History+of+womens'+issues+in+China

**History of womens' issues in China**
[] Chinese history has revealed that women in China were viewed as subservient in society. They were portrayed as objects for admiration and objects of desires. They were expected to perform the typical roles of mothers, daughters, wives, and concubines in accord with established conventions of the dominant male society.

The end of [|imperial] rule in 1911 A.D. and beginning of the [|Republic years] (1912-1949) didn't change a lot for women in rural areas but women in major cities were given the opportunity to formally educate themselves. Many women studied along side their male counterparts. []

====History of the twentieth-century China is inevitably connected to the Cultural Revolution. The social standing of women in China changed radically during the time of [|Communism] under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Since 1949 the Chinese government has promised women equal status in society. " Women hold up half the sky", Mao said. He abolished the centuries-old practice of [|foot-binding]nationwide, banned bridal sales and concubines and legalized divorce. Mao also rejected the argument that population growth would eventually outrun food supply, and firmly regarded China's huge population as an asset. Mao emphasized on the idea that women should be liberated from existing social restrictions and share equal responsibilities to build a strong Communist nation. This liberation was for the sake of the revolution and not for women. Women were expected to sacrifice their feminine nature for equal status in society. They would look the part including male-styled clothing, short hair cuts and abstinence from other expressions of femininity. The revolutionary ideas and values were prevalent in Chinese socialist society which did not include women liberation issues. “The measure of liberation was the degree to which a woman could measure up to male standards” (Clark, 2000, p.69). During the [|Great Leap Forward]and the [|Cultural Revolution] in Mao's China, women were marching alongside men as soldiers, farmers, workers and government officials.====

**Current Chinese Women's Issues**
The death of Mao and the beginning of Modern Communism under new leadership brought forth new problems for women. Women lost some of the power and equality they saw under Mao. Even though China had opened it's doors to the western world and was exposed to a new sense of freedom, women once again were subjected to being repressed by male dominance. Due to the fear of over-population, China implemented a One-Child policy. Today China has been widely criticized for forcing women to be sterilized or have abortions as part of its policy of one child per family Furthermore, families are resorting to abortion and infanticide to make sure their one child is a boy. The loss of female births due to illegal prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortions has made the ratio of men to women in China disproportionate. Since there are a larger number of males, especialy in the countryside,there is an increase to cases of human trafficking as bachelors try to purchase their wives. Women are also fleeing from the countryside to urban areas. This flight does not result in a better lifestyle since these cities are hotbeds of new cultural entertainments of hostess bars and strip joints. This type of sexual activity has also increased the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Even though there is some progress for women in the cosmopolitan centers of China, the majority of Chinese women still struggle for survival and equal status.

**History of Chinese Female Artists**
Through out Chinese history, there were only two kinds of women who might have had the right to paint: the Courtesan of the inner chambers and the Prostitute of the outside world. Subjects never went beyond flowers and life in the inner chamber. A few outstanding women painters were able to achieve art, but their style, methods and other modes of discourse would never achieve excellence, not by male standards of aesthetics.

Guan Daoshang (attributed to, 1262 - 1319) Ink Bamboo and Garden Rock

In the twenties and thirties of this century, a few women were able to break into the ranks of mainstream Chinese contemporary art. Of these, there were also a few who, by virtue of either talent or special social status, were able to study and even teach Western art, like their male counterparts returning from study abroad. Pan Yuliang was a female artist who struggled to make her work known during this time.

[] Self-Portrait, Pan Yuliang 1949

====Revolutionary feminist art had basically the same character, stressing revolutionary content and the character of the male aesthetic. Women had sacrificed their feminine nature to the cause of "holding up half the sky", Women had little choice during this time about they type of artwork they were producing. They created art for the party side by side with their male counterparts. ====



//Study the battle spirit of the Red Army during the Long March, conquer nature, build up our nation, 1953//

When rules were lifted as China opened to the west, the female artist abandoned revolutionary realism style of painting but did not have anything to replace it with. Women fell back into the previous traditional values. This period represents a retrogression of feminist values. Feminist art from this period is almost entirely comprised of women, children, mothers and their children, flowers and scenery. The late 1970s and 80s were a significant time in the history of modern Chinese art. Women were outnumbered in participation in these changes, but some critics go so far as to argue that the artwork of women was not only not developing in line with the artwork of their male contemporaries, but that it was not developing at all: entrenched in antiquated themes and styles.

Mother and Son by Yan Ping, 1990

However, women's artwork did begin to reveal hints of change, such as the symbolic expression of the self's inner world and its meanings.

Yu Hong "A Portrait of Nostalgia" 1990

Art New Wave was the movement that helped to mature China’s modern art. Even though women were largely absent from this landscape, a few women were able to break through the barriers and create modern art alongside male artist. They began to demonstrate that art by women in China is not confined to "women's issues" like family and home. Much of it is about excavating a personal past and bringing it into the present, and about examining that present and how it is being lived. [|Li Shuang] broke through and achieved recognition when she was the only woman among the founding artists in the Stars (// Xingxing //) group that self-assembled during 1979.

Xiao Lu quickly became known in 1989 when she fired two shots on her artwork "Dialogue" the the "China/Avant-Garde" exhibition.



The nineties was the decade in which Chinese female artists became the most dynamic. The 1994 article “Walking out of the Abyss: My Feminist Critique” by Xu Hong began to formalize a language to discuss female art and stop judging it by male standards.

China’s female artists today remain a minority. Women are still in the shadows of male artists. Their male contemporaries artwork is exhibited in more galleries and are purchased for higher prices. However, China’s contemporary female artists are focusing on reflections of society and issues of importance worldwide, and the world has started to notice.

=Selection of Contemporary Chinese Female Artists=

[|Xing Danwen], [|Wang Xiaohui], [|Liu Ren], [|Liu Liyun], [|Lin Tianmiao], [|Li Wei], [|Han Yajuan] [|Cao Fei] [|Yang Fudong]

Lin Tianmiao,

Focus Series, Lin Tianmial 2001

Yun Bai, Peaceful Hope, Yun Bai 2006

Zhang Jie

//Self-Portrait//, Zhang Jie, 2006

__Cui Xiuwen__

Angel no 1, Cui Xiuwen

Women's Movement and Change of Women's Status in China* journal of international women's studies Yuhui Li volume 1
__On-line sources__:

[] A forum for the Arts of Contemporary Chinese Women

[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China#Imperial_era] This Wikipedia page explores the history of China.

[] This web page is a part of a project by the Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University and it contains information about the history of China between the years of 1912 – 1949.

[] This web page contains information about the Cultural Revolution in China and is a part of a web hosting site “Fortune City”.

[] This Wikipedia page explores the topic of Communism.

[] This website //Bella Online: The Voice of Women// presents Heather J. Hasan's discussion on the practice of foot-binding in her article “The Art of Foot-Binding”.

[] This web page reviews the time in Chinese history that's known as The Great Leap Forward and is a part of a website which was created in England by Chris Trueman and dedicated to World History.

[|http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinwomn.html]

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[] ArtZine China article, "The Art of Women in China"

[] Female artists in China get a room of their own

[|**http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/arts/design/30arti.html?pagewanted=all**] New York Times article "China’s Female Artists Quietly Emerge"

[] New York Times Article "Hilary Clinton in China Details Abuse of Women"

[] MSNBC.com article, " China Grapples Legacy Its Missing Girls"

[] New York Times article, " Chinese women's art takes on a man's world"

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