In this post, I will comment on the progress of gender equality in the Chinese and American society.
Both societies have progressed far from the original gender stereotype, but even till now, the 21st century, gender stereotype still lingers, just that it is an unspoken taboo. The status of the societies, however, are fairly different from each other.
In the past, women faced severe gender discrimination, and women were treated as the inferior gender, because their physical capabilities were "inferior" to men, and thus were deprived of education, political status and were often forced to take on the role of staying at home and taking care of the household necessities, while men were the breadwinners. This was the status quo of the two societies before the women rights movement started.
The American society, in the mid nineteenth century, began the fight for women's rights. Slowly but surely, the progress of gender equality has been seen and witnessed, with increasing rights that has been given to the women such as the right to vote, the right to participate in politics. However, what may seem to be an equal society may not be entirely free of discrimination. For example, wage gap persists overall between women working full time and men working full time: women earn a median weekly wage that’s only 81% of a man’s weekly median wage. And even more importantly the percentage of managers who are women has risen from 35% to only 38% of the last twenty years. Even though women make up half of the workforce, the percentage of women in the top management positions are far from the same. In job sectors such as lawyers and science and engineering, the disparity between man and women in these sectors are alarmingly high. In 2010, women made up 31.5% of all lawyers but were only 19.5% of partners in U.S. law firms. Additionally, 11% of the largest law firms in the U.S. had no women on their governing committees.Men outnumber women at a rate of 73% vs. 27% in all sectors of employment for science and engineering as of 2009. Hence, while we all perceive and know America as a democratic and equal country, it might just appear to be a front, with the unspoken gender discrimination still lingering, especially among the employers who question the working capability of women.
The Chinese society however, did not see an improvement in the women's status until the 20th century, when the Qing Dynasty came to an end. During the times of imperial dynasty, treatment of men and women have an astoundingly large gap. Perhaps due to the traditional mindset in the Asian culture, women were not even allowed to hold official posts, although there were several exceptions like Empress Ci Xi. After the era of imperial dynasty, women's role have changed significantly. They were active participants in the cultural revolution, and slowly gained foothold in the recognition of their abilities. In the Chinese society today, women face similar discrimination in job and political sectors. Many have indicated that whether they are married or not will largely affect their job prospects and the chances of them getting promoted. Some have even resorted to hiding their marriage status just to get a job. However, in Chinese society, it is no longer the traditional " Husband choosing the wife" but the " wife choosing the husband" instead. Although they are actually given more choices because of the disparity in the ratio of men and women in China, caused mainly by the 'one child' policy. With most families wanting a male child to "carry on their bloodline", women are open to a larger choice when deciding their marriage partner. Thus, China has progressed far in terms of gender equality, but it is an undeniable fact that gender equality is still something that is far from attainable.
In all, I feel that gender inequality in the two societies are very much present, and this applies to all over the world. However, I believe that constant efforts are being put in, to dispel the discrimination that persists throughout the world.
Hi Andy, glad to see that you had enjoyed this course as much I had. I would like to comment that the elimination of gender bias is still in its infant stages, even in the Western world. In the historic context of both nations it is highly unlikely that gender discrimination could be eliminated any time soon as the cultural context of both nations stipulated a highly patriarchal type of family. In the Christian context, women caused the downfall of man and inherited the Original Sin. Women are seen as morally inferior to Men and thus began the long discrimination against them. In fact, while the West champions the notion of women suffrage it is but a 100 years old ray of hope set against the backdrop of a mentality that had persisted for thousands of years. Similarly, in China, Confucian beliefs state that the woman must always be subservient to the Man, and archaic beliefs had persisted well in the 20th Century in China. Foot binding was eliminated only in Republican China, and education for girls was also only introduced by the ROC. Therefore, factoring in the historic context of both nations I would say that true equality, for it to be an entrenched concept, may not materialize even in our lifetime. Thanks and I hope we could have fun together in CDE classes!
ReplyDeleteAndy,
ReplyDeleteI think that you did a great job in explaining one of the key aspects of progress that we touched upon in CDE lessons: the progress in sex equality. I like how you separately explained the progress within each society, and pointed out the various changes and progress each society has experienced. I personally believe that there is still a long way for equality to be achieved between the two sexes, as this discrimination has been deep-rooted in both the culture and historical aspects of our societies. The traditional role of a women was that of a housekeeper due to their weaker physique as compared to man, and this was true since prehistoric times, when hunting was mankind's main method of obtaining food. Hence, I believe that there is still a long way to go for this difference in treatment between the sexes to be completely removes. Thanks and I hope that we would enjoy the future CDE lessons together!
Jiahua.
Hi Andy, i think that you have provided a good explanation on one of the topics we have discussed in class, gender equality. I do agree with you that women are traditionally regarded as the weaker gender, and you have strong evidence to prove this as well. You have stated that women's roles have change since ancient China. Indeed, the roles played by women have changed, but gender discrimination against women still exist, such as in the China workforce, where men are favored. I think that it was a very interesting way to point out that in the Chinese society, it is no longer the traditional "Husband choosing the wife" but the " wife choosing the husband". I agree with you that despite gender equality being present in society, we are slowly working to dispel the discrimination. I hope we can enjoy the future CDE lessons.
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