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The study of the impact of globalization on women in China examines the role and status of
Chinese women
Like women in many other cultures, women in China have been historically oppressed. For thousands of years, women in China lived under the patriarchal social order characterized by the Confucius teaching of “filial piety.” In modern China ...
relative to the political and cultural changes that have taken place in the 20th century as a consequence of
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
. Globalization refers to the interaction and integration of people, products, cultures and governments between various nations around the globe; this is fostered by
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
,
investment
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
, and
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
.
[Jiang, Shiwei. "Global Trade and Its Effects on China's Female Labor Market." In International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA. 2013.][Carnegie Endowment for the International Peace. (2009). ''What is Globalization?''. Retrieved November 26, 2009. Retrieved from www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html.] Globalization affected women's rights and the gender hierarchy in China, in aspects of domestic life such as marriage and
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
, as well as in the workplace. These changes altered the quality of life and the availability of opportunities to women at different junctures throughout the modern globalization process.
The dynamics of gender inequity are related with the ideological principles held by the ruling political regime. The
imperial era was dominated by the social paradigm of
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
, which was a pervasive philosophy throughout the
Orient
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
. Confucian ideals emphasized
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...
, character, social relationship, and the
status quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
.
[Main Concepts of Confucianism. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2009. Retrieved from http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/main.html.] Confucius preached ''jen'' (humanity) and the equality and educability of all people;
[Ng, R.M. (2009). College and character: What did Confucius Teach Us About the Importance of Integrating Ethics, Character, Learning, and Education? Journal of College & Character, vol 10(4), pp 1-7.] Neo-Confucianists and Imperial leaders used his beliefs in social hierarchy, particularly in the family setting, for the physical and social oppression of women. As the Chinese government began to re-assimilate themselves into the global community in the late 19th to early 20th century, it shifted away from conventional Confucian ideals and women's role in society changed as well. After
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
established the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1949, a change in traditional gender roles came about. Mao's death marked the beginning of the current
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
administration, and an influx of international communications in the areas of commerce, politics and social ideals.
[Sung, Y. W. (1991). The China- Hong Kong Connection: The Key to China's Open Door Policy. pp. 1-183. New York: Cambridge University Press. ] Since the 1980s, under the new communist party, the women's rights movement has gained momentum and has become a national issue as well as a sign of
modernization
Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...
. Some reporters state that increased globalization and the
Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known as One Belt One Road ( zh, link=no, 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 150 ...
have led to an increase in
sex trafficking of women in China.
In rural areas, women traditionally work alongside their family to produce crops like tea and rice. In urban areas, women work in factories, living away from home. Most of these factory workers are young girls who send their income to their families. To help maintain the rights of women in factories, labor unions and organizations were built. In their homes, women take care of their children and cook.
Western bias
Western scholarship has historically used ideas of
subordinance and
victimization
Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology.
Peer victimisation
Peer victimisati ...
to characterize traditional Chinese womanhood.
These beliefs were largely constructed on the basis of
ideological
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...
and
political agenda
In politics, a political agenda is a list of subjects or problems (issues) to which government officials as well as individuals outside the government are paying serious attention to at any given time.
The political agenda is most often shaped by ...
s, and were widely accepted despite their
ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead of ...
.
[Teng, J. E. (1996). The construction of the "traditional Chinese woman" in western academy: A critical review. ''Signs'', Vol 22 (1), pp. 115-151.] Early European writings pertaining to Chinese women were produced by
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and
ethnologists
Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...
at the conclusion of the 19th century.
The goal of the missionaries was to "civilize China," and highlighting weakness and victimization provided for the continuance of their work.
This belief prompted scholars to use female subordination as a means to validate Western ideas about Chinese culture and Confucian principles.
In the 1970s, as the
feminist movement
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...
s were forming, they began to affect the literature surrounding women in China.
Studies on Chinese women from this period were concerned with women's liberation, and were sympathetic to the feminist movement.
This sentiment largely influenced the topics and methodology of the research.
