Feminism in Chinese communism
[8] These statutes declared marriage as a free association between a woman and a man without the interference of other parties and permitted divorce on mutual agreement.
[8] At the time, they were the most progressive marriage laws in China and created the conditions for women to divorce men they had been forced to marry, leave abusive spouses, and till their own land.
[11] In conjunction with land reform, the movement promoted women's issues such as the elimination of bride prices and reversing the stigma against widows remarrying.
[10]: 64 The famous quote from Mao Zedong, reported to have been uttered in 1968, reflects the commitment of the new government of the People's Republic of China: "Women hold up half the sky".
In the 1950s, high-level female CCP cadre had a significant role in advocating for greater access to abortion and sterilization surgeries—in their view, women could not "hold up half the sky" nor advance their revolutionary work if they had too many children.
For the next few years, the CCP focused more on overall societal stability and emphasized more domestic values for women to support a peaceful home life.
[2] Rural women had a significant impact on China's land reform movement, with the CCP making specific efforts to mobilize them for agrarian revolution.
[10]: 62–63 Party activists observed that because peasant women were less tied to old power structures, they more readily opposed those identified as class enemies.
[10]: 63 In 1947, Deng Yingchao emphasized at a land reform policy meeting that "women function as great mobilizers when they speak bitterness.
[21] Despite that Great Leap Forward Movement ultimately resulted in a devastating famine, it paved the way for women's labor force participation during the Cultural Revolution period.
[2] The Cultural Revolution period beginning in 1966 brought prosperous economic development as women's labor force participation remained high.
[2] During the Cultural Revolution, one way China promoted its policy of state feminism was through revolutionary operas developed by Mao's wife Jiang Qing.
[22] The narratives of these women protagonists begin with them oppressed by misogyny, class position, and imperialism before liberating themselves through the discovery of their own internal strength and the CCP.
Unequal employment opportunities and income distribution have become such large issues that the United Nations Development Program has allocated specific funds to aid women who are laid-off from their jobs.
This time period in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre saw a limit in spontaneously organized activism as ordered by the Chinese government.
Even in the 21st century, men have more access to social resources and high socioeconomic status, due to the existing prevalence of patriarchal values in Chinese society.
[2] Post-Mao CCP leaders such as former general secretary Zhao Ziyang vigorously opposed the participation of women in the political process.
