Requesting information about women’s liberation movements in various countries

On September 15, 1954, the first National People's Congress was held in Beijing. Women representatives appeared on the political stage as the masters of New China.

Looking back at the vicissitudes of a century, we are delighted to find that the fate of Chinese women has undergone profound changes, ending thousands of years of being exiled from social history, and writing for the first time in the history of civilization as a The overall female image chapter.

In the male-dominated society for thousands of years, women have always lived at the bottom of society. They have no right to participate in politics, no right to education, and no right to participate in social life. The most tragic thing is the foot binding of women. The formation of a pair of small feet often takes several years of binding. "A pair of small feet brings a bucket of tears." A lifetime of happiness is ruined by these small feet. Along with the rise of women's education, the emergence of Tianzu guilds in various places at the end of the 19th century was the beginning of the eradication of the bad habit of foot-binding and the liberation of women's bodies and minds.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Cai Yuanpei and others established the China Education Association in Shanghai and put the establishment of a girls' school on the agenda. In 1907, under the circumstances of internal and external troubles, the Qing government implemented the New Deal and promulgated the "Regulations of Women's Schools Promulgated by the Academic Department" and the "Regulations of Women's Normal Schools Promulgated by the Academic Department" in the field of education, officially integrating women's education into the national education system for the first time. In the early years of the Republic of China, women's education in China began to be connected with women's careers. This move further broke through the concept of using education to create housewives, enabled women to enter a wider range of fields, expanded women's employment options, and thus improved women's ability to adapt to society. , the ability to make a living independently. This is of great significance to fundamentally promote the development of China's human resources and lay the foundation for improving the social status of women.

Education constitutes the prelude to the symphony of Chinese women’s struggle for their own liberation. Intellectual women began to stand at the forefront of anti-feudalism as challengers, showing their spiritual rebellion against feudal families and gender discrimination and their enthusiasm to participate in society and participate in politics, shaping new selves in their new lives. We have seen that after experiencing the baptism of the "May 4th" new cultural thoughts, women's views on love have undergone great changes. What they pursue is no longer to obtain a lifelong support and to support each other, but to find their own spiritual partners, which is the personality of men and women. Treat each other as equals. At the same time, the compilation of the Civil Code, which began in the late Qing Dynasty, also corrected the legally unequal situation between the sexes. As a gender group, women began as the humble half and became the weak ones enjoying legal protection. Correspondingly, women's participation rights in employment, political participation and other fields have also improved. Women in several southern provinces were the first to gain the right to participate in the market. Hunan woman Wang Changguo was elected as a provincial councilor in 1921, which was also a pioneer in the history of the world's women's movement.

The feats of women in the 20th century in joining the struggle for national liberation are even more impressive. In 1903, female students studying in Japan organized the first women's patriotic group, the Japanese Patriotic Self-Government Association. The female Illuminati Qiu Jin's "A Warning to China's Twenty Million Female Compatriots" and her poem "Encouraging Women's Rights" calling for "national heroines" have become clarion calls to encourage women to move forward. In the same year, Jin Yi's first monograph on women's issues, "The Female World Bell", was published, and the author shouted the slogan "Long live women's rights" for the first time.

With the spread of Marxism and the establishment of the Communist Party of China, some women participated in the revolutionary struggle to transform China and the world. Chinese Communists Xiang Jingyu and Yang Kaihui They are outstanding representatives of these women who dedicated themselves to their ideals. As class struggle and national struggle intensified, the concept of "women" replaced the concept of "femininity". Awakening workers and peasant women participated in the torrent of national liberation, and the Detachment of Women who did not like red clothes and preferred armed forces appeared in the ranks. During the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, the first goal of the Chinese women's movement was to realize an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal democratic revolution led by the proletariat. During this period, China's women's liberation movement has been closely linked to the democratic movement and the national liberation movement. Women's consciousness of seeking liberation, independence, freedom, and equality has always been integrated with the oppressed class consciousness and revolutionary consciousness. together.

Since 1949, the status of Chinese women has been unprecedentedly improved, and they enjoy all rights equal to men.

They devote themselves to the ardent life of building a new socialist China. Women can hold up half the sky, which has become a proud slogan for the majority of women and has also become a reality of life struggle.

However, in our exploration of women’s liberation, we have taken detours for a period of time. The slogan "can hold up half the sky" has been misused as a competition between men and women in terms of physical strength. In this radical era, gender differences were ignored. The March 8 High Altitude Live Work Class, the Iron Girl Class, and the Female Commando Team appeared one after another to compete with men in terms of physical strength. High and low, it brings harm to women's bodies and minds that can only be realized when they calmly think about it later. However, the credit for establishing the concept of women's liberation in this era cannot be erased.

