China's Women: The Change and the Challenge

Author(s): Govind S. Kelkar

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Feb. 3-10, 1979, Vol. 14, No. 5/6 (Feb. 3-10,
1979), pp. 190-193
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4367325

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 February 3, 1979 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
China's Women: The Change
and the Challenge
Govind S Kelkar
THE Comtmunist Party of China has
always regarded the emancipation of
women as an integral part of the
Chinese revolution. Women were con-
sidered "a decisive force" for victory
of the revolution. At various stages of
the revolutionary movement, the Party
leadership expressed concern for
women's liberation and for their parti-
cipation in productive labour and socia-
list construction of the country. The
Party's concern for women's liberation
is reflected in some of the popular
quotations of Chairman Mao:
The day all women in China stand
on their feet is the time for -victorv
for the Chinese revolution.
Times have changed, and today men
and women are equal. Whatever men
comrades can accomplish, women
comrades can too.
I had informed the Chinese officials
about my interest in the women's move-
ment and had solicited tlheir help in
meeting the responsible members of
Women's Federations in Peking, Shan-
ghai and Canton. * Also, at the other
places that I visited in China I had an
opportunity to discuss the status and
role of women with a cross-section of
people, which included leading Party
members, administrators, intellectuals,
doctors, 'advanced' and model workers,
as well as women and men from
vorker-peasant families.
There were two major themes that
emerged from the discussions. The first
one was related to the changed position
of women in present Chinese society.
The participation in socially productive
labour was fundamental to women's
emancipation in China. Only under
the guidance of Chairman Mao Tse-
tung Thoughts, proletarian politics and
the leadership of the Communist Party
of China, women could liberate them-
selves. The other theme was a lack of
political consciousness regarding the
means to achieve the goals of a socia-
list society, a concept which, in many
cases advocated a unique 'female' posi-
tion of women and suggested general
constraints regarding women achieving
* The author visited China in April-
May 1978. Some of her impressions
of China were published in the EPW
of December 2, 9, 16 and 23-30,
1978. The spellings of Chinese names
in the article follow the old svstem
of romanisation.
190
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soften this resistanice.
Women's position in the Communist
controlled areas was further strength-
ened during the land reform when the
land was redistributed to the individuial,
rather than only to the head of each
household. For the first time in Chinese
history, women legally possessed and
full equality and socio-economic parity
controlled land. Later, the transforma-
with men. In this note Chinese
tion in the ownership of productive
women, I have, therefore, called the
forces which allowed female participa-
two themes as 'the change and the
tion in productive labour and the Party
challenge'. An attempt is made here
policies were the key factors for the
to discuss how the Chinese women view
changed position of women.
their great progress in the revolutionarv
society, and the tasks that still require In the early thirties, the Communist
their protracted struggle in order to authorities in the kiangsi Soviet systenm
achieve complete liberation. had legalised freedom of marriage and
The emancipation of women started divorce. It is interesting to note that
with the May 4 movement. In 1917 the Kuomintang Civil Code of 1931
under the impact of the Soviet Revolu- had honoured the principle of equality
tion and with the practice of Marxism- between the sexes. The Kuomintanig
Leninism, the women's mnovement began laws, however, did not penetrate the
to grow. Under the leadership of the rural areas, where the deep-rooted
Communist Party of China, the women's customs and the feudal-patriarchical
system were not to be changed by the
movement gained momentum. Mao
Tse-tung believed that the key to top- decrees of a handful of uirban intellec-
pling the feudal, hierarchical system tuals.
and Confucian ideology lay in the When the Party established its head-
overthrow of the landlords who formed quarters at Yenan, it had a commitment
the backbone of all rural authority. "to enhance the political consciousness
Once the peasants succeeded in seizing and cultural level of its women mem-
power from the landlords, the other bers". Chairman Mao said that the
authoritarian-feudal systems would revolution needed the support ot
crumble. At the same time, the Party women, who make up half of the
leadership felt that the special hard- nation's population. He encouraged
ships suffered by women in the tradi- women to assist the party in imple-
tional social order of China provided
rnenting its programme, to increase
them ,with great revolutionary poten-
production and to seek improvement in
tial. Mao said, "We should pay atten- the living conditions of women.
