Chinese Culture

The communist government thought that the liberation of women, who make half the population of China, was necessary for China to have complete freedom (Heng). Child weddings were banned, concubines were outlawed and brothels were closed. Women were allowed to hold real jobs. Some went to night school, or worked at the factory (Wudden). Laws were passed that equalized women under the law. The major ones were, The Chinese constitution of the early which 1950s. Which stated that Chinese women enjoyed equal rights with men in political, economic, social, cultural, and family life. The state protected women's rights and interests, practiced equal pay for equal work, and provided equal opportunity for women's training and promotion (Heng). The Marriage Law, which eliminated arranged marriages, saying that both women and men were free to choose their marriage partners, and widows were allowed to remarry (Heng). The Inheritance Law, which recognized the equal right of women to inherit family property (Heng). The Labor Insurance Regulations Law of 1951 guaranteed women 56 days of maternity leave with full pay (Heng). The Land Reform Law of the early 1950s provided rural women with an equal share of land under their own name, protecting their economic independence (Heng).

After women got married conditions remained much the same, only instead of being subject to a father they were subject to their husbands. Like they had to with their brothers and fathers they had to obey their husbands absolutely and without question. Their husbands often had two or three wives. A major change though when a woman got married was that she was also subject to her mother in law, a relationship that was often very nasty (Zhou). When a woman's husband died she couldn't remarry, that would be disloyal to her husband. Even if she had no food it was better for a woman to die of hunger than remarry. If a woman did remarry she had her skin peeled of the bones to death. Some women even committed suicide when their husbands died (Wudunn, pg. 1). A woman could rarely hold a job outside the house. They were supposed to spend their time cleaning the home for their husbands, indeed it was said, "the woman with no talent is the one who has merit"