The 20th century was the first century in which a female group appeared in recorded human history. It was a century of female awakening and revolution. But at the same time, we must see that although Chinese women have undergone great changes in their social status in this century, it does not mean that the entire social role of Chinese women has changed. Gender discrimination is still quite serious in many aspects. The situation of out-of-school girls The proportion is much higher than that of boys. There are more laid-off female workers than men. The commercialization of sex is on the rise and spreading in some areas. These problems show that women still have a long way to go before they can achieve complete liberation. The true liberation of women depends on the improvement of their own quality on the one hand, but also on the progress of the entire society. We look forward to a broader sky for women in the 21st century.

Chinese Women’s Liberation Major Events Chinese Women’s Liberation Major Events

On January 8, 1900, Xianshi Company, a large department store commercial organization, opened in Hong Kong. The company adopts the popular Western sales method for women.

On February 20, 1900, the natural foot trend emerged in Taipei. The Natural Foot Association aimed to encourage foot relaxation and eliminate the bad habit of foot binding.

In August 1903, "The Female World Bell" written by Jin Yi was published by the Shanghai Patriotic Girls' School. It is the first monograph on women's issues in modern China. The author shouted the slogan "Long live women's rights" for the first time.

On March 8, 1907, women’s education was legalized.

On July 15, 1907, the female democratic revolutionary Qiu Jin died in Xuantingkou, Shaoxing, at the age of 31.

On January 7, 1912, Sun Yat-sen met with Lin Zongsu, a representative of the Women's Political Suffrage Association, and others, and allowed women to have full political participation.

In May 1919, Deng Chunlan, a female teacher student in Xunhua County, Qinghai Province, wrote to Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, requesting Peking University to add seats for women and allow women to study in the university, expressing her willingness to set a precedent for the women's field. Thus becoming the first woman in China to request to go to university.

On March 8, 1924, working women in Guangzhou united with women from all walks of life to hold a grand commemorative event in Guangzhou No. 1 Park. Since this commemoration, the "March 8th" Women's Day activities have gradually spread to major cities across the country.

The first women's divorce lawsuit in Xi'an was in March 1927. Xiao Guipan, a student of Xi'an Women's Normal School, filed a divorce lawsuit and the divorce was heard in court.

On May 1, 1928, Xiang Jingyu, the first female Central Committee member of the Communist Party of China and the first female minister of the Party Central Committee, died heroically at the age of 33. Xiang Jingyu is known as a pioneer of the Chinese women's movement.

On August 2, 1936, Shanghai female student Li Sen participated in the 11th Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. This was the first time that China sent female athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.

In July 1949, New China Women’s first national women’s publication was launched. Mao Zedong and Zhu De respectively wrote inscriptions for it.

In November 1957, Zheng Fengrong broke the women's high jump world record in Beijing with a score of 1.77 meters. This is the first time a Chinese athlete has set a world record in track and field.

On March 7, 1959, a 900-horsepower harbor diesel tug "Women" was launched in the Huangpu River. It was the first ship in China to be fully designed by women.

In the third Women's Volleyball World Cup held in Japan in November 1981, the Chinese team won the championship with seven wins from seven games. In the following years, the Chinese women's volleyball team won five consecutive championships in the World Cup, World Championships and Olympic Games.

In 1986, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Human Resources, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and the All-China Women's Federation jointly issued the "Interim Regulations on Health Care for Female Employees", which was the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China to provide "five-level health care regulations" for female employees. "Period" health care is clearly stipulated.

On April 3, 1992, the Seventh National People’s Congress passed the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests.

On September 15, 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women concluded successfully in Beijing. From humbleness to equality

From humbleness to equality

1. Once you enter the forbidden palace, your freedom is locked up for life. This group of dolls are the beautiful ladies selected into the palace.

2. Chinese peasant women at the beginning of the century. How can a pair of pointed feet carry heavy workload?

3. Qiu Jin, the heroine of Jianhu Lake, sacrificed her young life for the liberation of women.

4. The style of the women's volleyball team

5. The image of the iron girl that appeared across the country in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the influence of ultra-leftist trends, women have paid a heavy price in exploring their own image.

6. Strive for the right to education so that women can become female doctors.

7. When the 17th class of Western painting students graduated from the Shanghai Art College, the debate over whether to use female models was intense. The graduating class of the department deliberately took photos with female models.