tion to the forces of women." The
Chinese Communists began organising WOMEN REVOLUTnONARIES AND WOMEN'S
women's associations on their entrv FEDERATION
into the villages to be liberated. The Chinese women's movement was
In its drive for expansion and con- begun by a group of women revolu-
solidation of the peasant movement, thetionaries, among whom were Hsiang
Sixth National Congress of the Com- Ching-yu, a pioneer of the women's
munist Party of China decided in 1928 organisations, Yang Kai-hui, a close
to absorb peasant women into their re- comrade-in-arms of Chairman Mao,
volutionary movement. Henceforth, Soong Ching-ling, Honorary President
one of the tasks of the Party was to of the National Women's Federation,
bring masses of the peasant women Tsai Chang, Chairman of the National
under its influence. The party mem- Women's Federation, Teng Ying-chao,
bers and cadres helped women to a Vice-Chairman of the Federation and
organise themselves into associations. Kang Ke-ching, a member of the Cent-
These women's associations were aimed ral Committee of the Communist Party
at drawing women into both the revo- of China and a Vice-Chairman of the
lutionary movement and productive National Women's Federation.
activities, such as spinning, weaving, During our discussion in Peking, one
shoe-making, sewing, etc. The women's of the federation meipbers also referred
associations also took up the cases of to the story of Shanyana who took
maltreatment of wives by their husbandspart in the revolutionary movement in
and in-laws. Women's associations met the early twenties. When her daughter
with strong resistance from men, but Hsia Chia-hsu (the present deputy
in time women's earning powers, gain- minister) was five years old, Shanvana's
ed through these associations, helped husband died. Mother and daughter,
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being women, did not have any rights
to the property and were driven out
of the village by the clan authorities.
In spite of life being difficult Shanyana
managed to send her daughter to school,
and in 1921 she became a member of
the Chinese Communist Party. Later
both mother and daughter actively
participated in the revolution.
To mobilise women, the Party set up
a Women's Department and Hsiang
Ching-yu was the first to head this
department. She worked in France on
a part-time study and work programme
and returned to China in 1922 when
she worked for the revolutionary cause
and made great contributions. She
called on wnomen intellectuals to "go
among the women workers and pea-
sants, work for them and learn from
them". She wrote a number of articles
on women, emphasising the importance
of their role in society. She said that
the women's movement could be linked
with the movement for the sower to
the proletariat. "Women's rights are
not something to be begged for, not
something to be given to us in charity
by the ruling classes. They are the
prize of the struggle we must seize back
from the ruling classes." In 1928 Hsiang
Ching-yu was arrested by the enemy
and sentenced to death by the
Kuomintang.
Later at Hsiang Ching-yu's sugges-
tion, the Party organised women's
associations in different parts of the
country with worker-peasant women as
the core force. For instance, in the
liberated areas in the Yenan periiod,
nearly 10 per cent of women were
organised into various women's associa-
tions. In 1937, in the Shensi-Kansu-
Ninghsia Border Region, the first All-
Border Region Congress of Women,
which was convened under the sponsor-
ship of the Congress for Peasant
Women, represented 30 mass organisa-
tions with a memership of 200,000
women from poor and middle-peasant
fanmilies. Circulars were sent to these
larly known as the brigade section of
women's organisations in the Border
Region in August by the Congress,
requesting them to send delegates to
participate in the preparatory work to
establish a Border Region federation
for women. The main purpose of such
organisations was to reorganise women
from all walks of life in the entire
Border Region for the united front
policy, and to participate in the War
of Resistance against Japan, as well as
to seek improvement in women's living.
After six months of preparatory work,
the Border Region Women's Federation
was formally set up on International
Women's Day (March 8), 1938.
The membership of the federation
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was open to women 13 years of age
and older who maintained an anti-
Japanese attitude and agreed to abide
b)y the, federation rules. The organisa-
tion of the federation was based on the
principle of democratic centralism and
a hierarchical structure along regional,
county, district, towship and village
lines. The Border Region Congress of
representatives was the highest organ
of authority of the women's federation.
During the recess of the congress, all
the work and responsibility of the
federation was placed under the leactdr-
ship of executive committee. The
executive committee was elected by the
congress, as in other mass organisations.
Under the executive committee there
was a secretariat and three depart-
ments: organisation, propaganda and
education, and wartime work. The
three-member inspection team regularly
visited the local women's federations to
investigate their general progress and
to provide them with guidelines for
future work.
The First National Congress ot
Chinese Women in the early 1949 in
Peking founded the All China Demo-
cratic Women's Federation. The Federa-
tion held congresses in 1949, 1953 and
1957. At the 1957 congress the name
was changed to the National Women's
Federation. The Fourth National Wo-
men's Congress was held in Peking from
September 8 to 17, 1978. The Congress
was attended by nearly 2,000 delegates
from all over China.
