The Changing Status of the Chinese Women in Modern Times - Essay Example

The Changing Status of the Chinese women in Modern Times College: The Changing Status of the Chinese women in Modern TimesIn the 21st century, globalization has become a more popular term in all life perspectives including the change of gender roles within the society. One may not notice it in China until they realise that their traditional cultures have been completely changed. Globalization allows people to move from one place hence fuelling economic, cultural and social integration. It is indisputable that this integration results to loss of traditional values as the people acquire new habits and drop those that they cherished traditionally. However, it has become more crucial to assess whether these changes in culture are positive or negative. China is well known for resistance to change of culture as they continue to uphold their traditional values that define the gender roles within the society. In the modern times, there is evidence that the status of Chinese women has changed and there is development of female liberalism. Modern Chinese women can take up roles in the formal sector, avoid domestic duties, acquire education and even air their voices in public. From this perspective, the Chinese women have acquired a higher status through cultural development. The history of women in China dates back to the period of establishment of this state. In China, the gender roles were isolated as women and men had specific roles that they were expected to handle. In general, women were responsible for child upbringing and other domestic responsibilities such as cooking and cleaning. Therefore, they were bound to these duties and other duties were mean for the male gender. The male gender was concerned with fending for families and engaging in other economic activities. The male in the society were expected to engage in economic activities to ensure that they provide for their families (Ebrey & Walthall, 2013). Male chauvinism was a common attitude within the society as the Chinese men had greater voices within the society. For instance, women would not speak within public gathering or even represent the society in meetings. This was a duty that was meant for men who were deemed as the respectable gender within this society. Domestic violence, abuse and harassment for females were common within this society. From this perspective, Women had a low status within the Chinese social setting. From a close look, globalization paves way to change in traditional culture and provides an avenue for development of a more dilute culture. Of course, when two cultures come together, some values will be lost while others will be gained; this is the reason behind change. In the era of globalization, the Chinese culture has become diluted to superimposition with different culture. Many authors supports the idea that globalization has led to the loss of the Chinese culture, which is a risk for the conservation of their formal behaviour. Change in social behaviour is another effect of globalisation in China. While it is clear China has resisted change, its modern culture cannot be compared to the period when the Chinese people had not shared in the global traditions (Ebrey & Walthall, 2013). The fact that Chinese people can share with other cultures on the global platform, they have a chance to break out of their cultures and adopt new cultures. Therefore, just like any other tradition, globalisation resulted to dilution of Chinese traditions and hence a change in the position of women in the society. There is evidence that globalisation resulted to increase in female assertiveness in society. One of advantage of globalisation is that it allows for the cultural development, which would rather remain static. Notably, vibrant cultures are constantly changing and borrowing from other cultures. In China, one notable transformation is the fight against male chauvinism which is a result of learning from the western culture (Ebrey & Walthall, 2013). China is among many countries that have supported female oppression for many years. On this note, globalization has led to female liberation in China, where females have suffered for ages from male chauvinistic attitudes; a culture that is obsolete in the west. The interaction with the west allowed Chinese women to become assertive of their rights. For instance, Chinese women learnt the value of education, what was previously a privilege for men in China. Through acquisition of education, Chinese women have suppressed male oppression which underpins their new status in the society. Modern Chinese women have become more active in the formal employment sector, acquiring close to a third of the job positions in the country. Globalisation is a channel for economic advancement within a country’s business environment. The formation of the People’s Republic of China was a milestone in providing Chinese women a higher status in society. One of the agenda’s brought up in the People Republic of China was female liberation and their active participation within the employment sector. This is different from the historical China when only males were learned or could engage in economic activities. Female empowerment became a more important agenda that allowed the female in the society to acquire rights to employment as one way of creating a gender balance within the sector. Therefore, this became a new beginning when women could become bread winners rather than mere consumers. This was a significant milestone in female empowerment process in China that saw women acquire a new position within the society. Besides, the globalisation era has empowered women to make decisions within the family structure. In the early 19th century culture, the Chinese women were limited to speak in public and had no rights to contribute to family issues. The notion that prevailed is that females are inferior beings who could not make decisions within the family. The consequence is that there was poor family planning within the country which was followed by uncontrollable population explosion (Platiner, 1995). The establishment of the One-Child policy in China was a manifestation of the commitment of the government to foster equal relationships within the family. The males and females within the family were supposed to work together to establish the number of children they could raise. This marked a new era when women and men could make decisions together. In modern China, women have acquired more freedom within the family. The government protects the rights of women by illegalising domestic violence and any form of female oppression within the society. The rise of female activists within the country has also helped to protect the position of a woman in China. Chinese women have acquired an almost equal position within the domestic setting as result of social cultural transformation. However, research shows that gender disparity in China is still one of the worst in the world. Gender disparities in this country are manifested at various levels of the social structure. In education, it is clear that the society continues to invest in the education of male child while the female child remains at home to take up domestic responsibilities. 