8. Happy modern women.

So for women’s political participation, what is the meaning of political participation in a broad sense? That is to say, as a woman, we should pay attention to political issues, the country's major policies, and all aspects of our social life; and not only pay attention to it, but also express opinions on it, have our own opinions, and actively participate in some social political activities. For example, when you participate in an election, whether you go to vote or not has a lot to do with your attention to this politics or your political attitude, and being able to express your own opinions, whether you are interested in a certain policy or not. If I am dissatisfied or I have my own opinions, and I hope that the leadership will adopt them, then I can actively express my opinions. Then our behavior or activities like this are called political participation in a broad sense.

So what does women’s political participation in the narrow sense mean? It means that women can enter the leadership institutions at all levels of the party and government, enter the management level of enterprises and institutions, and play their role as managers, leaders, and decision-makers. So this kind of political participation is actually what we talk about more now, that is, being an official. What is meant by being an official? It means that you enter this decision-making level, which is political participation in a narrow sense.

So is the political participation we are talking about today in a broad or narrow sense? I think it means both ways. Because political participation in the broad sense and political participation in the narrow sense are complementary to each other, and because there is no such concern among the majority of women for political issues, women's interests, and the relationship between the party's principles and policies and women's interests, then there is no such thing as It is impossible for the best women to emerge into decision-making positions. In other words, if the majority of our women do not care about politics, then when we enter the high-level decision-making level, women in leadership positions with decision-making power will have no source and insufficient motivation. So more women can then become leaders, and it requires a greater awareness of women's participation in politics. On the other hand, if we don’t have more women entering the decision-making and leadership levels, and if we don’t have these female cadres who have entered the decision-making and leadership levels to speak for the interests of women and express women’s voices, then ordinary women at the grassroots level will also It is impossible to pay attention to this political issue. Because anyway, when you see that all the people are men, it has nothing to do with us? Therefore, in order to attract our women's attention to their own interests and political issues, it is also necessary to have more women cadres enter the decision-making level. Therefore, political participation in the broad sense and political participation in the narrow sense are complementary to each other, so we must cover both aspects of women's political participation, and they are both important. But now we often study or discuss the issue of women's participation in politics. Simply viewing it as an issue of being an official may be too narrow.

Because what are you doing as an official? In order to safeguard the interests of women and promote equality between men and women, this also requires our top female leaders to pay attention to the interests of the masses. Then our masses should also pay attention to our own interests and the development of the entire country. a condition. Therefore, political participation in the broad sense and political participation in the narrow sense are what we should all be concerned about.

Then what we talk about below may refer more to political participation in a narrow sense, that is, why women must enter the decision-making level, how to enter the decision-making level, and how to become a leader; then as a female Cadres and female leaders, what should she do? I think the political participation we are talking about today may refer more to the necessity of becoming a leading cadre and the problems we currently have. So this is the first concept I will talk about today, which is what is political participation? Two meanings of suffrage and the relationship between them.

Then the second question is that we have to talk about why women should participate in politics? Isn’t it good for a man to manage this? Why do we have to participate in politics ourselves? Why join politics? That is, why should we enter the decision-making and leadership levels? This is a very important question. If we do not solve this problem, we may not strive to enter the decision-making level. Or even if you enter the decision-making level, you may not speak for women. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of why women participate in politics, first of all, from the perspective of the international community, the issue of women's participation in politics is actually not only a problem for Chinese women, but also a problem for women around the world. So from a global perspective, the issue of women's participation in politics should actually be discussed. Needless to say, it is too far away, that is, it has been more than 200 years since the French Revolution in 1789, so from the beginning of the French Revolution. At that time, under the slogan of "liberty, equality, and fraternity", the bourgeoisie wanted to seize rights from the feudal lords and believed that all people were born equal. So in this case, this slogan of enlightenment was also an enlightenment for French women at that time. Therefore, some French women at that time also proposed that if men want to seize political power from feudal lords, then we women should also have our own rights. So the current history of the women's movement, or the history of women's suffrage, places the beginning of women's suffrage as the French Revolution.

In the 18th century, in fact, in the major capitalist countries in Western Europe, campaigns for women’s suffrage were launched. So by the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, that is, in the 1920s, women in major Western capitalist countries gained the right to vote. In other words, legally, women have obtained equal political rights as men. If you have the right to vote, of course you may also have the right to be elected.

