Ostasiatisches Institut, Sinologie
Universität Leipzig
Einführung in die Sinologie
Academic: Adrian Krawczyk, M.A.
Prüfungsvorleistung: Essay
WS 2022/23
Gender equality in China: do women really hold up half the sky?
Author: Gemma Benini
Address: Nürnberger Straße, 42
E-Mail: su59wago@studserv.uni-leipzig.de
Matriculation number: 3783596
WiSe 2022/2023
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Contents
1. Introduction...................................................................................................................3
2. Human development report 2021/2022.........................................................................3
3. Chinese history from women's perspective...................................................................4
4. Chinese feminist movements.........................................................................................6
5. Gender differences nowadays........................................................................................7
6. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................8
7. References.....................................................................................................................9
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1. Introduction
The pre-modern China, can be regarded as a patriarchal society, that is a social system in
which positions of dominance and privilege are held by men. As evidence of this, the
feminist tradition and pro-women movements only developed later, even though feminist
concerns have always played a role within modern, national, critical and intellectual
traditions. Why has history actually followed this path? What are the reasons why men
were considered superior to women? Does the current situation show an effective
overcoming of this social status, or on the contrary many women are still victims of
inequalities in various fields of everyday life? The aim of this essay is, starting from some
scientific data, to analyse the historical path that Chinese women (as one of the categories
most susceptible to such violence) have had to endure, up to the present day.
2. Human development report 2021/2022
The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report is an annual
dossier published by the Human Development Reports Office of the United Nations
which focuses on people and their opportunities and choices. It was originally launched
in 1990 by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and the Indian Nobel laureate
Amartya Sen, who introduced a new approach for advancing human wellbeing. The
reason why the last published report (Human development report 2021/2022 overview 1)
should be taken into consideration in writing this paper is because it can help understand
better the global situation of China in terms of gender equality, since one of the aspects
dealt with is precisely this.
The first index to bear in mind is the Gender Development Index (GDI) which measures
gender inequalities in achievements in three fundamental aspects of life: health, education
and command over economic resources. These indicators are calculated taking into
account the female and male life expectancy at birth, their expected years of schooling
and the consecutive estimated earned income. All considered China has managed to
obtain a position in the first group indicating countries with high equality in GDI
achievements between women and men. Quite a different picture seems to be shown when
the Gender Inequality Index (GII) is considered. This data reflects gender-based
1
https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22overviewenpdf.pdf
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disadvantage in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour
market. It shows the loss in potential human development due to inequality between
female and male achievements in these three aspects. The combination of them gave
China a ranking of 48, causing it to lose places in the overall global position.
At this point, one may ask why China ranks are all considered so low on gender equality
when it is regarded as one of the most economically developed countries? A possible
answer, as previously mentioned, may lie when Chinese history is heeded.
3. Chinese history from women's perspective
The first period to analyse refers precisely to the end of the Zhou dynasty, when the
teachings of Confucius began to take hold. One of the cornerstones of Chinese society is
indeed Confucianism, which for many reasons became part of the state ideology. It is
considered as a social and ethnic philosophical system but does not officially count as a
religion. Among all teachings, Confucius codified the position of the male patriarch as
the sole arbiter for the family unit, therefore, all family members were subordinate to the
eldest male. Women were no exception, according to imperial Confucian patriarchal
ideology, a good woman was to be confined in the family home, as a quote by Jiang Qing,
China’s best-known New Confucian 2 thinker suggests: “Taking care of and nourishing
children is women's social role and gender nature”3. She was expected to adhere to the
“three obediences”: to her father while she was unmarried, to her husband after marriage,
and to the son (if any) who would become the head of the family when the husband died.
Since women, at a certain point in life, would have belonged to someone else, parents
commonly regarded them as “temporary” family members, therefore less valuable than
male sons, who instead would have maintained the parents’ livelihoods. As a consequence,
parents have given priority to their sons’ education and training at the expense of
daughters. In addition, as marriages were usually arranged for the benefit of both families
and took women away from the protection of their natal family, Chinese female members
2
New Confucianism is an intellectual movement of Confucianism that primarily developed during the May
Fourth Movement and began in the early 20th century. It is deeply influenced by the neo-Confucianismus
formed in the Song and Ming dynasties
3
[Translation by David Ownby] Jiang Qing 蒋庆, Only Confucians Can Make a Place for Modern Women “只有
儒 家 能 安 顿 现 代 女 性 ” interview dated August 12, 2015, originally available online
at https://www.rujiazg.com/article/id/6034/.
4
found themselves socially isolated, which makes them less likely to get involved in local
politics and more vulnerable to abuse and violence from their husband.
