The Women in China: History, Role and Changes in This 21st Century

When it comes to discussing the manners and customs that dominated in China in the past century, numerous topics appear. Thanks to the numerous written testimonies, we can almost reconstruct the life and experiences of people in ancient China. Of course, many of the practices described are not only interesting, but surprising. In this paper I am going to take a closer look at the status of women in ancient Chinese family.

Because of his efforts and the ripple-effect they created, Chinese women, who make up 49 percent of the Chinese population and 46 percent of the labor force, have obtained a higher proportion of management than women in many Western countries (Hu). While those who possess anti- communist sentiment continue to focus on societal restrictions, it is more important to recognize the benefits of the ideological underpinnings on which communism was founded and enabled to strive for equality so quickly. The newly established Constitution of the PRC and the Marriage Reform Law swiftly demolished China’s strict social structures and allowed women to escape traditional mentalities (Hu). In doing so, unprecedented progress in achieving equality was made under the communist reign, faster and more efficiently than can be touted by even today’s most democratic and free

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

Women have had changing roles in every society for centuries. Depending on the country, some women have had a harder time achieving equality. One of these countries is China. These women have faced such obstacles as foot binding to concubines. Until the twentieth century women were not considered equals in their society.

China is an ancient civilization, patriarchal society, and an extremely large country. Why is China significant in our society? According to the Asia society, the article stated, “more than 1 billion people live in China” (Zimmerman, 2015). The role of women in China has changed drastically at the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911, and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The transition of the women’s role was from enslavement and oppression in ancient China, to one of egalitarianism in modern communist China. Chinese women lived with rules by Confucius in his analects for two thousand years. The Confucius doctrine mentioned women were not equal to men because women were inadequate of an academic education. Throughout ancient

The idea of feminism has not always been common. The term “feminism” wasn’t introduced until the 1970s. This shows how society didn’t allow anything that had to due with everyone being equal because of the standards that society constructed. In all the versions of Mulan, I think that Disney’s Mulan was the most strict on her having Ancient China’s role of being a woman. This would be having kids, helping clean around the house and not working for money, but working for her husband and kids. In Disney’s Mulan, her family is more hard on her to be a lady and for her to be the proper role of a women. This is because they went to a “matchmaker” to find her husband, and after saving everyone several times, she was still looked down upon because she was a woman.

During the Qing Dynasty Chinese women roles were more restricted than they had been during the earlier dynasties. According to Women in World history in the 19th China followed the Neo-Confucian or Confucian gender norms. These norms emphasized the family as the primary social unit and supported the dominance of women. Within the Chinese family structure, “one’s position in the hierarchy is determined rank and responsibility. Daughters were expected to obey their parent’s authority, assist their mothers in domestic tasks, and, in wealthier families learn how read and write.” History reflects during the Qing Dynasty the image of foot binding played such a crucial and significant role in gender and social change amongst Chinese women, where

After marriage, women were to take the husband's ancestors as hers. Thus, a marriage had a purpose of continuing the ancestral line and raising the status of the family.

In the nineteenth century, the marriages were arranged by the parents. The parents would arrange the marriages by wealth. The women and men do not have the chance to start the relationship as friendship or girlfriend and boyfriend, so they are able to see if they love each other. Instead they go straight into man and wife, they do not have the love for each other until later on in the relationship. Once the women get married their wealth also belongs to the husband. If the women worked later in the marriage, the earning she received will belong to her husband. The women do not have a say in their marriage. The women do as their husband tells them. The husbands had the control over the wives. The man had the power in everything the wife did

Across all cultures, women face barriers that cause them to have unequal representation in the society. In modern day China, women are dealing with the repercussions from thousands of years in a society dominated by men. Women in China have been fighting for equal representation in aspects such as education, work, marriage, and family. This leaves us wondering, how are women, in modern day china equally represented in the society, specifically in marriage and family life?

A Man’s World Between the times of 618 AD and 907 AD women were overall treated as though they were worth less than men. Women were not only responsible for their own lives, they had to take care of and please the males around them. Some females were able to gain respect and influence, however most lived in their male counterparts’ shadows. During the Tang dynasty, women were held to a double standard, as seen through the unfair expectations set for them in the household and positions of power.

Women Roles in Ancient China Men once were head of the household and had complete control of their wifes. They had to face discrimination which included being horribly treated and embarrassed throughout all stages of life before men anywhere. Throughout most of the past women have always aimed for an identified place in society. Women's main roles were the birth givers, cooking meals for their families, and other household duties while the men went out and did hard labor to provide for their families.

The freedom of marriage and divorce have discoursed on women during May Fourth Movement and New Culture Movement. “Many May Fourth writers focused on what they considered the miserable condition of women in family life, which condemned many young women to wither away within traditional Chinese elite families due to loveless arranged marriages.” (Cong 186). May Fourth Movement criticized the arrange marriages and other traditions. After People Republic China established, Chinese government issued the New Marriage Law in 1950. “In 1980, the first amendment to the Marriage Law was issued. Incompatibility was written into the articles of the new Marriage Law” (China Daily). The Second Marriage Law introduced liberalized divorce and property distribution

The May 4th Movement, comprising mainly young students protest against the treatment of China under the Treaty of Versailles. The movement is often regarded as a significant intellectual turning point for the nation. The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist, cultural and political movement growing of the student demonstrations in Beijing, Tiananmen Square on May 4th, 1919, protesting against Chinese government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. May fourth movement allowed the Chinese people and especially women to take a stand for their beliefs. They advocated equal right for women and condemned old customs such as foot-binding, arranged marriage, and prostitution. Majority of Chinese women were living in ignorance, prejudice

In 1915, the New Culture Movement was initiated, being accompanied by the ideas mainly aimed at criticising the Confucian traditional values in China, and also approaching a more modern and western mindset. In 1919, a mass protest of over 6000 students was conducted to rebel against the signing of the Versailles Treaty, which would hand over Chinese territorial rights from the Germans to the Japanese and this movement later became known as the May Fourth Movement. One of the significant leaders of this movement who made great contribution, was Lu Xun. As it was mentioned by the professor during the class, it is quite of an unquestionable fact that Lu Xun was a highly influential writer of the New Culture Generation. He often discussed many