With this shift in perspective, the focus of discourse remained on subordination,
patriarchal oppression, and victimization.
These studies examined such issues as foot binding and the
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...
of widows.
Literature formulated by feminist writers did nothing to dispel the myth of the weak, subservient woman.
These works provided a new bias that had not before been articulated.
Feminists believed that Chinese women were a part of a "universally subordinated womanhood".
This line of thinking illustrates the cultural superiority inherently felt by Western women.
Writings on Chinese woman rarely account for differences in time,
ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
,
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
, region or age, preferring to describe the status of women as a static, unitary fixture of Chinese culture, despite the political and geographic boundaries that defined different regions and the economic and social changes that occurred throughout history.
History of female oppression in marriage
Traditional roles and Confucianism
From the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(206 BC-220 CE) until the modern period (1840–1919), scholars and rulers developed a male-dominated
patriarchal society
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
in China.
[Tamney, J. B., & Chiang, L.H. (2002). ''Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies.'' Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 130.] Patriarchy is a social and philosophical system where men are considered as superior to women, and thus men should have more power in decision-making than women. Confucianism was at the root of the development of the patriarchal society in China, and emphasized the distinctions between the sexes and the roles they have within the family.
These ideologies continued through the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618-907), and girls were taught from a very young age to be submissive to their fathers, then to their husbands, and later to their sons.
[Tamney, J. B., & Chiang, L.H. (2002). ''Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies.'' Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 131.] During the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960-1297), Confucian scholars further developed the patriarchal tradition with more restrictions for females, including foot binding for girls at a very young age.
[Tamney, J. B., & Chiang, L.H. (2002). ''Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies.'' Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 132.]
Married life in Imperial China
The
traditional Chinese marriage system benefitted men more than women.
This effect could be seen in monogamy, concubinage, divorce, and the heritage of lineage and property through males.
[ After the ]Spring and Autumn Period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
, elite men could take primary and secondary wives, concubines, and maids.[ Ancient Chinese women were denied the right to choose their marriages. Generally, traditional Chinese marriage was organized by the parents of the groom and bride in order to obtain alliances between the two families to ensure the continuance of the family line.][Tamney, J. B., & Chiang, L. H. (2002). ''Modernization, Globalization, and Confucianism in Chinese Societies.'' p. 133. Westport, CT: Praeger.] The prime mission of a married woman, regardless of her social status, was to bear at least one son in order to carry on the family name.[Yao, E. L. (1983). ''Chinese Women: Past & Present'' (p. 22). Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc.] Therefore, women were only valued for their reproduction functions. Three types of marriage dominated in Ancient China.[Yao, E. L. (1983). ''Chinese Women: Past & Present'' (p. 17). Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc.] The first traditional Chinese marriage type, which originated in the primitive society, was called a "capture marriage," in which the groom would go to his prospective bride's house at dusk to "kidnap" her. The second type was called a "purchase marriage," in which women were paid for by their husbands.[Yao, E. L. (1983). ''Chinese Women: Past & Present'' (p. 18). Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc.] Once women were purchased, they became their husband's possession and could be traded or sold. The third type was the "arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
," which could be traced back to the Warring States, emphasized the necessity of parental control and matchmaking institutions. Matchmakers acted as go-betweens for both families.[Yao, E. L. (1983). ''Chinese Women: Past & Present'' (p. 19). Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc.] If there was not a matchmaker, the marriage could be deemed unacceptable and could be dissolved. Once two people were married, the wife would leave her family, live with the husband's family, and be obedient to her in-laws as if they were her own parents.
During the Chou Dynasty, the upper class considered daughters-in-law as commodities of the husband's parents, not the husbands. This meant that wives had to be subservient to parents-in-law. They were expected to have impeccable manners, including refraining from coughing and sneezing in the presence of their husbands' parents. Wives could not leave their rooms or accept gifts from relatives without permission. Refusal to turn gifts over to parents-in-law lead to physical abuse and expulsion from the family. In addition, wives were required to serve in-laws, including helping them bathe, arranging their bedding, and cooking. People placed a strong emphasis on food preparation in Ancient China. Cooking was one of the most time-consuming tasks for wives because of traditional rituals and high expectations for the taste and appeal of food.
