User:Mobinwang/Feminism in China

Feminism in China emerged with the political reform movement in the mid-1890s. And it began with the conditions of Chinese women and their hindrance to China's progress, and protested against traditional Chinese patriarchy. With the social and political landscape it emerged from, China’s feminism and its movement have experienced various incarnations.

History

In matriarchal China

In matrilineal China, similar to the Mosuo who live in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in China, women suffered little gender oppression. Women can retain their surnames and even pass them on to their children. In addition, the marriage system in matrilineal societies is also different. Men of all ages can marry women of all ages, and they lived in a society where every woman was either a mother, sister, aunt, daughter, etc. And this system applied to men as well at that time.

From Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty (206 BC-1912)

At this time, Chinese women under the patriarchal system were severely oppressed due to the profound influence of Confucianism and filial piety. During this period, literature about women emerged in China, such as "Mother of Mencius", "The Analects of Women", etc., explaining to women at the time how to be ethical and popularizing the best way of serving parents, husbands and sons in a woman's life. It is also mentioned in the Book of Changes that female and male are represented yin and yang polarities, male represent yang, and women represent yin. Although the two qualities are indispensable, the status of women is assumed to be lower than that of men in the order of class hierarchy. Moreover there are still commendable outstanding female characters in Chinese history and literature, such as Fuhao, Empress Zhangsun , or Liang Hongyu, etc., their stories are mostly dependent on historical events and the stories of their husbands from the record. The ending is mostly related to sex, morality, and reproductive care.

Late 19th to 20th century

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, China experienced military and political crises at home and abroad. The Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60 forced China to open trade to other countries, which brought foreign ideologies. A large number of political conflicts forced the educated men and women in exile to start revolutionary movements. Before that, influential Chinese thinkers, such as Liang Qichao and others, called for the liberation of women, better acceptance of women’s education, and women’s participation in the country construction. From the perspective of changing the fate of a country, Liang Qichao claimed that the education of women and the liberation of women are necessary, and they are also essential to the health of the country.

After the revolution, the People's Republic of China made the promotion of equality between men and women a basic state policy. In 1942, Ding Ling used International Women's Day to point out the hypocritical attitudes and behaviors of male communists and solved the special pressure on female revolutionaries. She said in an article: “People are always interest when women comrades get married, but that is  not enough for them. It is virtually impossible for women comrades to get onto friendly terms  with a man comrade, and even less likely for them to become friendly with more than one.” At this point, marriage still promotes the husband’s control of his wife. However, because the pressure of marriage becomes unbearable, women will get married eventually. Ding Ling proposed that divorce rarely benefits women. Although they work hard in the party and continue to carry out family affairs, the reason for divorce is usually attributed to them. Ding Ling attributed this phenomenon to people's unchangeable "backwardness ", which comes from the pressure and desire to marry, have children, and insist on the old Confucian way of treating husbands. She thinks this is something deeply rooted in the minds of the Chinese people. Maybe women try to reject these desires and pressures, but in the end they find themselves in a dilemma between motherhood and working in the state.

21st century

Although a large number of organizations that protect women’s rights are emerging today, the phenomenon of "leftover women" has also emerged. Leta Hong Fincher claimed that the term “leftover women” is widely used to describe single urban professional women in their twenties or older. Because it focuses on women who prioritize work and education, the term "leftover women" seems to be a product of this migration. The great pressure of marriage comes from parents, relatives, friends and colleagues. The Chinese official media often amplifies this pressure of marriage. For example, in 2003, the All-China Women’s Federation said that compared to girls with outstanding looks, girls with medium or ugly appearances need to continue to receive education and other ways to improve their ability to compete in marriage. In 2019, there was even a film called "Leftover Women" directed by Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia, focusing on Chinese women's struggles between work, marriage and their family.