30% of women between the age of 20 and 24 years have not received education and the completion rate of secondary education is 27.4% for females compared to 40% of men. Also, statistics indicate that the female children often drop out of school due to social pressures. In the employment sector, there is under-representation of women in formal jobs. Most of the women who work in formal organization take up manual jobs while only a few make it to senior positions such as the management level. In addition, there is evidence of domestic abuse, wife battering, rape, and female child labor. While various efforts in history have improved the situation, it is clear that the changes are not yet optimal in China (Cohen, 2010). The social reformers have come up to assert the problem of social disparities in this country to help in developing strategies to solve the problem. The gender wage gap in China is a manifestation that modern Chinese women have not yet acquired an equal status within the community. Notably, women salary for equal position in China is 30% below that of women indicating a wide salary gap across the gender boundaries. A close look at the wage gap trends indicates that there has only been slight improvement in the last 25 years despite the numerous efforts to close this gap (Work Rights, 2008). In 1987, before the emergence of wage gap activists, the wage gap was approximately 37% in China (Liu, 2006). These trends indicate that the efforts to bring down the gender differences have been undermined and the gap remains wide. This trend in the Ontario employment sector is a matter that has attracted a lot of attention not only from the public but also to the women right activists as many feel that there is a need for equal pay across all gender as part of diversity management. Activists point out that the wage gap difference is a matter of urgency that must be addressed to fight gender oppression in the society. In China, a number of factors have acted as barrier to the war against gender discrimination in the society. China is still embedded in the traditional culture that underpins the gender discrimination in this country. In an era of female activism, the China society has maintained conservatism by holding man as the superior gender and woman as the inferior one (Honig, 2011). Women particularly have suffered from inferiority complex and are unwilling to change from this traditional lifestyle. Secondly, any attempt to rise against female discrimination is seen as a protest and often attract female battering. As a result, the government effort to empower women has become futile. Secondly, the failure of the government to reinforce female education heightens the problem of gender inequality in male chauvinistic society. Since women few women have access to decent education, it is impossible to develop women leaders to support female empowerment. With few learned women, the war against female discrimination is weak and the society has a long way to go. These barriers have undermined female development in China making it one of the worst gender cultures in the world. The issue of gender disparity in China is a matter of urgency that demands more stringent approaches to empower women. The government, the international bodies and women activists should team up to win the war on female discrimination (United Nations, 2010). This strategy must start by creating awareness campaigns in an effort to reach the local communities provide them with both formal and informal education to get them aboard the war against their discrimination (Andors, 2012). This team should advocate for end of domestic violence, rape, and discrimination in education. Government should set up laws to regulate female education to ensure that every child, male or female is entitled to quality education at all levels. At this point, it would be recommendable that the government provides kitties to support female education. In addition, legal actions should be taken against wife battering and rape. For instance, life imprisonment of perpetrators of rape may discourage this vice. Using an integrative approach to empower women and to support them would ensure that female in China are treated as the male partners in the country. In conclusion, there is evidence that the status of Chinese women has been a subject of historical development. Traditionally, China was a retrogressive community that considered minimally about the welfare of females within the society. Through history, cultural integration and superimposition resulted to change of the position of women in the society. Women were absorbed within the economic and political sector within the country and became part of the family voice. They decline being domestic slaves and through activism formed the active part of the society. Political and cultural transformations paved way for erosion of male chauvinism within all scopes of the society. However, there is evidence that females have yet to rise in status as gender gaps still persist. Females are still discriminated within the labor sector, gender wage gap still persists, and cases of domestic violence are rampant. Though the situation is better, there is need to fight for women position and to protect them from male oppression. Historical transformation of China will accompany the development of the position of Chinese women in this society. References Andors, P. (2012). The unfinished liberation of Chinese women, 1949-1980. Indiana Univ Pr. Cohen, P. A. (2010). Discovering history in China: American historical writing on the recent Chinese past. Columbia University Press. Top of Form Ebrey, P. B., & Walthall, A. (2013). East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth. Honig, E. (2011). Socialist Revolution and Womens Liberation in China—A Review Article. The Journal of Asian Studies, 44(02), 329-336. Liu, F. (2006). Boys as only‐children and girls as only‐children—parental gendered expectations of the only‐child in the nuclear Chinese family in present‐day China. Gender and Education, 18(5), 491-505. Platiner, M. (1995). Status of Women under International Human Rights Law and the 1995 UN World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, The. Ky. LJ, 84, 1249. Bottom of Form Work Rights, (2008). Human Rights: Pay Equity. Retrieved from: < http://www. workrights.ca/content.php?doc=131> United Nations (2010). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from: < http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/> Read More