Before 1949, there was an old saying in imperial China - "too much learning does not become a virtuous woman." At the time, women were trapped taking care of their family, their life value largely bonded to fertility and homecare. As a result, education for them was limited.
After the PRC was established, the low productivity in the economy meant women were required to join the social production to enable a stable national food supply. As such, the saying “Women hold up half the sky” was popularized as more women began to work in fields, as well as vote in their communities.
China then advanced equal education, giving girls the ability to get the education they had missed out on. As a result, the literacy rate increased significantly – rising from less than 30% in the 1940s to 66% in 1978.
The economic reform in 1978 saw a move from a planned economy to a marketized economy, and industrialization brought about unprecedented chances for skilled female workers. The large demand for cheap labor in coastal areas caused an influx of rural residents into the cities. With most men already in employment, educate women seized the opportunity to get employed – which in turn saw young rural women moving to urban areas for jobs in factories, giving them independence from their families.
Due to the demand for skilled labour, two intertwined policies followed in the 1980s - the One Child Policy and the Compulsory Education Law, both having an affect on the country’s women.
Due to the One Child Policy, parents’ attitudes gradually changed. With only one child in each family, children were each equally cherished and cultivated, and girls were given more attention as they were growing up.
The Compulsory Education Law, implemented in 1986, continued to balance education inequality until there was a completely balanced education rate.
However, inequality still exists. Whilst education at all levels has become equally accessible for Chinese urban men and women, there is still a low enrollment rate for girls after the primary stage in rural parts of the country, showing a disparity still exists between rural and urban areas of the country.
Educated women and the development of feminism
Communism under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is seen as damaging for the gender equality due to its censorship and surveillance of activists fighting for political rights.
However, communism did have some positive outcomes for gender equality. Being educated has made women more aware of gender issues, and there are a growing number of educated women challenging social norms.
One example follows a Tiktok video of a Chinese mother of eight children, locked up in a village hut with a chain around her neck. The video sparked outrage in China and lead to a focus on speaking out for invisible women in rural areas - making discussions around gender equality more prevalent than they before.
Due to the reaction to the video, it has been proposed that marriages with trafficked women should be invalidated, showing the influence that Chinese women are having on legislation and how public pressure can hold the government to account.
China’s prominent achievement in female educational attainment has directly created educated women, who are exploring what could be deemed a milder form of feminism under communism in contemporary China.