Since 1949 women's federations have
been set up at various levels in China,
and their organisational structure is
similar to that of the Yenan period.
The national, provincial, county, and
commune (or the Neighbourhood Com-
mittee in cities) divisions of the vo-
men's federation each has a congress
of representatives and an executive
committee. At the brigade level, there
is the brigade congress of representa-
tives of the women's federation, popu-
w-omen's affairs. During my visit to
Shaoshan Production Brigade, I was
told that in the brigade section of
women's affairs, they discussed the
following three aspects:
Political study: They received guide-
lines from the Party branch committee,
and studied Mao's writings, sacrifices
of his family and documents published
in newspapers. Thrice a month, meet-
ings were held in the evenings or sone-
times in the afternoon. The current
subjects were chosen for discussion,
but emphasis was placed on ideological
work. Meetings were held less fre-
qauently during sowing and harvesting
have described many 'Iron Girls' teams
seasons.
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Productive tork: Work was distri-
buited amongst the women in busy
farming seasons. The women were
encouraged to do ploughing and other
heavy work such as carrying rice bags
and fertilisers. They stressed Chairman
Mao's policy on productive labour for
women.
Family Planning: Nowadays after a
woman has had two, children, they
persuaded her to go for family plan-
ning. (In the early sixties, this was
done after she had had three children.)
But some of the husbands (like in
India), did not approve of their wives
going in for family planning.
The Women's Federation in general
works to encourage all its members to
change their social and economic iden-
tity by leaving the confines of thieir
homes to work in productive labour
alongside men. They told me that the
primary tasks of the Women's Federa-
tion centred on raising literacy and
political consciousness among members.
mobilising of women to support the
Party leadership and its policies; in-
creasing the participation of w%omene ini
productive labour in order to increase
production in general and to improve
their social position; and protecting
the rights of women.
Prior to 1949 there were 800 'joy
houses' in Shanghai and 200 in Peking,
in which several thousands of women
served as prostitutes. The Wonien's
Federation took up the cause of these
socially handicapped women, and thex
were rehabilitated within a period of
a few years. The Federation provided
medical care and trained these women
in productive work. These 'playthings'
or prostitutes got back their dignitv
which they never had in the old feudcal,
oppressive society. The spread and
persistence of prostitution in any
country is due to socio-economic factors
and it can be only eliminated by tackc-
ling these factors.
THE CHANGED POSITION OF CHINESSE
WOMEN SINCE 1949
Since 1949, the role of women in
the Chinese society has been completely
changed. There are now women in all
trades and professions; many are labour
heroines oil-drillers, pilots, bridge-
builders and high-tension power-line
workers. The rights of women to so-
cial, political and economic equality
with men have been formally proclaimed.
ITe Party gives great encouragement to
women to participate in socially pro-
ductive laibour and to make contribu-
tions to socialist revolution and national
construction. Party propaganda materials
who are engaged in unorthodox roles
191
in agriculture and industry. Of the
3,497 Deputies of the Fifth National
People's Congress and the 1,510 dele-
gates to the 11th National Congress ot
the Communist Party of China, women
made up 21.2 to 19 per cent, respec-
tively.
Women in today's China can be seen
working side by side with men, and
seemingly on an equal footing. Wo-
mnen's position in the present Chinese
society appeared to me much better
than in any part of South. and South-
East Asia, the United States and many
other countries in the Western world.
One finds them working in all walks
of life, irrespective of day or night
shift jobs. In Peking and Shanghai 90
per cent of the able-bodied women
participate in productive labour. They
have legal and, political rights now.
Unlike in the past, they aso take part
not only be given equlal economic rights
in the management of state affairs, mnore
so at the grass-root level. For instance,
in the Revolutionary Cominittees in all
18 districts of Peking, there are seve-
ral women members including some
holding leading positions. In the minis-
tries of foreign affairs, light industry
and communications, there are 12
leading women members including
deputy ministers.
The emancipation of women had
been greatly promoted by the enforce-
ment of the Marriage Law of 1950,
which guaranteed the equality of sexes
in marriages and prohibited polygamy,
concubinage, child betrothal and the
exaction of money or gifts in connection
with marriage. There is free mixing of
boys and girls in today's Chinese so-
ciety. One does not find anyone aware
of his or her sex role in a work situa-
tion. Sexuality is not stressed in any
form -dress, talks, jokes, advertise-
ments, etc. This is their progress com-
pared to their bound-feet mothers and
grandmothers. The new generations oF
women, born and brought up in revo-
lutionary China is not trained for house
work alone or to play the exclusive
roles of mothers arid wives.