It was as if the status of women was set at birth, which would not allow them any kind of
social redemption. However, something seemed to change during the second half of the
twentieth century, characterized by the “Communist Revolution”4, which tried to elevate
female to an equal position as men. “Women Hold Up Half The Sky5” is a proclamation
made by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Mao Zedong, mainly to prove
that women have the same priority as men and are a resource that ought to be deployed
outside of homes into professional fields. China’s first constitution enacted under the CCP,
stipulated that “Women in the People's Republic of China enjoy equal rights with men in
all spheres of political, economic, cultural, social and domestic life” 6. The idea behind is
there, however, the greater goal of running the country seemed to take precedence over
the liberation of women. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that some purposes,
through the measures taken by the government, have actually been achieved and have
thus improved the living female conditions. For instance, thanks to the Marriage Law,
introduced in the 1950, arranged marriages, monetary transactions in marriage,
concubinage, polygamy and child brides were outlawed, while the principles of freedom
of marriage and divorce and equality between husband and wife were established.
The inequality between women and men became increasingly evident with the subsequent
promulgation of the birth-control policy (sometimes misleadingly called the “one-child
policy”) in 1979, later abolished in 2016. Due to this law, most couples have only been
allowed to give birth to one child, in rare and specific cases they could have a second
child. This leads on one hand to a more equal treatment of daughters and sons, as the
family did not had to split the heritage among several members, but on the other hand to
an increase in the gender gap (and thousands of bachelors), because of the sex-selective
abortion due to parental desire to have at least one son, in order to continue the patriline.
Not for nothing, this historical period is also known as the “missing women’s generation”.
Furthermore, families who violated the policy were forced to pay enormous fines, which
led them to hide their children, with the result that China has an unknown number of
unregistered children, especially female, who suffer disadvantages and inequalities.
4
The Chinese Communist Revolution was a period of social and political revolution culminated in 1949.
Yuhui Li, Women’s Movement and Change of Women’s Status (Journal of International Women's Studies, 2000)
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Chapter three, article 96 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, adopted on September 20,
1954 by the First National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China at its First Session
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5
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, state policy changes and economic developments
led to a reduction in some types of gender inequality in rural areas. For example,
daughters were pushed and encouraged to undertake an important educational career in
order to obtain a well-paid job. In 1990, when China made an attempt to restructure its
economy, all the small achievement in the working field reached at the time Mao was in
charge, seamed to vanish. Millions of people were fired and, women were encouraged to
quit their jobs so men could be making money instead. A considerable number of migrants
was made up of young unmarried women whose families cannot provide for them in their
home villages but can finally compete for enrolment in the best universities and for
employment in the most competitive companies.
4. Chinese feminist movements
Although many women were pushed to conform, some tried (and continue to do so), to
rebel in small and large ways in order to obtain equal rights. They fight thanks mainly to
the support of feminist movements, whose goal is not the elevation of female body, but
rather the achievement of gender equality.
Since feminism does occurs through different forms, it is worth mentioning one of the
greatest female Chinese writers of the twentieth century, Ding Ling (丁玲). She is known
for her feminist and social realist literature, although, mainly due to her political
involvement, some scholars do not define her a feminist. What is out of doubt is that, also
thanks to her literature works such as “Miss Sophia’s Diary”, she strove with many of the
issues women are still struggling with now.
Probably one of the most famous movements is that of the Feminist Five, a quintet of
Chinese activists arrested (and detained for more than one month) in Beijing on March 6,
2015 for planning a protest against sexual harassment on public transportation. Thanks to
the resonance that the case achieved internationally, through social media and unofficial
information channels, the five women were released and continue nowadays to encourage
participation in feminist activism, such as the #metoo movement. As testified by the
Xianzi’s case, this phenomenon, even if has been quickly silenced by the Chinese
government, brought together women all around the world against sexual harassment.
The hashtag, symbol of this feminist movement, entered immediately the list of censored
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words of the Chinese social media 新浪微博 (Xīnlàng Wēibó), preventing not only the
spreads of protests and rebellions but also the possible threat to the government.
Over the years, women have become more active in the fight for equal rights, even though
the strict consequences and the swift censorship make it hard to stand up for these aims:
“Even if all the feminist activists in China are arrested or otherwise silenced, the forces
of resistance they have unleashed will be extremely difficult to stamp out” 7.
5. Gender differences nowadays
As previously stated, women have seen and taken part in historical transformations, from
family structure, marriage and childbirth to education, workforce participation and
political activity, that have accelerated over the last century. However, it is important to
mention that, despite the fact that women’s conditions has definitely improved compared
to the past years, full gender equality have not yet been reached and many women still
suffer from the consequences caused by the social disparity between women and men.
