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Both men and women now exploited for cultural ends
By Ni Tao |
March 10, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EACH year as International Women's Day (March 8) nears, many employers in China will dramatize their care for women employees by giving them small gift packs, or sponsoring women-only events.
The day has been set to mark women's struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men.
New China's founder Mao Zedong once said that "Women can hold up half of the sky."
Today in some professions women can hold more than half the sky.
For years it has been observed that more girl students tend to shine in elementary schools and high schools.
Whether in offices or assembly lines, the steady fading of the gender distinction is one of the most striking changes that has taken place over the last century.
When Chinese express their appreciation of the great emancipation women have experienced in the new society, they invariably cite the economic independence women now enjoy.
Of course when independence is pursued as something unalloyed in its goodness, this pursuit also leads to some complications.
Family bonds have been vitiated, as matrimonial alliance is no longer a prerequisite for women's economic security, as in the past.
Although there has been a growing number of "left-over" women in big cities - single women long past marriageable age - a survey finds that many don't make an effort to get married ("Poll of single women shows age 29 is key to 'left-over' feeling", Shanghai Daily, March 7).
Ironically, increased economic independence does not seem to have reduced the number of matrimonial alliances contracted chiefly for pecuniary purposes.
Today it is no longer unusual for couples to go to the altar after having reached a legal understanding of the division of property, a prenuptial agreement, in case the marriage fails.
Recently 28-year-old Chinese actress Bai Jing was stabbed to death by her billionaire husband, 44-year-old Zhou Chenghai, just two years after their wedding.
Zhou took his own life after the attack, reportedly provoked by Zhou's discovery that Bai had already transferred a huge amount of his money to her lover, while suing for a divorce.
Roy F. Baumeister's "Is There Anything Good About Men? How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men" attempts to set forth the gender differences without violating the dictates of correctness.
The explanation of gender inequality, according to him, generally takes one of two forms: either the age-old belief that men dominate because they are better at most things than women, or the newer conceit that men and women are equal but that men have conspired to keep women down.
Baumeister's explanation is based on diverse abilities and "tradeoffs" between the genders: Men and women excel in different domains for good reasons, some biological and some cultural. A man's ability in one area offsets his weakness in another, and the same applies to women, too.
"Political correctness permits us to say that women are better than men ... But it's mostly taboo even to suggest men are better at anything more important than opening jars and killings bugs," the author observes.
Instead of pitting men against women, the book draws very sensible conclusion that men and women fill unique roles within cultures, and they should value each other's contributions rather than try for one-upmanship.
This understanding of male and female roles is compatible with ancient Chinese outlook, which sees women and men as representing the genius of yin and yang, which are strictly complementary.
A world of harmony is achieved when yin and yang is in balance, not when either dominates the other.
The predominance of either yang or yin portends disorder, biological or social.
Lin Yutang observed 75 years ago that "American women are far ahead of their Old World sisters in all things that don't matter, and remain very much in the same situation in all things that do."
Feminists past and present would bristle at this sacrilege, but Baumeister shows more tact by saying "Cultures exploit men and women differently. And they do this for a practical reason. Men and women are different and hence are useful to culture in different ways."
The day has been set to mark women's struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men.
New China's founder Mao Zedong once said that "Women can hold up half of the sky."
Today in some professions women can hold more than half the sky.
For years it has been observed that more girl students tend to shine in elementary schools and high schools.
Whether in offices or assembly lines, the steady fading of the gender distinction is one of the most striking changes that has taken place over the last century.
When Chinese express their appreciation of the great emancipation women have experienced in the new society, they invariably cite the economic independence women now enjoy.
Of course when independence is pursued as something unalloyed in its goodness, this pursuit also leads to some complications.
Family bonds have been vitiated, as matrimonial alliance is no longer a prerequisite for women's economic security, as in the past.
Although there has been a growing number of "left-over" women in big cities - single women long past marriageable age - a survey finds that many don't make an effort to get married ("Poll of single women shows age 29 is key to 'left-over' feeling", Shanghai Daily, March 7).
Ironically, increased economic independence does not seem to have reduced the number of matrimonial alliances contracted chiefly for pecuniary purposes.
Today it is no longer unusual for couples to go to the altar after having reached a legal understanding of the division of property, a prenuptial agreement, in case the marriage fails.
Recently 28-year-old Chinese actress Bai Jing was stabbed to death by her billionaire husband, 44-year-old Zhou Chenghai, just two years after their wedding.
Zhou took his own life after the attack, reportedly provoked by Zhou's discovery that Bai had already transferred a huge amount of his money to her lover, while suing for a divorce.
Roy F. Baumeister's "Is There Anything Good About Men? How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men" attempts to set forth the gender differences without violating the dictates of correctness.
The explanation of gender inequality, according to him, generally takes one of two forms: either the age-old belief that men dominate because they are better at most things than women, or the newer conceit that men and women are equal but that men have conspired to keep women down.
Baumeister's explanation is based on diverse abilities and "tradeoffs" between the genders: Men and women excel in different domains for good reasons, some biological and some cultural. A man's ability in one area offsets his weakness in another, and the same applies to women, too.
"Political correctness permits us to say that women are better than men ... But it's mostly taboo even to suggest men are better at anything more important than opening jars and killings bugs," the author observes.
Instead of pitting men against women, the book draws very sensible conclusion that men and women fill unique roles within cultures, and they should value each other's contributions rather than try for one-upmanship.
This understanding of male and female roles is compatible with ancient Chinese outlook, which sees women and men as representing the genius of yin and yang, which are strictly complementary.
A world of harmony is achieved when yin and yang is in balance, not when either dominates the other.
The predominance of either yang or yin portends disorder, biological or social.
Lin Yutang observed 75 years ago that "American women are far ahead of their Old World sisters in all things that don't matter, and remain very much in the same situation in all things that do."
Feminists past and present would bristle at this sacrilege, but Baumeister shows more tact by saying "Cultures exploit men and women differently. And they do this for a practical reason. Men and women are different and hence are useful to culture in different ways."
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