May Fourth Movement
The "New Culture" movement began in China around 1916 following the unsuccessful activities of the 1911 Revolution to establish a republican government, and continued through the 1920s.[Asia for Educators, Columbia University, Initials. (2009). Before and After the May Fourth Movement. Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_mayfourth.htm] The May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...
, which took place on May 4, 1919, was a demonstration led by students at the National Peking University against the government, in which they protested the abolition of Confucianism and changes in the traditional value system.[Yao, E. L. (1983). ''Chinese Women: Past & Present'' (p. 127). Mesquite, TX: Ide House, Inc.] Many believed that the solution to China's problems would be to adopt Western notions of equality and democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
. Since the movement stressed group efforts and propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
, women were involved in numerous collective tasks such as publication, drama production, and fund raising, which helped them gain more social contact with men and win respect.
Marriage reforms in the Twentieth Century
Chinese modern heterosexual monogamous marriage was officially established with the Marriage Law of 1950 after the founding of the People's Republic of China.[China Today. (2001). ]Marriage law
Marriage law refers to the legal requirements that determine the validity of a marriage, and which vary considerably among countries. See also Marriage Act.
Summary table
Rights and obligations
A marriage, by definition, bestows ...
Revisions Reflect Social Progress in China. Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from The New Marriage Law declared the abolition of the feudal marriage system, which included arranged and forced marriage
Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
, male superiority, and the disregard for the interests of children. This law also asserted the rights to divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
and embraced the free-choice marriage.[Hershatter, G. (2007). ''Women in China's Long Twentieth Century.'' (p. 16) Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.] Although progress has been made, Chinese women are restricted by the heteronormative
Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...
and hypergamous marriage system. Currently, all Chinese women are still expected to marry a man with superior educational and economic status in their early or mid-twenties. Many well-educated and well-paid urban professional women tend to delay their partner seeking and marriage, which results in a supposed revival of tradition – parental matchmaking. Since Chinese parents generally do not "use a daughter's marriage to build a family network or maintain a household's social status" anymore, this matchmaking is not a forced marriage; it is a suggestion intended to benefit their daughters.
As a result of these reforms, the roles of wives have changed for both rural and urban women. Today, a wife's role is to support her husband and children, not serve her in-laws. Mothers-in-law have less authority, and married couples are able to have more intimate relationships. Since the one-child policy
The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much bro ...
was established, urban wives have devoted their time to raising "'the perfect only child,'" so they now exert more effort creating their own families than serving in-laws. Despite this focus on children, patrilocal residence increased again towards the end of the twentieth century. Urban parents have stayed close to their sons to help them find jobs, housing, and services. Rural women have also gained more autonomy, including the freedom to voice their opinions and desires. Wives in the wealthy countryside have demanded construction of mansions for neolocal residences.
Domestic life of a Chinese woman
Foot binding
Foot binding
Foot binding, or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change their shape and size. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet, and the shoes made for these feet were kno ...
is the process in which the arch of a woman's feet is broken and the toes are wrapped up against the foot to create a smaller looking foot with an acute arch. These "fists of flesh" were seen as attractive and arousing for men and the practice was passed down as a prerequisite to marriage from mother to daughter across generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
s. The process of foot binding was painful and often confined women to their rooms. Few lower-class women were able to have their feet bound because they needed to be able to walk normally to accomplish house work. Bound feet came to be an indication of high class
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...
and wealth for women. Chinese male reformers during the imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
period recognized the liberation of the Chinese women as something necessary for their own sake.[Pierce, Steven, and Anupama Rao. Discipline and the Other Body: Correction, Corporeality, Colonialism. Durham: Duke UP, 2006. Print.] The humiliation that China had gone through on an international level was turned on the Chinese "women". Naturally, the foot binding was recognized as "national shame," and people found it as a serious problem to be disappeared, thus raging anti-footbinding campaigns in the 1890s to the 1900s. Moreover, the new government that came in after the 1911 revolution banned foot binding practice. Thus, it started to disappear in the coastal areas in 1900 to 1920. However, the practice was still popular within the interior areas of China till the 1930s and even in the 1950s.
