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SECTION ONE
THE REFORM AND CHINESE WOMEN’S SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS
To a great extent, women and girls’ social and economic positions have progressed in contemporary times (Attané 2012; Su 2006). There are more Chinese girls in school today and they stay longer than before (Lawson 2008). In addition, access to higher and tertiary education are among the most sustainable and effective opportunities of empowerment that can make exceptional outcomes in the lives of women. When women achieve higher education, it gives them opportunities of self-reliance, greater voice in governance and they become more assertive in demanding for equality. However, Attané notes that despite the efforts in closing the sex-ratio gap in recent years, China is still faced with educational inequality.
Hershatter also gives a similar picture about the gender gap in education especially in rural areas when parents are faced with the challenge of rising tuition and other costs- the result of which is almost always the preferential investment in sons as future breadwinners, sustainers of family lineages and individuals who are not destined to be married out of the family circle. As usual, valuing men’s potential economic and social positions has serious bearings on women.
When there is evident male preference even to the slightest extent in education, it could have lasting consequences on the future independence of women. In the end, this could add to their suffering from the challenge of unequal decision-making capacity within the family and also pose a direct threat to individual freedom in the larger society.
Similarly, Lin (2003) says some analysts provide disturbing scenarios of severe gender gaps in the employment sector as women and men’s level of academic qualification do not carry equal weight thus increasing women to face the daunting challenge of job insecurity in a liberal 38
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economy. She further reports a common discriminatory saying within the country’s institutions of higher learning: “a saying is widespread in China’s university campuses that an M.A. for female is worth a B.A. for male, and a Ph.D. for female is worth an MA for male” (Lin 2003, 88).
However, women are said to be holding high positions in the country’s corporate domain as Chief Executive Officers (Ma 2009) heading national and private enterprises. China has created several millionaires and billionaires (Whyte 2012) since its economic liberalization, and among them, there are several women who rely on personal skills to excel without reliance on feudal rules or connections to advance their economic positions. These women are called by Attané (2012, 8) as “Mistresses of their own personal and professional choices”.
The economic reform has provided both rural and urban women an opportunity of financial exploration but the breakthrough for rural women’s movement from homes and farmlands where they have been ‘bonded’ for years is indeed remarkable. Millions of rural women have relocated to the urban area and some have invested in personal businesses to be economically empowered and independent according to Lin (2003). Other than the urban millionaires, individual rural women are also breaking the poverty cycle by investing in small and medium scale businesses right in their villages.
In another version, Hershatter (2007) believes that the reform has a hidden yet open truth about the feminization of rural agriculture when men leave their families in search of greener pastures in the cities. As more male members of the family relocate nearer to factories and other centers of economic activities, rural households need to replace their labor in farming for sustenance. Therefore, sisters, daughters, wives and daughters-in-law become the most reliable source of labor for the provision of food for families. Therefore, Hershatter says that while more
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men are encouraged to relocate for better economic opportunities in cities, more women are turning to unprofitable farming to feed their families.
Furthermore, Lin (2003) gives perspectives on women’s inequality in the work sector, their vulnerability to labor exploitation and being extremely at risk of layoffs where the need arise. In addition, Kaufman (2012) says that female graduates find it tougher to get jobs than their male counterparts as employers strategically want to avoid extra costs on reproductive health rights and needs such as paying for maternity vacation or support. Again, these gender-based discriminations, Hershatter says, are related to the concepts of labor division between men and women- as more emphasis is placed on the domestic roles of women. These vulnerabilities are encircled within social and cultural beliefs that mostly treat women’s financial earning as secondary even though their economic contribution to household financial security is evident in many societies.
Therefore, the reformation has put women in dual positions of access to economic progress so long as they are able to compete within a capitalist system while this situation does not end the social discriminations they are prone to. Perhaps none sum it better than Beaver, Hou and Xue (1995, 205): “Economic reforms, introduced in 1978, have brought new prosperity to China. However, along with new wealth has come renewed discrimination against women. Old Chinese patriarchal values have resurfaced and new values from capitalism have emerged, despite laws dictating women's equality and the terms of women's liberation”. When trade unions are weak, government emphasis are placed on economic productivity than pressuring employers to adhere to standard labor conditions and the respect for labor rights, exploitation becomes widespread and the weaker carries the heaviest of the burdens these challenges come along with.
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Other social goods such as improved health care have also increased to a great extent and this has a direct bearing on women’s advancement. Improved women’s wellbeing is directly related to their ability to participate effectively in their society’s public life. Stein (2000) says that women’s socio-economic subordination affects their status of health across the world.
Therefore, a wealthier investment that boosts women’s health indicators will directly give them the opportunities to critically take part in the governance process without being bothered by vulnerabilities that have hindered the level of women’s political activism in other parts of the developing world. If women are bothered about the health of their children because of weak health systems, other duties, such as the exercise of their political rights or responsibilities usually become secondary.
Lifespans, according to Whyte (2012) have increased greatly, with more people living longer and healthier. Significant gains have been achieved around crucial indicators such as child survival and reduction of maternal mortality (Attané 2012) but these have happened unevenly between the rural and urban areas. She also adds that access to health care is institutionalized in a way that boys have greater access to medical needs than girls thus making China among few countries where girl child mortality is still higher than that of boys. Sex-selection abortion still happens and this marks the beginning of gender-based violence for the girls that are selectively aborted. The national family planning policy has indeed contributed to this situation. This practice represents the deeply entrenched favor for masculinity and sexism. Within the family, it starts right at birth in determining the fate of off-springs and this has notable impacts on their future lives. I will now turn to the second section, which looks at the effects of the CEDAW and the FWCW on China as two important events intended to radically change the lives of women around the world in the late 20th Century onwards.
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