The fundamental reason for the
improved position of Chinese women
in the People's Republic is the change
in ownership of productive forces. The
system of state and collective ownership
of productive forces gave employment
opportunities to women. For example,
today out of the 800,000 able-bodied
women workers of Peking, 300,000 are
employed in state-owned factories;
150,000 work in collective-owned
factories; 150,00}0 work in the fields
duringot
menstruation; (b) from the 7th
education, sciences and technology,
health care and physical culture;
120,000 are in the departmental stores
1Q2
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and canteens; and the rest of women
workers are organised as part-time
workers in the factories run by the
Neighbourhood Comnmittees.
Women in China constitute 40 per
cent of the labour force at the national
level today. It was repeatedly empha-
sised during my discussions with the
members of the Women's Federations
at several places that the idea central
to the women's liberation movement in
China is that women are oppressed
primarily because they are cut off from
productive labour; in other- words,
women can (rain liberation only through
participation in productive work. The
Party has repeatedly stressed that
"women must stop looking oIn econo-
mic xvork as unimportant". In 1948
the Central Committee directives in-
cluded, "In the first place women must
and positions with men, and in the
countryside get and keep an equal share
of land and property, but above all
they must be made to understand fully
the importance of labour and must look
on it as glorious".
Women's movement entered a new
stage in China during the Great Leap
Forward of 1958, when millions of
housewives stepped out of their homes
to work in the farms and industries run
by the rural people's communes and
the neighbourhood committees. For
instance, in the year 1958, 60,000 wo-
men workers were recruited in Peking,
out of which 4,800 were recruited in
the handicraft industries to be run by
neighbourhood committees. The wo-
men's federations throughout the
country organised part-time and night
schools to encourage women to edu-
cate themselves, realise their potential
and take part in productive labour.
The Party and the government have
shown great concern in freeing the
Chinese women to participate in pro-
ductive labour. The socialisation and
modernisation of household chores is
considered an important aspect of
developing supportive work. There is
a comprehensive range of supportive
services siich as public canteens,
bakeries, laundries, tailoring shops,
nurseries and kindergartens to reduce
the burden in household chores and
child care. In the factories, the trade
unions have several women representa-
tives who look after the interest of
famale employees. Women workers are
entitled to several kinds of leave, viz,
(a) rest for two days and lighter work
month of pregnancy working hours are
reduced by one hour daily; (c) maternity
leave of 56 days with full pay; in the
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case of a difficult delivery, the leave
is extended to 70 days. (d) nursing
nmothers can take two to three 30-
mintute periods off to feed their babies
during the working day; (e) during
mienopause, women are given light work
and some rest periods (the last concem
has been introduced recently and only
in some factories).
Most factories have hospitals and day
care centres. The factory hospital pro-
vides facilities for its women workers
to undergo a free medical check up
once a year, and family planning is
propagated by the medical workers.
Women can put their babies after 56
days upto one year in a day care centre
run by the factory. After one year,
they can put the babies in kindergartens.
In Peking, there are 6,000 kindergarten
schools vith 280,000 children. (Before
liberation, there were only 11 kinder-
gartens with 300 children.) Tihe bus run
by the kindergarten picks up the child
every Monday morning from the parenTs'
home, and leaves the child back on
Saturday in the evening. These are in-
expensive facilities and cost only 50 to
70 cents per month. The other charges
are subsidised by the factories or the
orgainisations.
The retirement age for women indus-
trial workers is 50; men retire at the
age of 60 and intellectual and profes-
sional women (mental workers) when
they reach 55. After retirement, they
receive 70 to 85 per cent of their wages
as pension. Workers and retired persons
enjoy the same welfare facilities. They
receive medical treatment free of
charge and their family members are
entitled to get semi-free health care
facilities.
There are night schools for both men
and women workers in the factories.
Political study groups are held at regular
intervals for ideological purposes.
During these meetings they are also
reminded of their 'bitter past' in the
Confusian society and their improved
status in the present society. Emancipa-
tion of women is connected with the
liberation of the entire society. In the
countryside, 'political night meetings'
are organised generally two to three
times in a mnonth. The federation mem-
bers referred to me the system in Tachai,
"when men go to attend these meetings,
women take care of the children and
household work; when the women
attend these meetings, it is the men
who lo)ok after the children and house-
hold work".