Changes to customs based on Confucianism
Under Confucianism the typical family was patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...
because men had the capability to pass on the family name and carry on the lineage
Lineage may refer to:
Science
* Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor
* Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
of the ancestors
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
; women were expected to be subservient. Adoption of Western family values in the twentieth century challenged traditional Chinese values. Nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
contributed to the changes of customs and status of women. Nationalist revolutionary Qiu Jin
Qiu Jin (; 8 November 1875 – 15 July 1907) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer. Her courtesy names are Xuanqing () and Jingxiong (). Her sobriquet name is Jianhu Nüxia (). Qiu was executed after a failed uprising against the Qi ...
promoted feminism through various essays and speeches, as well as through her ''Chinese Women's Journal''. Jin chastised wife beating, female infanticide, arranged marriages, and foot binding. She eventually began teaching at a girls' school. Around this time, many other schools for girls opened in China. This led to increased job opportunities for women in the 1920s.
Later, as the Communist regime changed the structure of Chinese society through economic reform, the structure of the Chinese family was altered.[Guthrie, Doug. (2008). "China and Globalization: The Social, Economic and Political Transformation of Chinese Society". pp. 77- 86. London: Taylor & Francis.] "The Four Olds
The Four Olds or the Four Old Things () was a term used during the Cultural Revolution by the student-led Red Guards in the People's Republic of China in reference to the pre-communist elements of Chinese culture they attempted to destroy. The Fou ...
" (''sijiu'') – old ideas, old habits, old customs, old cultures – were discouraged and were replaced by Communist ideology, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. The economy was shifted to total government control with few chances to own private property and communal property. Collectivization
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...
destroyed "clan-based" systems and had a great effect on motivation of workers and family loyalties.
The traditional social structure was further degraded by the Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
. The Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
turned members of a family against one another as they sought out "class enemies" to be sent for "re-education," ultimately resulting in a loss of family ties. Women were elevated to equal status as men through a series of laws which prohibited practices such as arranged marriages, concubinage
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.
Concubin ...
s, dowries
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
, and child betrothals. Under these marriage laws, women enjoyed joint property in marriage and could file for a divorce.
As a result of Communist rule in China, the social status of women improved greatly.[Hayes, Jeff (2008). "Women Under Communism", Facts and Details:China, Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=105&catid=4&subcatid=21#02 ] Women were empowered to work outside the home. Communist rule also brought about the end of practices such as foot binding, child marriages, prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
, and arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
s. China has seen a decrease in domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
due to government-supported grassroots programs to counter these practices.[Hayes, Jeff (2008). "Women in China" Facts and Details: China, Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from ] Women in rural areas remain largely uneducated.[Hayes, Jeff (2008). "Village Women" Facts and Details: China. Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=105&catid=4&subcatid=21#02 ]
Population control
During the reform period, the Communist regime in China regulated birth control
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
. The government shaped policies with the intention to develop population science "through selective absorption of Western science and technology." In 1979, the Planned Birth Policy was implemented. The Chinese government only allowed one child per Han family, with more children allowed to non-Han families. Since this planned birth policy was implemented based on local laws rather than on a national population law, the level of birth restriction differed in urban and rural areas. In families reliant on farming for income, the household is the fundamental unit of production, so many rural families would rather pay the hefty fines for excess birth.
In 2011, city couples who both came from one-child families were allowed to have a second child, while couples in rural areas could have a second if just one of them came from a one-child family. In 2013, the further revision of the Planned Birth Policy allowed couples in which either parent had no siblings to have two children. In 2015, China allowed all couples to have two children, abolishing its decades-long one-child policy for urban families.