But in fact, when women gained the right to vote, they found that the right to vote only recognized by law does not automatically become your actual rights. So what about women in social life, in employment, In education, in many fields, men are still oppressed and unequal. So, based on the understanding of one's own status, starting from the 1960s and 1970s of the last century, that is, the 20th century, everyone may know that the Western women's liberation movement has begun a second wave. So the rights she wants to fight for at this time are not just the right to vote recognized by the law, but include all rights. For example, equality in the working environment, equality in working conditions, equal pay for equal work, the kind of hidden discrimination against women, etc. Therefore, it is the women's liberation movement that turns the political rights recognized by the law into a practical possibility. Such a movement is visible. When such a movement developed to the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995, it should be said that it reached a climax or a new starting point. Then, at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, a "Plan of Action" was finally formed. This "Plan of Action" proposed twelve key areas of focus, one of which is women's participation in rights and decision-making. So the significance of women's participation in politics is raised very high in this section.

So the United Nations has stipulated this. In 1997, it held a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in New Delhi, India. In the Inter-Parliamentary Union, it put forward such a standard, that is, the representation of women in decision-making at all levels. The proportion should reach 30%. First reach 30%, and then go from 30% to 50%, which is half and half. Of course, it is unrealistic for you to raise 50% now, so it must be at least 30%. Why does it raise this ratio? It is because whether your ratio is high or low is related to whether your voice can be heard, and whether your voice has the power and authority to influence decision-making after it is spoken. There are many successful examples of women's participation in politics in the world. Let's not talk about international, let's talk about China. That is, in China, there are many women cadres including the All-China Women's Federation. Now she dares to actively speak out and dare to defend women's rights. If she has rights, then she actually affects the decision-making. For example, the revision of the Marriage Law includes the inclusion of domestic violence. Although many people think that it is not yet specific and is still very abstract, it is already a great improvement compared to the original period when it was not mentioned. So how is this progress achieved? Without such an appeal from female scholars, intellectuals, women and even female college students, and without such an appeal from the top leaders of the Women's Federation, it would be difficult to write it into the Marriage Law. So this means that Without women's participation in politics and women's voices, these laws, regulations, and policies that affect women's interests may harm our interests.

There is another reason, that is, from the perspective of women’s own characteristics. It turns out that under the traditional positioning of women, we often hear people say that women are petty, emotional, do not understand politics, and are not suitable to be officials or participate in politics. But in fact, there are many female cadres in our country. Her abilities, her courage, and her political achievements are completely comparable to those of male cadres. And especially in the long-term process of gender socialization, women have developed the characteristics of being more careful, more considerate of others, considering problems more carefully, and being more helpful in dealing with problems. Sexualization. So some of her characteristics are actually very necessary for a leading cadre. So now I hear many male cadres saying that they discovered the advantages of female cadres when they were together, saying that they are particularly serious, particularly hard-working, particularly honest, and so on. Of course, I also feel that this is not all, because there are also female cadres who cannot endure hardship. But from the feedback I have heard many times, it is true that female cadres have the characteristics of women due to their original social gender division of labor, which is an advantage for a leading cadre, not a disadvantage. Therefore, we should carry forward this advantage of women, then use this advantage, and then use this advantage as an advantage for us to participate in politics to fight for the right to participate in politics. This is a point of view from the characteristics of women themselves. In addition, let me put it a little bigger, judging from the ambitious goals proposed by our party and the country, that is, we must realize a moderately prosperous society, and the "16th National Congress" also proposed to strengthen socialist political democracy. of construction, so are these empty? No, it must be reflected in all aspects of our reforms. Then women's participation in politics is actually political democratization and an important part of the construction of socialist democracy. In other words, it allows the so-called marginalized groups to have their voices heard and can If expressed, then her interests can be taken into account in national decision-making, then women's participation in politics can promote the realization of such goals, then women's participation in politics should actually be included in the political and democratic process of our country. Such an indispensable link, so its significance is very important.

What misunderstanding should we be wary of here? That is to say, because we have just said that women's participation in politics is a manifestation of women's human rights, so that your interests can be expressed and your voices can be heard, you must consider that women's interests should not be ignored in the absence of a gender perspective. Such a kind of decision-making has been ignored, so the significance of women's participation in politics here is to promote equality between men and women. At this point, this is most critical. So now where do I say there is a misunderstanding? That is to say, some people think that women's participation in politics is to seize power from men, or that women's participation in politics is to do the opposite. You think that the patriarchal society has oppressed you, so now that you have obtained the rights, you will oppress men. I think it’s wrong for men to think this way, and it’s wrong for women to think this way. When I get the power, I want to suppress men. That’s not the case. So women's participation in politics actually needs to achieve gender equality, that is, to establish an equal partnership between the genders. This is the goal of participation in politics. So I will continue to talk about it next, that is, what is the goal of women's political participation?

