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The Treatment and Rights of Women in China Th view of women in china may hav change ovr th yar's but thy all hav live in a mal dominated world. Th past has bn lik many culture, in th legal and cultural suppression of women. Th culture of china's past has place women as a far interior position to mn. In this nvironmnt gaining power and rights was xtrmly difficult.
Despite this thr ar stori's of important and powerful women in china's history. This is different than many culture of th world whr th suppression of women's rights was total through the history. The culture has become more open to women's rights over the years, allowing for more power and more control for them as they years went on. Education has slowly been allowed along with greater human rights.
Modern women are allowed to travel, be educated, marry and be the sole wife. They commonly participate in politics, as well as all other fields of work. Women of modern times in china have greater possibilities and fewer limitations, but things are not perfect, there is still a social bias lingering from past inequality. Women are gaining power and rights in modern times. There are international groups protecting their rights as well. The first good example of this is in the ways of marriage.
Arranged marriages, and those for money are no longer the norm. They are allowed to maintain their own names with marriage. Without this they are did not have as much of a separate identity. Also in modern times, women have gained the rights of inheritance from their families, equal to that of their brothers. Other aspects of women in marriage have changed. They are not as expected to bear children, and the culture is changing to give them a voice in this decision.
In the areas of employment, there are opportunities as well. Women now make up 38 percent of the total workforce. In most major parts of the work force women play a part. Women even play a part in politics, representing a major part of their official government. These women are not legendary, or exceptional. It is just accepted and considered normal.
Women have made advances in the field of education as well. Illiteracy among women has fallen as well and education is accepted. Women are allowed in universities and even given funding to continue education. These opportunities, encouraged by many international organizations are also backed by Chinese law. The law states: 1. Equal rights for men and women.
The Constitution stipulates that "Women enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of life, political, economic, cultural and social, including family life"; 2. Protection of special rights and interests of women; and 3. Banning of any discrimination, maltreatment and persecution directed at women. In addition Other laws have been enacted concerning their rights. These explicitly state aspects of life that women are equal to men.
For example equal, equal votes, and rights to political power, freedom, and protection. These laws being stated are the only thing that I can see evidencing that there are not equal opportunities for women. The fact that they have to be stated so explicitly probably indicates a problem. It is difficult to find out what the cultural views of women are from the outside, but it appears that they have all the major opportunities that men do and that their power is increasing.
One thing that has really changed is in the area of the world. There is the opportunity to leave the country and go to another culture. Granted the rest of the world is still mostly male dominated in culture, but the opportunity to emigrate is still there. The only lingering restrictions are from tradition. Lingering views of women as being inferior are probably the only thing that could keep them back now. These things can be seen through the increasingly seldom seen practices of mail order brides and foot binding.
The inferior role women play in Chinese society, has been part of their culture for millennia, especially in rural areas. Chinese tradition considers women less valuable than men -- partly because only men can inherit family names and family property. In rural China, a wife does not even eat dinner with her husband, but waits for leftovers. If a visitor knocks on the door when her husband is absent, she's likely to answer, "Nobody's home, " because she believes no one of consequence is home. For females, inferior status begins at birth.
While mothers are congratulated for giving birth to a baby boy, having a girl baby is likely to bring condolences or a scolding from the mother-in-law as stated earlier. According to the Chinese government, about 12 percent of baby girls disappear each year. Some are drowned, while others are abandoned on roadsides. Still others are allowed to live, but they are not registered with the government, which means they have no official status and will not be entitled to education and health care.
Tradition isn't the only fault, however China's family planning policy has worsened the problem. In 1980, when an exploding population threatened to erode economic gains, the government instituted a one-family-one-child policy and imposed stiff penalties on families that had a second child because of the boom in Chinas population. The policy helped to bring the average number of children per family down from six to about two today, but also made having a boy that much more valuable. Too much emphasis is put on the male lineage. Because of the value a male brings to the family, the female has already taken a back seat to her opposite counterpart. Today, women are mayors or vice mayors in 250 of the 514 cities in China.
The Chinese Women Mayors Society, established in 1991, has a growing membership and is welcomed by women in China. Women are slowly starting to gain recognition and respect. They are able to work more than factories and fields. They are employed in different types of technical personnel, heads of government agencies, clerical personnel, commercial and service industries.
Although the percentage is still small, the strides they have been making have moved them father out of oppression. Also, Chinese women also have been very successful in sports, winning more gold medals than Chinese men. According to a public opinion poll conducted in 1992, eight of the nation's ten best athletes were women. Yet, Chinese culture is still ever present, women continue to bear the primary responsibility for bearing and rearing children and doing housework. Unlike the old China, however, women now also are employed. Doing both jobs is not easy; support from families and society is essential.
Putting a career first is acceptable behavior for men, but society is less tolerant of this behavior by women. Because the pressure on women to succeed in both roles is increasing, much more education is needed to create a social atmosphere conducive to women's success. To date, the number of "strong and capable women" in China who have emphasized their career over their roles as wives and mothers is a minority. Because of the feudalistic influence of thousands of years, the huge population and underdeveloped economy of China, and the generally low cultural and educational qualifications of Chinese women, the full equality of Chinese women is still a distant goal. Achieving this goal will take the demanding work of many generations of women and men as well as the entire Chinese society.
The culture as a whole will have to change and accept that women play a larger role in society than realized and that their contributions to society are priceless. Bibliography: Brown, Carolyn Heinz. Asian Culture Traditions. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc. , 1999 Chance, Norman A. China's Urban Villagers. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovic h, Inc. 1991 Liu, Belong. "Chinese Women's Employment" Chinese Education and Society March/April 2000, Vol. 33 Issue 2, p. 73 Liu, Meng. "Family Violence -- China, Rural Women -- China, Divorced Women -- China" Violence Against Women December 1999, Vol. 5 Issue 12, p. 1469 Hongxia, Hu. "Marriage in Feudal China" February 2001 web Schumann & Schnell "The Correct Viewpoint Towards Marriage" World History Minneapolis/St.
Paul West, 1994, p. 1115
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Research essay sample on The Treatment And Rights Of Women In China