Another instance of population control is the prevalence of female infanticide
Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of newborn female children. In countries with a history of female infanticide, the modern practice of gender-selective abortion is often discussed as a closely related issue. Female infanticide is a ma ...
. People in rural areas practiced female infanticide and selective neglect due to a preference of sons over daughters. Since the 1980s, roughly 200,000 female infants would be killed per year because of the preference for male children and the advancement in technologies such as ultrasound
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequency, frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing range, hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hea ...
, which help to find out the sex of the fetus. In addition to female infanticide, girls are being unregistered or are abandoned by their families, which stops them from receiving education and legal benefits the government offered. These methods of controlling population have resulted in a huge gender gap
A gender gap, a relative disparity between people of different genders, is reflected in a variety of sectors in many societies. There exist differences between men and women as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, scientific or e ...
in China.
Chinese women throughout the workplace
History of working women
In the imperial era, women experienced physical restrictions that limited their social positions. They held jobs that required minimal physical activity like domestic chores and producing textiles to sell or use.
During Mao's rule (1949–1976), Chinese women were needed for their manual labor for farming and for urban industrialization. To compensate for their hard work, they were provided access to education and politics.[Perry, Susan H. Chinese Feminism Faces Globalization. Retrieved 2 Nov 2009. Retrieved fro]
The Chinese government supported women's education. The percentage of girls attending school was 96.2% compared to below 20% before the People's Republic of China, People's Republic (1949). The Chinese government has tried to decrease the number of women illiterates while promoting adult and vocational schools. The percentage number of illiterates has gone down from 90% in 1949 and 32% from 1993.[China Daily. "Chinese Women".Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from .] In the first 30 years of Communist rule women's discrimination was decreasing, but they did not have jobs that had real decision-making power.[Hayes, Jeff (2008). "Working Women in China-Facts and Details". Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.]
The Chinese government has made great efforts to achieve a high level of economic status for women. Since 1949, with the founding of the People' Republic, the rate for employed women has risen. Chinese women account for 44% of the work force and 34.5% account for the women's work force in the world.
Rural areas
The key role women have in farming is to maintain ownership of the main sources of production in rural areas.[Davin, Delia (1976). ''Woman-Work: Women and the Party in Revolutionary China.'' p. 115. Oxford: Clarendon.] In traditional China, women were not allowed to own land or property. Land was inherited through the sons, and if there was no son in the family, it was taken by a close male relative.[Davin, Delia (1976). ''Woman-Work: Women and the Party in Revolutionary China.'' p. 116. Oxford: Clarendon.] In less populated areas, women do more agricultural work than men because of shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...
. In more populated areas, men do more work than women because extensive plough
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
cultivation is used.[Boserup, Ester (1970). ''Women's Role in Economic Development'' p. 35. London: Allen and Unwin.] Female involvement is high in the double-cropping
In agriculture, multiple cropping or multicropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same piece of land during one year, instead of just one crop. When multiple crops are grown simultaneously, this is also known as intercropping ...
rice area.[Davin, Delia (1976). ''Woman-Work: Women and the Party in Revolutionary China.'' p. 119. Oxford: Clarendon.] Other types of work women perform in the countryside include pig and poultry rearing, spinning
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
, weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
, basket-making, and other handicrafts. This type of work supplements agricultural income.[Davin, Delia (1976). ''Woman-Work: Women and the Party in Revolutionary China.'' p. 120. Oxford: Clarendon.]
Urban areas
China's economic policies laid the basis of the industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
drive in export-oriented development, and its reliance on low-wage manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
to produce consumer goods for the world market.[Lee, Eliza W.Y. (2003). ''Gender and Change in Hong Kong: Globalization, Postcolonialism, and Chinese Patriarchy''.pp. 1-224. UBC Press,, ] Young migrant women left their homes in rural settings to work in urban industrial areas. Work included export-oriented industrialization
Export-oriented industrialization (EOI) sometimes called export substitution industrialization (ESI), export led industrialization (ELI) or export-led growth is a trade and economic policy aiming to speed up the industrialization process of a ...
