Women’s rights: Change comes very slowly
Print Edition
IT was on March 24, 1949, that the first Chinese women’s congress was held and the All China Women’s Federation was founded. Now 65 years later, women leaders from many fields — education, finance, media and business — say the country has made significant progress for women, but change comes very slowly and much more is needed.
Last week, Barnard College in New York City returned to China to hold its 6th global symposium titled “Women Changing China” in Shanghai. The first symposium was held in Beijing and addressed the same topic. Over the years, the sessions addressed different topics and different cities around the world.
At the recent session, influential women such as Yang Lan, a famous TV personality and chair of Sun Media, shared their personal experiences and discussed progress as well as problems for Chinese women.
Wu Qing, a renowned activist for rural women, summed up the situation: “Change comes very slowly and there is a big gap between implementation and what’s written in law.
“But the legal awareness of Chinese people, especially those from rural areas, and particularly women, has really gone up.”
Wu helps rural women get the education, training and life skills needed for better jobs.
In the past 10 years, a lot of progress has been made. Domestic violence has always been an offense cited in laws and regulations, but it was only around 2005 that punishments were specified through judicial interpretation. It became a legitimate factor in divorce cases.
Many people also think the one child policy works to women’s advantage, to some extent, and the relatively low cost of baby sitters makes it slightly easier for career women to balance work and family.
But the road is still long. The awareness of women’s rights and gender bias are generally overlooked by Chinese people.
The Beijing Foreign Studies University, where Wu has taught throughout her career, made headlines last November when it organized a promotion for an adaptation of Eve Ensler’s play “The Vagina Monologues.” The school posted 17 photos online featuring women students showing how they complete the sentence “My Vagina Says ...”
Some women said: “Don’t take me as a sensitive word,” “I can show but you can’t touch” and “only those with my permission can enter.”
Some of the answers were also part of adapted script.
The posted photos were widely and severely criticized by both men and women, since the word “vagina” is considered dirty by many Chinese.
“I am proud of them,” Wu told the symposium, referring to the young women who posted photos and completed the sentence.
Though laws and regulations call for gender equality, there are unwritten rules that favor men. It isn’t uncommon for Chinese women to encounter gender discrimination at school and work.
The Education Ministry has issued regulations forbidding universities — except for named military, national defense and public security schools — from setting male-female recruiting ratios.
But a report by the Women’s Media Monitor organization in Beijing showed that of 112 universities, nearly 70 percent set gender-specific requirement in recruiting in 2012. Some schools say of specific majors, “Suggest males apply,” “appropriate for males” and “appropriate for females.”
Some institutions are blatant about majors, saying “reserved for males,” “no females,” or “females only.”
Some institutions and majors set different test score requirements for men and women, which favor men.
Lou Yunli, founding partner of Milestone Capital, shared her experience of starting her own business.
“Even today, there are very few female executives in the investment management field,” she said. “When I started, there was no going back. I just needed a few people to support me, but I knocked on so many doors and there were very few results.”
“Later, I thought about it, and realized almost all executives I approached were males. And I couldn’t help thinking whether my gender played a part.”
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