All this signifies profound change in
the position of women in China. The
question is: Is wvomen's liberation com-
plete in China? One still finds many
 manifestations of male prejudice, and
surviving feudal influences on family
life. For instance, women are expected
to give more of their energies to prob-
lems of home and family. One also
notices sexual division of jobs in the
countryside and concentration of women
in certain type of jobs, distribution of
unequal work points for men and wo-
men and the failure to train women
cadre in proper number. A systenmatic
elimination of the Confucian, feudal
remnants is the challenge before
Cbinese women.
CHALLENGE BEFORE CHINESE WOMEN
During my meetinigs with the lead-
ing members of Women's Federations
in Peking, Shanghai and Canton, we
also discussed the problems faced by
women in China. I remarked that al-
though Chinese women had achieved
great success in all walks of life, yet
they still had a long way to go to be
on par with men. I gave,two examples
to stress mny point: First, women earn
less work points than men do; on an
average 10 for men and 8 for women
for a day's work. Secondly, women con-
centrate at the lower levels and only
on certain types of jobs. Interestingly
enough a great majority of the federa-
tion members agreed with my observa-
tions and even said "we have a long
way to go in achieving social and
economic parity with men". They
explicitly pointed out the three major
problem areas.
First, "women are excluded from
heavy work in certain industries". But
if machines could take care of the heavy
wvork, then women would be treated
equally with men. In the fields, meI
earned more work points because ot
their phvsical strength. But they hoped
that with the development of science
and technology and automation of
heavy labour, men and women would
be considered equal, and physical
strength would not be considered the
criterion for earning more work points.
The second problem was that house-
work was not being socialised and
modernised enough. Although in the
past the mass media have urged men
to assist their wives with household
chores, hut it is only in the cities that
men do share some housework. In the
countryside, "men do not share any
housework". To make housework easy,
and to enable women to devote more
time to productive labour, it was
necessary to have more supportive
services, such as nurseries, kindergar-
tens, schools, stores, public canteens
and laundries and also use of machi-
nery for household chores, particularly
in the countryside.
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The last of the problem areas was Peking had organised such study groups.
that the Women's Federation had to In these study groups, they advocated
educate men and women to eliminate that "taking part in social productive
traditional ijfluence, and develop self- labour is a fundamental condition for
confidence in women. They said, "We women's liberation", they also criticised
have a long history of feudal, inmperialist the remnants of Confucianism in society
rule. Women were lowest in the tradi- wvhich considered men superior and
tional society. Some of the traditional women inferior. Another example was
influences concerning women still con- that of some womcn leading cadres
tinue." Thus there were historical who went to the communes to see that
reasons for insufficient representation ofthere wAere no unfair practices concern-
womeni in leading political and adminis- ing women. In 1974 the Peking
trative organisations. Men have sitnceWomnen's Federation after a careful
ages secured training in all kinds of study and investigation protested
work, and wvomen on the other hand against wage discrimination in Pingku
did not feel confident enough to per- County. Since then men and women
form certain jobs. They emphaticarlp have received equal work points there.
pointed out the necessity for raising the Prior to their protest in 1974, men
scientific and cultural level of women, earned 10 wvork points for a day's
training skilled women workers and work and woomen only 8 for doing the
technicians who know how to operate saine labour.
modern equipment, women peasants
It is significant that the whole socio-
who understand modern agricultural
political context in China favours change
techniques, women managers who know
in women's position and encourages
how to run modern industry, and women
struggle to destroy feudal ways of
designers, engineers as well as medical
workers. thinking and acting. The Party con-
trolled mass media frequently launch
Women in China have already made mass campaigns attacking the old be-
a beginning in this direction. Women's liefs aboout women's inferiority and
Federation and wvomen leading cadres promoting women's participation in
organise political study groups in com- productive labour and distribution of
munes, factories and in neighbourhood equal pay for equal xvork. As long as
committees to make housewives aware there is recognition of these problems
of the fact that they must take part in and the struggle against inequality and
social productive work. In April-May discrimination continues, there is no
1978 when I was in China, 20 women danger that these problems may be-
in the Friendship Department Store in come permianent features of the society.
GUJARAT INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Research proposals relating to employment-oriented planning, specific
programmes for removal of urban poverty and block level riual planning
and a blue-print for a new society are invited froml the young as well
as the senior social scientists from India and abroad. The proposals
selected by a panel of the experts of Institute will qualify for the award
of financial grant.
Those who desire to send the research proposals are requested to write to:
Prof. Jitendra Dholakia,
Chairman, Governinig Board
Gujarat Institute of Social Sciences
B/2, Orient Apartments,
Near Kamar Hostels. UsmanpurA,
Ahmedabad-380 013.
198
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