, manufacturing in electronics and toy assembly, sewing in garment production, and mixed assembly and sewing in the footwear industry. Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
were cities established as centers of export-oriented industrialization, and migrant women workers have made up 70% of Shenzhen's three million people.
Private sector employers are reluctant to hire women because Chinese law requires that the employer cover maternity leave and childbirth costs. However, certain industries prefer female workers for assumed benefits. For example, the beauty economy, which is defined as "a marketplace in which young, attractive women are used to promote commercial products and services," includes the sales industry.[Osburg, John (2013). "Anxious Wealth: Money and Morality among China's New Rich", p. 144. Stanford University Press, Stanford. ] The development of the sales industry has increased job opportunities for women, but women are also restricted to these gendered professions.
Reasons for migrant labor
A recent phenomenon, the migration of rural Chinese workers began in 1984 when the Regulations of Permanent Residence Registration became less punitive and allowed people to move to find employment.[China-Labour. "'Dagongmei' – Female Migrant Labourers." pp. 1-8. Retrieved 5 November 2009. Retrieved from ] People left rural areas to escape poverty, and females left due to the lack of local opportunities for women. In the cities, women could find new, low-paid factory-based jobs that did not require highly skilled workers. According to national statistics, the ratio of male to female migrant workers averages 2:1, and an estimated 30-40 million of the migrant women work in the cities, namely Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
In the Nanshan district of Shenzhen, females comprised 80% of the workforce and had an average age of 23. Young female workers are preferred over older females or males for several reasons. First, as married women are less mobile, female migrant workers are younger and more likely to be single than their male counterparts. Young rural women are preferred for these jobs primarily because they are less likely to get pregnant, and are able and willing to withstand longer working hours, have "nimble fingers, and will be less experienced in asking for their statutory rights. In many cases, migrant women sign contracts stating that they will not get pregnant within their period of employment."
In the interest of the family, rural females are sent to find urban employment over male counterparts, mainly to supplement familial income at home and to support the males, who are more likely to attend college. The male standard of education in China is higher, particularly when a family is under financial stress, females are more likely to drop out of school to generate income for the family. Because females have lesser impact on the family's long-term financial stability, their rights for opportunities development are consequently unequal. This inequality also reinforces emotional motivations for migration. Many women migrate to find personal fulfillment. Stereotypes in China that developed as a result of globalization portray rural women as "‘backward’" and urban women as "‘modern’". Many people associate modernity with maturity, so rural women migrate to cities to be perceived as mature. Migrant women also appreciate the knowledge they obtain (including political- and self-awareness) while living in cities. Some women even report desiring to leave villages as a result of boredom with rural life. Ideas perpetuated due to globalization simultaneously increased women's intentions to become independent; many migrant workers desire lives separate from those of their families’.
This new system allowed rural residents to migrate, it did not allow them to change their residence or accept any benefits in the cities. This resulted in a growing population of migrant laborers without the minimal benefits of residency including medical care, housing, or education. Many migrant women do not trust the government to protect their rights. Today, up to 90% of migrants work without contracts, in violation of the Chinese labour law.
Degradation
The freedom to display femininity and gender equality seem incompatible in Chinese society. Gender equality appeared prevailing only when women were restricted to desexualization in the Mao era. Opening up policy
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of microeconomic reform, economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the Ch ...
guarantees women's freedom for resexualization, but it simultaneously brings back gender inequality.
