Author: ellesse
Layout: Belinda
Editor: Jianing
Issue summary
The virtual disturbance started with the People's Political Consultative Conference publishing an article claiming that independent women and the dink ideology, which is when couples choose to not have a baby, are NOT the mainstream value in China. The article proposed for women to conform to mainstream values, and for media attention to focus on the ideal of eugenics so as to convey that "unmarried infertility is mistake and eugenics is a responsibility". The article sacrificed women's rights and personal values to increase fertility rates. Historically, Chinese feminist critics denied that women should be equal with men and began to publicize women's physiological and sexual characteristics. The commercialization of women's sexual characteristics hence led to the glorification of the narrative that women should be housewives instead of pursuing their own careers.
Related issues around the world
China is not the only country that has been facing gender-related debates. For example, in Afghanistan, the Taliban has required female news reporters to cover their faces. Taliban officials announced earlier this month that all females are to cover their whole body from head to toe when they are in public. These requirements have resulted in protests from male news reporters, those that are fully aware of the importance of gender equality and respect towards the female gender, as they wore masks during reports. There is heavy resistance toward gender equity after the domination of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Despite the Taliban's actions receiving scrutiny internationally, there are no sights of improvement regarding gender inequality.
Another example is in India, where a 57-year-old woman has presented herself as male for the past 36 years after becoming a single mother. She was forced to disguise herself as a man to receive job opportunities and protect herself from sexual harassment. The Indian government's perspective regarding gender equality in the workforce is very supportive. Many organizations and laws, such as the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme for Children of Working Mothers, aim to support working mothers in the workforce.
While many individuals face gender discrimination, in the United States, the Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, which has resulted in broad debates and protests around the country regarding women's rights over the control of their bodies. Some state governments, such as Oklahoma and Louisiana, are trying to overturn this law while there are broad debates nation wise regarding the legalization of abortion. The final decision of the supreme court is yet to be determined.
From these examples, we can see that gender equality is a widely discussed and alarming topic all over the world. The issue of gender equality has often been brought up way back in history when theories and ideas blossomed.
Historical connections
If we want to discuss the development theory of women's social status, European and American history undoubtedly has an indelible influence on the development of women's rights. We cannot discuss the development of women's social status in China without looking at western history and the evolution of women's rights. Feminist movements could be divided into three stages:• The first wave from the late 18th century to the early 20th century• The second wave, from the late 1860s to the early 1980s
• The third wave, from the late 20th century to the present
Before talking about the waves of feminist movements, we need to look back at the ideology which has set a fundamental base for Chinese societal values from thousands of years ago – Confucianism. Confucius has always believed that though women and men are born equal and hold equal natural rights, they are meant to be assigned roles based on virtue and wisdom. The ideal position for women in society is to take care of large households. Men and women's contribution to society was recognized in the principle of yin and yang.
The male (yang) with its associated qualities is predominant. He has associations subtly considered superior to the female (ying) : hard versus soft, forceful v. submissive, level v. curved, light v. dark, rich v. poor, and so on. Therefore, women barely received social status in the early ages of China and have remained that way for nearly the entire Chinese history. Traditions such as foot binding also speak much to Chinese society, canonizing females as jasper, gentle and elegant instead of being independent and "yang". The promotion of women's rights and interests in China began with the introduction of Western culture. During the New Culture Movement, it called for the overthrow of Confucius' teaching and the introduction of Western ideologies, which promoted China's attention to women's rights and interests. This happened after the 18th century when the first wave of feminism occurred in Western countries. Before discussing it, it is necessary first to discuss the ideologies present in the 18th century.
The 18th century was when general public called for human rights and equality. The publishment of the Declaration of Independence clearly states that "all men are created equal". Yet women have received little attention. In 1792, British writer Mary Wollstonecraft formally proposed a declaration of action for women in her article, the Declaration of Women's Rights, demanding that women enjoy all the rights and freedoms enjoyed by men at that time. It carries out that have inalienable natural rights and that both sexes are free and have equal rights and opportunities, especially in the political, legal, military, economic, vocational, and educational fields. Hence, advocating for reforms that would enable both genders to enjoy equal rights in education, employment, and political opportunities by changing attitudes and laws that are unfair to women.
After looking at the first wave of feminism, let's focus on another critical time when feminist ideologies were fostered and formed. The Second World War allowed women to claim their right to work. When men had to leave their jobs to serve on the front lines, women filled gaps in the labor force, and women successfully took on jobs previously thought to be reserved for men. Women began to rethink their rights after World War II when women who had already been part of the workforce were pushed back into the home and made way for postwar men. With the cultural movement of the 1960s, the feminist movement rose again and reached the peak of the second wave of the feminist movement.
The feminist movement was mainly a rejection of laws against women, such as disputes over women's artificial property rights, and was characterized by mass demonstrations and political lobbying. Thus, the feminist movement has directly changed the daily life of western society. A group of scholars represented by The French philosopher Beauvoir established a more mature feminist theory. They found their real situation from the arrogant attitude of male radicals in the "New Left" movement. They realized that male chauvinism and the subservience of women were the root and archetype of social oppression, and therefore feminism had to make fundamental changes. They demanded women's sexual freedom, a free lifestyle of their satisfaction, wished to eradicate arranged marriages, and demanded autonomy over their bodies.
Prediction
All these historical events have affected the development and evolution of women's rights and interests in China. Chinese women are constantly pursuing economic, spiritual, and higher levels of independence. With the progress and advancement of China's gender concept, it is also evident that the Chinese government's overall resistance to western culture is gradually increasing. Not only resisting the general ideology and traditions such as Christmas or English Language but also consciously or unconsciously began to resist the idea of female independence. But at the same time, China's Constitution stipulates the importance of gender equality. With the advancement of the global society and the widespread use of social media, the concept of gender equity has been engraved in people's minds. Combining that with the response of Chinese people to the government's speech against independent women, Chinese people's awareness of gender equality should be developing in a positive direction. But that does not rule out the possibility of countries acting against gender equality to raise fertility rates and ban western culture. We can see that Confucianism ideologies are constantly being mentioned in public speeches. Thus we can try to alternate this situation by spreading public awareness regarding gender equity. /
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