I think its goals can be viewed from two aspects: one is a quantitative goal; the other is a qualitative goal. The so-called quantity means that our women's participation in politics must reach a certain proportion. For example, among leading cadres at all levels, what proportion should be female cadres? For example, the United Nations has proposed a ratio of 30%, which is the minimum ratio. Now many countries around the world have stipulated the ratio of women's participation in politics: For example, Norway, then the Norwegian government stipulates that the various committees and directors affiliated to the government The number of female cadres in the association must reach 40%, which is the ratio they stipulate. Well, some political parties have also proposed that the proportion of party representatives of this party, including the gender ratio of party members, must reach 20%, 35%, or 40%. There are different regulations, or they stipulate this, which means that among the representatives of a political party, No one gender can be less than 40% or no one gender can be more than 60%. That means that the regulation of this ratio is very important. I have actually mentioned its importance just now. It means that if you don’t have a certain amount, you won’t be able to make your own voice heard. One goal of women's participation in politics is to reach a certain proportion. Of course, the ideal is 50%, because the population of women and men are the same, each accounting for 50%. Then there should be equality in a rights organization. But since women have not had this right for a long time, it is a gradual process, so now the proportion can be raised a little lower, and then after it reaches 30%, it can reach 40%, it can reach 50%, which is an indicator of political participation. .

Then there is another indicator of political participation that is very important, that is, women’s participation in politics must speak for women and express women’s voices. This is a more important indicator. Why? That is to say, if your quantity is reached, but if what you say is the same as what the man said, your quantity is meaningless, right? is meaningless. Why? Because although you have reached 20%, 30%, or 50%, but what you say is the same as what the official with patriarchal ideas said, then you don’t need to participate in politics, then there is no need for you to participate in politics, because you Just as he said. So what is a qualitative measure of women’s participation in politics? It depends on whether this woman participating in politics can speak for women and express the voice of women. So I think that on this issue, the meaning of women's participation in politics, her purpose of participating in politics, why she wants to participate in politics, and the goal of participating in politics are very important on this issue, and she should be very clear-headed. understanding. Therefore, at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing that I just talked about, the United Nations proposed the Program of Action. Among its 12 areas of concern, what issue does each area of ??concern emphasize? They all emphasize the need to bring gender into the mainstream of decision-making. On political issues and political participation, you must bring gender into the mainstream of decision-making. You must take into account the significance of women's participation in politics. Women are not a drawback or disadvantage of political participation, but actively create conditions. Let women participate in politics, thus incorporating the perspective of social gender into such an area of ??political participation.

Well, various United Nations agencies now have a very important point of view, that is, they must mainstream gender into the decision-making of various United Nations agencies. The United Nations helps poverty, opposes war, fights AIDS, promotes literacy around the world, etc. All these fields have gender issues. When it comes to AIDS, women are in a vulnerable position. Due to their physical weakness and structural problems, as well as their social status, they cannot resist unsafe sexual practices and so on. If you discuss these issues without a gender perspective, you cannot solve these problems. So when we talk about women’s issues, we don’t talk about women in terms of women, but in terms of equality, development and peace in this society. It is an issue of rights and an issue of institutional structure, not just a women’s issue. So if we let women participate in politics, if you don’t understand this, then your participation in politics will be greatly reduced. Then you can at most prove that you can be an official or participate in politics, but you cannot prove that you understand the situation that women are in. kind of dilemma. Then as a woman, you have not contributed to the development of women, so how you speak for women is very important. Of course, we just said that women's participation in politics is a process of promoting democratization. Under our current system, what should we women's participation in politics do? What can be done? Well, experts and scholars are now studying, and the facts are like this. That is to say, there are three main ways for women to participate in politics in China. Of course, the political participation I am talking about here mainly refers to political participation in the narrow sense, that is, being an official. Participation in politics in the sense of entering the decision-making level.

So now there are three main ways for women to participate in politics in our country. In each of these three ways, we can develop some strategies to promote women's participation in politics.

The first way is the appointment system. This appointment system, especially among high-level leading cadres, is a common way for cadres to participate in politics. If the superior organizational department or superior leader has gender awareness in his mind and can consider that this cadre can benefit women after he is promoted, then if he accepts such a cadre, it will be very effective immediately. But it also has disadvantages. What are its disadvantages? That is to say, if the woman he appoints has no gender awareness and becomes a female cadre or leader, but because she has no gender awareness herself, then she may not speak for women even though she is a woman. So what strategies should we have for this appointment system? That is, gender awareness training should be conducted for male managers of leadership departments and organizational departments, so that they can understand how to choose a more suitable female cadre, how to select more female cadres to enter the decision-making level, and why should they be selected? Now there is a women's research center at the Central Party School. One of the tasks they are doing now is to provide gender training for the party's reserve cadres who enter the Central Party School. I hope it will be effective in the future.