Women factory workers are known as " ''dagongmei''" (working girls). They are traditionally young women migrants who experience a segmented labor market in informal and low-wage employment sectors. Workers in export-oriented factories receive minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
and minimum overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
pay, they pay for meals and lodging at the factory, and they pay fines for breaking factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
rules.[''China Blue''. Dir. Micha X. Peled. Perf. Jasmine Li. 2005. Accessed Web. 20 Nov. 2016. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/film.html ] The average daily wage, for a 12-hour day in a toy factory, in the mid-1990s was US$1.10 for migrant women workers in Shenzhen. Although migrant workers in China still earn low wages, their average income has increased over the past several years. In 2008, the average daily income for migrant workers in China was equivalent to US$6.48. In 2014, the average daily income was equivalent to US$13.86.
These conditions create "maximum surplus appropriation"; workers' daily lives revolve around factory production and are dependent on the economic conditions. The state disallows local unionization
The organizing model, as the term refers to trade unions (and sometimes other social-movement organizations), is a broad conception of how those organizations should recruit, operate, and advance the interests of their members, though the specific ...
and has the All-China Federation of Trade Unions
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the national trade union center of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 302 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. The ACFTU ...
(ACFTU) as the legitimate forum of worker representation. Without the right to form unions and with the state sanctioned ACFTU, migrant women workers find it hard to effectively gain suitable rights and treatment from the factory management. The 2003 statistics from the People's University show 90% of migrants work without contracts, directly violating the Chinese Labour Law. According to the ACFTU, migrant workers are owed over 100 billion Yuan in back wages.
Organizations are now attempting to assist and empower female migrant workers through training and education on their labor-related rights. Legal clinics have begun to assist female migrants in filing claims against employers and local labor bureaus. One case of female worker exploitation in the Hua Yi garment factory in Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
resulted in mistreatment by management as well as withholding pay for at least 24 women. After filing complaints, in collaboration with the Center for Women's Law Studies and Legal Services of Beijing University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
, the women received 170,000 Yuan in back wages and compensation.
Relations between workers and employers represent both the immediate need of manufacturing plants for large quantities of low wage laborers, and the insecurities young workers face in relocating long distances to life in factory dormitories. Hiring single young women serve needs of management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
. The employment of young females allow management to exhibit maximum control and authority over the labor force
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic regio ...
. Compared to older women and male workers, young single women are susceptible to the authority and demands of management. The common manipulation of "factory as family" by owners and managers suggests how workers
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...
hold a subliminal status within the factory environment. Uneven power relations inside the factory result in demands from management for personal services from women workers, from hair washing to sex.
See also
* Women in China
Like women in many other cultures, women in China have been historically oppressed. For thousands of years, women in China lived under the patriarchal social order characterized by the Confucius teaching of “filial piety.” In modern China ...
* Factory worker
* Chinese family name
Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the W ...
* Chinese marriage
Traditional Chinese marriage () is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies that involves not only a union between spouses, but also a union between the two families of a man and a woman, sometimes established by pre-arrangement between fam ...
* Culture of China
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
* Communist Party of China
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
* Sexuality in China
Sexuality in China has undergone dramatic changes and this " sexual revolution" still continues today.The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: ChinaDemographics and a Historical Perspective Chinese sexual attitudes, behaviors, ideology, and r ...
* Chinese economic reforms
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of Ch ...
* Economy of China
The China, People's Republic of China has an upper middle income Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five- ...
* Hypergamy
Hypergamy (colloquially referred to as "marrying up") is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person marrying a spouse of higher caste or social status than themselves.
The antonym "hypogamy" refers to the inverse: marryin ...
* Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...
* Arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
* Spring and Autumn Period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
* Qiu Jin
Qiu Jin (; 8 November 1875 – 15 July 1907) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer. Her courtesy names are Xuanqing () and Jingxiong (). Her sobriquet name is Jianhu Nüxia (). Qiu was executed after a failed uprising against the Qi ...
* Chinese Nationalism
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chi ...
* Family planning policy
China's family planning policies ( Chinese: 计划生育政策) have included specific birth quotas ( three-child policy, two-child policy and the one-child policy) as well as harsh enforcements of such quotas. Together, these elements constitu ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Impact Of Globalization On Women In China
Social history of China
Women in China
Social change
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...