The first relevant aspect is certainly health prospects, considered one of the most
important key measures of gender equality. China, thanks to the government initiatives
during the last years, has managed to develop a higher life expectancy. Furthermore,
while the maternal mortality rate has lowered considerably (from 97 deaths per 100,000
live births in 1990 to only 27 deaths in 2015) 8, the maternity care improved significantly
between the late 1990s and today. What still represents a not entirely negligible problem
is China’s sex ratio at birth, which is the most imbalanced in the world (just 87 girls born
per 100 boys) 9. Therefore, China now faces the challenge of a rising population of young
unmarried men which can lead to negative socio-economic consequences.
Moving forward, there are inequalities, albeit less evident, in the field of education.
Around 1990, through the promulgation of several laws, China made a concerted effort
to increase access to education for the entire population and establish equal access to
enrolment and degrees. With the result that, in the 21st century, women were more likely
than men to continue their studies into postgraduate education and to undertake study
7
Leta Hong Fincher, Betraying Big Brother: the feminist awakening in China (London: Verso Books, 2019)
World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report (2018) analysed by CSIS China Power Project
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Ivi.
8
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periods abroad. However, it is important to highlight that China’s urban-rural disparities,
due especially to the Hukou 10 system, remains a question to be answered.
Speaking of economic opportunity, the scenario represent a major factor in gender
inequity. Even if Chinese economy has remarkably grown, several studies and researches
show that the income gap between male and female workers has noticeably increased: on
average women earn 22 percent less 11 than their male co-workers. This is also probably
due to the fact that in the majority of cases, Chinese women do not benefit managerial
positions but rather occupy secretarial, sales or accounting positions, which typically pay
less than other jobs. The unequal gender representation in the workplace can be graphed
as a pyramid: the closer to the top, the fewer women to be found. Moreover, according to
Human Right Watch 12 , 19 percent of the Chinese national civic jobs posted in 2018
included requirements such as “men only” or “men preferred”. Of course, not all women
are willing to accept and thus to adjust to this social condition, however, the desire for
redemption may turn out to be a worsening of their condition: educated professionals
unmarried women who decide to place their school and working career before marriage,
are being labelled as “leftover women” and often isolated from society.
6. Conclusion
Chinese women have withstood incredible pressure either to conform or to fight the ideals
and norms established by the Chinese government, whether it was Confucian values,
revolutionary Maoist ideals, or the search for economic and educational advancement.
One might think that the problem of this inequality lies solely in the type of government
that China has acquired over time. However, the antithesis to this theory is found when
one considers that this unequal situation between male and female does not only concern
Chinese women, it also includes women belonging to different and various political
system and cultures. Otherwise the concept of feminism would not even exist and would
not be object of sociological research. The main question at this point is: at what level a
society will be considered equal? Or rather, will real gender equality ever be achieved?
Hukou 户口 is a system of household registration introduced in 1958. Originally created as a means
to maintain a sense of social order.
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11
12
World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report (2018) analysed by CSIS China Power Project
Human Rights Watch report 2018: Defending Human Rights Worldwide, Report 2018
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7. References
Thorben Pelzer and Merle Schatz, Einstieg in die Chinastudien. Methoden, Modelle,
Übungsaufgaben (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2019)
Tamara Jacka, Andrew B. Kipnis and Sally Sargeson, Contemporary China. Society and
Social Change (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Leta Hong Fincher, Betraying Big Brother: the feminist awakening in China (London: Verso
Books, 2019)
Tani E. Barlow, The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism (Durham: Duke University,
2004)
Yuhui Li, Women’s Movement and Change of Women’s Status in China (Journal of
International Women's Studies, 2000)
Tianhan Gui, “Leftover Women” or Single by Choice: Gender Role Negotiation of Single
Professional Women in Contemporary China (Journal of Family Issues, 2020)
Tani E. Barlow and Gary J. Bjorge, I Myself Am a Woman: Selected Writings of Ding
Ling (Boston: Beacon Press, 1989)
Cara Abraham, Women's Roles in China: Changes Over Time (2015)
[https://www.troup.org/userfiles/929/My%20Files/ELA/MS%20ELA/7th%20ELA/Unit%2
03/Womens%20roles%20in%20china%20article.pdf?id=26306]
United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2021/2022 Overview.
Uncertain times, unsettled lives: shaping our future in a transforming world (New York, 2022)
[https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr202122overviewenpdf.pdf]
World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report (Cologny/Geneva 2018)
[https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2018.pdf]
CSIS China Power Projekt Team, Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women
Elsewhere? (2018)
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China “中华人民共和国宪法” (First National
People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, 1954)
[Translation by David Ownby] Jiang Qing 蒋庆, Only Confucians Can Make a Place for
Modern Women “只有儒家能安顿现代女性” interview dated August 12, 2015, originally
available online at [https://www.rujiazg.com/article/id/6034/]
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