freedom, property rights, and reproductive rights. This is not the place to attempt to prove this ideological conception as objectively correct—these standards are the author’s personal metric, and will serve as one of many lenses through which one might examine the subtle nature of gender roles across different cultures.
Throughout the 20th century, gender equality increased significantly in China and remained relatively stagnant in India. This discrepancy, however, is not due to a greater opportunity for demand politics from women in China. Rather, women’s empowerment in China was a mere vehicle for economic production, a progressive transformation for the sake Maoist goals. India, on the other hand, was more concerned with “peaceful change” than revolution, and its parliamentary system did not, in actuality, promote or allow demand politics. Hence, women’s social roles stagnated. In both countries, modernization occurred with little regard for women, and their rights were further ignored in the reform periods and throughout liberalization. In both countries, the progress that occurred for women was either exclusively economic or exclusively motivated by economic goals, which left them with no basis for unity or demand politics in any realm but labor.
In Nehru’s India, women were victims of a “passive revolution” that subtly advanced bourgeoisie men of higher castes under a guise of parliamentary democracy. Though women have presided over the Indian National Congress, served as a prime minister, and represent a large part of India’s la...
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...le power to implement policy on the local level--the autonomic dominance of local leaders in rural areas allowed them to ignore things like social causes. Thus, throughout “revolution”, liberalization, and through the present, women have never been able to find unity or attain and utilize demand politics in India or China.
Works Cited:
Blecher, Marc. China Against The Tides: Restructuring through Revolution, Radicalism, and Reform. 3rd ed. New York: Continuum, 2010. Print.
Drèze, Jean, and Amartya Sen. "Gender Inequality and Women's Agency." India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Delhi: Oxford UP, 1995. Web.
Friedman, Sara L. "Women, Marriage and the State in Contemporary China." Chinese Society: Change, Conflict, and Resistance. Ed. Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.
The rise of nationalist movements and the modern nation-state has affected women’s political and economic participation and social freedoms. Based on the following documents, there were many opportunities and barriers that nationalist movements posed concerning women's rights in the twentieth century. Many women saw the opportunities of the movements accessible to women, but other women focused on the barriers and didn’t feel that the opportunities were accessible.
William Hinton, a US born member of a Chinese Communist land reform task force in 1948, noted that the peasants were challenging the landlords and money lenders in regards to overcharges and restoration of lands and property seized in default of debts (Doc 4). This was due to the newly found confidence in themselves through the defeat of the Japanese. Although Hinton was born into the communist party, his recount of the actions he saw concerning the peasants was simply from a look from the outside in. He personally did not experience this sudden upsurge of challenges, which gives the public a view of what the communist party thought of what looked like a move towards social equality. Although Hinton’s recount may not have been thoroughly verified, the communist party did indeed aid in fueling what was known as a struggle meeting, where Chinese peasants humiliated and tortured landlords, as seen in the picture, organized by the Communist Party as part of the land reform process, of a group of peasants at a meeting where in the center a woman is with her former landlord (Doc 7). Alongside the destruction of the landowning infrastructure that was previously followed, the Communist party also aided the peasants in a form of social reform. One important law that granted specifically women more freedom in their social life was the creation of the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China in 1950, where it states that the “supremacy of man over woman, and in disregard of the interest of the children, is abolished” (Doc 5). The newly introduced concepts of free choice in partners, abortion, and monogamy that derived from this law changed the societal position on women and peasants which greatly expresses the amount of new social mobility
Chen, Jo-shui. "Empress Wu and Proto-feminist Sentiments in T'ang China." In Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China, edited by Frederick P. Brandauer and Chün-chieh Huang. 77-116. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
In a village left behind as the rest of the China is progressing, the fate of women remains in the hands of men. Old customs and traditions reign supreme, not because it is believed such ways of life are best, but rather because they have worked for many years despite harsh conditions. In response to Brother Gu’s suggestion of joining communist South China’s progress, Cuiqiao’s widower father put it best: “Farmer’s have their own rules.”
A recurring theme one frequently comes across while reading The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is the role of women in the Chinese society. Women in this culture are silenced, slaves, and must obey men. In this society, men carry all the power and girls are raised to be slaves and wives. Women are not worth much and they are not equivalent to men.
The responsibility to solve the social inequality lies with everyone. Empowerment is a key aspect in not only raising awareness for women’s rights but allows those facing discrimination to fight for themselves. One way individuals and society as a whole can empower is through governmental activism. Legislation promoting equality, such as the Equal Pay Act, help women receive fair wages for equal work. Other laws that improve women’s rights are those abolishing arranged marriages. Fighting against arranged marriages solves other societal issues such as the fact “only 40 percent of Indian women can read, compared with 60 percent of men” (Kazmin).
The early part of the novel shows women’s place in Chinese culture. Women had no say or position in society. They were viewed as objects, and were used as concubines and treated with disparagement in society. The status of women’s social rank in the 20th century in China is a definite positive change. As the development of Communism continued, women were allowed to be involved in not only protests, but attended universities and more opportunities outside “house” work. Communism established gender equality and legimated free marriage, instead of concunbinage. Mao’s slogan, “Women hold half of the sky”, became extremely popular. Women did almost any job a man performed. Women were victims by being compared to objects and treated as sex slaves. This was compared to the human acts right, because it was an issue of inhumane treatment.
