After discussing the Letter from Feng Yen to his Brother-in-Law, it led me to wonder what the history of gender equality has been in China. The letter exemplified many ways that men and women were not considered equal in ancient times:
- The man mentions he has several “concubines” and that was permitted, but the woman was not allowed to do the same.
- The man speaks in a vulgar tone about his wife. He is saying she is lazy I would not call a woman lazy who takes care of five children and a husband.
- The husband draws a parallel between the tyrant Jie of Xia, who is traditionally regarded as the one who caused the collapse of a dynasty.
When researching the history of gender equality in China, it was evident that the movement for gender equality in China has had many obstacles with the male-dominated Chinese society. Arranged marriages were a common custom in the Chinese culture. In China, this was a woman given to a man. Not until 1950 were women in China allowed to initiate divorce. The Chinese Marriage Law of 2001 offered mediation services and compensation for couples that suffer from domestic violence issue.
There continues to be a significant gap between males and females in the level of education. There are significantly less women who finish primary and secondary school than men. Healthcare has mostly been focused on men as well. The leading cancer for women in China is cervical cancer, which can be detected through a routine check-up.
The One-Child Policy, which was relaxed in 2015, allowed each married couple to have one child. Many married couples wanted to have a son, which stimulated an influx of sex selective abortion. Males were thought to be of greater value to a family.
Although many people think poorly of sweatshops and poor labor conditions in China, it has empowered women to be able to work in these types of roles. As of 2017, about 92% of married women were employed. Although there are still traditionally feminine jobs in China, much of this is due to the education gap that still exists.
There is a history of foot binding, trafficking, prostitution, lack of ability to own property, low participation of women in politics, and many other indications that women are not valued as highly as men in China. It is evident that gender equality is still a work in progress for women in China, although the mistreatment is not nearly as significant as in ancient times.
The source I utilized for this blog post can be accessed here.