Breaking the gender wall

Liu is emblematic of the social revolution in China that has smashed traditional mores and catapulted Chinese society from a feudalistic, patriarchal past into modernity. Women in China8217;s cities now bring in some 40 percent of family income and comprise 45 percent of the workforce, much higher than the world average of 35 percent. Enjoying the benefits of rising economic prosperity and freed from the burden of raising several children as a result of China8217;s one-child-policy, women in urban China today enjoy unprecedented status and freedoms of choice.

In Beijing and Shanghai women bus drivers aggressively maneuvering their way through traffic-clogged avenues is a common sight. The numbers of female engineers, doctors and businesswomen is constantly on the up. Thus for example, according to the Shanghai Women8217;s Development Forum, 6.6 percent of women run their own companies in Shanghai as opposed to only 5.7 percent of men.

Until the mid-20th century, like in India, a Chinese woman was an adjunct, first to her father and then to her husband and sons. For centuries men in China were allowed to take two or three wives and women had no legal rights. They were unable to inherit property, rarely received any education and had little say in the major decisions that would shape their lives. Nothing symbolized the subjugation of women in the middle kingdom as baldly as the practice of foot binding, where a young girl child8217;s feet were bound tightly with cloth so as to bend the toes under, break the bones and force the back of the foot together. The purpose was to produce a tiny foot considered beautiful to men.

Then came the communist revolution in 1949. It was a revolution that turned traditional Chinese society upside down, promising women equality, abolishing foot binding, bride sales and the practice of keeping concubines. Women were given the right to divorce and own land. 8220;Women hold up half the sky,8221; said Mao famously.

Nonetheless, women suffered from the strict restrictions and depravations that characterized all of Chinese society during the communist era and its only been in the last two decades or so, following the opening up of China8217;s economy that they finally have real control over their own lives.

The stories of thirty-five-year-old Jun Yan, her mother and grandmother illustrate how much has changed for Chinese women in three generations.

8220;My grandmother, Zhang Guang Qiu, had bound feet. She was uneducated, and couldn8217;t read or write,8221; recalls Jun. Zhang Guang had no choice in whom she married and brought up eight children. Jun8217;s mother, Zhang Hui Yin, on the other hand was a daughter of the communist revolution and worked as an accountant in a mining company in Yunnan province for 30 years. But as Jun points out, despite her university degree Zhang Hui had few choices in life. She was sent by the communist authorities to work in Yunnan along with Jun8217;s father, while Jun and her sibling stayed behind with their grandparents in Sichuan province.

Jun8217;s life stands out in stark contrast. She spent 8 years working as a TV producer in Guangdong province, directly after graduating from university. She married a college sweet heart and they had a son, but Jun was restless. 8220;I felt if I didn8217;t make some drastic change, the rest of my life would be just the same as the last eight years,8221; she says. Thus, in 2000 she decided to do a masters degree in Communications in the USA. Her husband looked after their son for the two years Jun was away. Today she and her family live in Beijing where she works as a marketing manager for Disney.

Experts caution that the achievements China has made in gender empowerment should not be exaggerated. A huge gulf exists between women in urban and rural areas. China has one of the worst gender imbalances in the world, with 117 boys for every 100 girls. According to the UNDP, even in urban areas, women8217;s incomes average only 80 per cent of men. In the highest echelons of power, women remain almost completely absent. There is only one woman Politburo member and the 9-person Politburo Standing Committee remains an all boys8217; club.

Moreover, as Professor Gu points out, the ruthless churnings of capitalism may have brought more choice in their wake, but women have also largely borne the brunt of the massive social dislocations caused as a result. Thus nationwide 65 per cent of the layoffs in the state sector are women. Across the nation, 25 per cent more women than men commit suicide.