Across cultures, many times similarities lay within them that go unnoticed. It is true that obvious differences set them apart; but if a closer look is taken, it is surprising what can be found. The Chinese culture is obviously different from the American culture, but underneath the surface there are similarities. One of them is how the treatment of women has evolved and changed. Anti-feminism in China has been present since ancient times, and has just recently decreased. Anti-feminism in America has never been as severe as it was in China; however, instead of the value of women gradually increasing over the years - it has reversed. The value of women in America has decreased. There are many similarities between the ancient Chinese women and the modern women of America. Women in China and women in America have both gone through evolutions of how they are treated and looked upon; it is just that women in China have evolved, where the women of America have devolved.
The question posed is best explored through the lens of Modernization Theory, which partly originated with Lipset's 1959 formulation that the prospects for democracy to thrive within a country are directly correlated to its level of economic development. Przeworski has elucidated Lipset's theories as hypothesizing that economic affluence dovetails with democracy because wealth reduces the intensity of group or individual conflicts over the distribution of resources. Democracy – which through representative rule is perceived as the most egalitarian form of government – is widely taken to be the fundamental criterion of what makes a country or nation-state 'modern'. Lipset proposes that economic development sets off a series of profound social changes, such as increased urbanization, education and communication, that in turn precipitate larger middle classes and greater social equality. All of these elements combined, Lipset contends in his 1963 award-winning book, Political Man, provide the necessary framework for the emergence of democratic institutions. Today China maintains all such socio-economic elements. Thus, we are presented with a conundrum of sorts. Either we must construe that Modernization theory is dead, or according to its principles, that China’s democratization is latent, and will materialize at a later date.
Hairong, Y., (2008) New Masters, New Servants: Migration, Development, and Women Workers in China. (Duke University Press; Durham).
The declaration of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 by the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong signified a revolution in China that brought an end to the costliest civil war in Chinese history between the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that had lasted a period of 22 years from 1927 to 1949. The Chinese revolution of 1949 signified the beginning of an era of Communist Chinese rule ushered in by the popular Chinese Communist Party at the expense of the Nationalist Party. According to historian Michael Lestz, the Communist victory was an inevitability that was aided by the actions of the preceding Nationalist government (Lestz, 2010). Lestz states that the weakness and administration ineptitude displayed by the Nationalist Party in economic, military and civil affairs created an environment that was conducive for the Communist Party to prosper. Author John King elaborates that the Nationalist party did more to lose the peasants’ support than the Communist party did to gain the peasants’ favor (King, 2006). Therefore, this paper will focus on the failures of the Nationalist Party in the Civil War and World War II coupled with the consequences. It will compound the various issues that harbored the Nationalist Party such as corruption and the failure of the government to accommodate or abate Communist dissent. The paper will also cover the failed efforts by Nationalist Party to integrate Western policies into China.
Kazuko, Ono. "Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950." edited by Joshua A. Fogel, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
Exemplifying an institution like SEWA, Chanda argues that since women provide basic necessities in many households, therefore “hardest hit when development destroys or uses up scarce resources” (495), feminist needs are life-or-death. This possibility of life threatening scarcities consequently force women to collectivize in grass roots efforts to influence policy. These grass roots movements are based on the material realities of these women, a singular reality, a need for survival that unites women from different religions, tribes, castes, and socioeconomic classes (494). The fact that collective action is both a necessity of survival, and based on individual material realities, is something that development-strategists need take into account when attempting to empower women. Since trickle-down wealth failed (494), just as modernizing third world economy in reflection to how the west industrialized ignored the contesting realities of the third world infrastructure, attempting to empower women in the third-world identically to those in the west is equally irrational. As Chanda explains, third-world women can be empowered to collectivize and contest the patriarchal structural systems that suppress them, but not by trumpeting a humanist “human essence” (492) or
It is argued that societies who supports education for women are more prone to experience dramatic social progress. It is further explained that when women enters the workforce, they contribute to their countries' economic prospects, and this leads to their economic independence thus improve their stature both at home and in the community. According to the report, globalization is the 'antidote to the intolerant fundamentalism' that helps eliminate regressive taboos responsible for the promotion of gender discrimination. When discussing the impact of globalization on women, Subhalakshmi (2012) looked at women workers in India. She explained that globalization has opened up various employment opportunities for Indian women, hence increasing their purchasing power, self-confidence and independency. This, in turn, is seen as a potential way to increase equality between the sexes and afford women an equal stance in
Women's status in India has generally been poor since colonial times. Prithvi Nath Tikoo identifies that, "the treatment of Woman in ancient Indian culture was, however, different. Here the concept of male chauvinism did not start as early as it did in other countries. This sort of mentality took roots in this country (India) years after the Aryans came and settled here" (Tikoo, pg 5). Here it is identified that the maltreatment of...