Social and Cultural Changes - Changing Status Of Women Flashcards
Mao’s personal views on the status of women
• Mao said women ‘hold up half the sky’
• the communist party called women ‘an indispensable force in defeating the enemy and building a new China’
Traditional attitudes to women
• women forced into arranged marriages
• those married into wealthy families had to share husband with concubines
• women forced to marry to provide children for new husbands
Foot binding
• girl would often have her feet bound at age 6
• prevented feet from growing normally
• small feet were seen as beautiful and sexually appealing
• significant proportion of Han Chinese practiced foot binding despite its ban in 1911
Traditional attitudes to marriage
• marrying off a girl could be an economic burden as families were inclined to giving a dowry
• desperate families resorted to infanticide to escape the burden of raising a girl
• marriages seen as very transactional
• husbands treated wives as private property
• wives expected to be subservient
Attitudes of mothers-in-law
• wives also subservient to mother in law
• mothers very jealous of sons wife - could be spiteful
• wives given most backbreaking chores
Traditional educational opportunities
• girls not provided with educational opportunities
• no incentive as parents wouldn’t receive economic benefit
• 45.2% males and 2.2% females had received schooling
The 1950 New marriage law
• women received legal equality - could hold property or seek divorce
• paying of dowries or bride-prices for as forbidden - age of marriage 18
• marriages could not result from coercion
• By 1966-76 organised marriage had dropped to 0.8%
Problems with the new marriage law
• Led to rocketing divorce rates - 1.4 million petitions filed in 1953
• widespread violence broke out as people attempted to reclaim divorced wives
• many cadres refused to uphold the law in local areas as they feared unrest
• traditional Muslim communities in Xinjiang refused to challenge long-held customs
The impact of collectivisation and communes on women
• the GLF called for the utilisation of women as productive labour
• Mao claimed enabling women to work would lead to ‘liberation through labour’
• those who matched men referred to as ‘iron women’
• childcare was to be centralised and food prep alleviated by communal canteens
Creation of Kindergartens
• mothers distressed by leaving there children at communal kindergarten - could be separated for weeks
• housed in ramshackle buildings
• poorly trained staff
• standard of care was low - disease
• in one kindergarten 90% children got sick
Communal canteens
• aimed to release women from responsibility of feeding family
• food allocated on basis of amount of physical labour performed - women likely to receive less than men
• when food ran low women often neglected
Abuse and discrimination
• mothers forced to work throughout pregnancy leading to miscarriage
• as families separated women became victims of advances from cadres
• one secretary investigated for raping 27 women
• in Hunan factory bosses forced females to work naked
Despair
• as famine spread many women forced into sex work for food
• suicide rates increased
The Women’s Association
• central committee committed to a genuine role for the association
• 40,000 staff in 83 cities
• official membership of 76 million
• set up educational and practical training for women
• provided a platform for women to be involved in political activism
The work points system
• women still received less ‘work points’ than men regardless of productivity or skill
• realities of physical strength meant women were limited
• provided disincentive for women to offer their labour and led to reversion to more traditional roles
