Awomen-onlyjobfairinPutianCityofFujianProvinceonFebruary16LITTLEdidHanHanrealizehisnewfilm
Duckweedwouldthrusthimintothemaelstromofanationwidecontroversy,especiallyamongyoungwomen,beforeitpremieredonJanuary28,theChineseLunarNewYearDay.Thethemesong,releasedbeforethepremiere,litupsocialmediaplacingthefamouswriter,carracerandfilmdirectorindecidedlyhotwater.
AttheheartofthecriticismwasacomplaintfromXuXin,a20-year-oldactresswhoaccusedHanofdiscriminatingagainstwomeninthesong’slyrics.
“Wheninnocentboyshearthesongtheywillbeinfluencedandwillveryprobablydiscriminateagainstwomenintheirlife,”saidXu.Beforemarryingme,youmustknowthis:
Everyday,you[thewoman]mustgetupearlierthanme,sleeplaterthanme;youmustcookgoodmealsformeandkeepgoodrelationswithmymotherandmysisters.
ThesearesomeofthelyricsHanwroteforthesong.“Nowadays,womendonotneedtoplacetheirhopesonmen,orprovethemselvesbasedonthelovefromtheirhusbands,”saidXu.
ForXu,Han’smessageinthesongisoutdated.“Maybedecadesago,womenmightchoosetokeepsilentwhentheycameacrosssuchasong.Butnow,theideaofgenderequalityhasbeendeeplyrootedinpeople’smindsandmanywomenarestandingupandexpressingtheirownideas,”shesaid.
WithoutdoubtgenderequalityhasbeenwidelyrecognizedinChina.AccordingtoasurveybyShanghaiMunicipalStatisticsBureau,94.1percentoftherespondentsbelievethatwomenandmenareplayingequalrolesinsocialdevelopment.Someevenbelievethatwomenareplayingbiggerrolesthanmen.
TheInternet-relatedfiguresalsoindicatewomen’srisingsocialstatus.Atotalof67percentoftheusersofWeibo,aChineseTwitter-likemicrobloggingwebsite,arewomen,accordingtoWeibostatistics.FiguresfromAlibaba,China’se-commercegiant,showthatwomeninChinacontributedto70percentofonlinesalesin2016.
“Thoughtherearesomecasesthatshowgenderinequality,itistruethatwomen’ssocialstatushasbeengreatlyimprovedoverthepastdecades,”saidXu.“Womenshouldlearntobeindependent.”
Legalbacking
Thankstotheincreaseofpeople’sawarenessofgenderequality,womenknowhowtoprotecttheirrightsandinterestswhentheycomeacrossdiscriminationandChinahasenactedlawsandregulationstosafeguardwomen’srights.
BasedontheprovisionsoftheConstitutionthatwomenenjoyequalrightswithmeninallspheresoflife,inpolitical,economic,culturalandsocial,andfamilylife,Chinasetthegenderequalityitsbasicstatepolicyin1995.
Sincethen,greatprogresshasbeenmadeinthisregard,saidSongXiuyan,VicePresidentoftheAll-ChinaWomen’sFederationinasymposiumongenderequalityinBeijinginDecemberlastyear.
Overthepast20years,morethan20lawsandregulationsrelatedtotheprotectionofwomen’srightsandinterestshavebeenenactedandrevised,includingtheMarriageLaw,EmploymentPromotionLaw,LawontheProtectionofRightsandInterestsofWomen,andSpecialRegulationsontheLaborProtectionofFemaleEmployees.InMarch2016,theAnti-DomesticViolenceLawbecameeffective.
Puttingthelawsintopracticehasalsomadeprominentprogress.AccordingtotheGenderEqualityandWomen’sDevelopmentinChina,awhitepaperissuedbytheStateCouncilinSeptember2015,thegendergapineducationhasbeenmarkedlynarrowedinChina.
Womennowenjoybetteropportunitiesinjuniormiddleschooleducationandabove.Statisticsfromthewhitepapershowthatin2014,femalestudentsaccountedfor46.7percentand50percent,respectively,ofthetotalenrolmentsinjuniorandseniormiddleschools,andintheinstitutionsofhigherlearning,theyaccountedfor52.1percentofundergraduatestudents,51.6percentofpostgraduatestudents,and36.9percentofthosestudyingfordoctoraldegrees.
Havingreceivedbettereducation,womenareplayingbiggerrolesinthemanagementofstateandpublicaffairs.Accordingtothewhitepaper,womendeputiestotheFirstSessionofthe12thNationalPeople’sCongressin2013accountedfor23.4percent,2.4percentagepointshigherthan20yearsago.Inthesameyear,thefemaleemployeesincentralgovernmentagenciesandtheirsubsidiariesreached47.8percent(formorefigures,seegraphs).
COVERSTORY
China’sCommitmentstoPromotingGenderEqualityontheWorldStage
AttheGlobalLeaders’MeetingonGenderEqualityandWomen’sEmpowermentattheUnitedNationsHeadquartersinNewYorkonSeptember27,2015,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingannouncedtheChineseGovernment’scommitmenttosupportthegenderequalityeffortsworldwidefrom2016-20,whichinclude:
•Donating$10milliontoUnitedNationsEntityforGenderEqualityandtheEmpowermentofWomen;
•Helpingdevelopingcountriescarryout100HealthProjectsforWomenandChildrenand100HappyCampusProjects;
•Inviting30,000womenfromdevelopingcountriestoattendtrainingprogramsinChina;and
•Providing100,000skillstrainingopportunitiesinlocalcommunitiesofdevelopingcountries.
Obstaclesinmind
Despitetheprogressshowninthesefigures,obstaclesstillexistwhenitcomestoimprovingwomen’ssocialstatus,especiallyintheircareerdevelopment.
Accordingto2016Women,WorkandHappinessWhitePaperreleasedbyLeaninChina,anonlineplatformpromotinggenderequalityandwomen’scareerdevelopment,mostwomenbelievedthatthemajorchallengestheyfaceintheircareerdevelopmentare:work-lifebalance(86.3percent),careerdisruptionduetochildbearing(73.63percent)andresponsibilityathomeandsupportingtheirhusbands(70.42percent).Thewhitepapernotedthat63.2percentofmarriedwomentookthemainresponsibilityofchildrearing.
“It’seasytopromotegenderequalityinreallifethroughvariousmeasuressuchaspoliciesandlaws,butitisdifficulttochangethediscriminationdeepinpeople’smind,”saidLiuLi.
Liu,40,hadheldahigh-levelpositionasalecturerinalocaluniversityinXiamen,acoastalcityinsoutheastChina’sFujianProvince,for11years.ButjustbeforetheChineseLunarNewYear,sheresignedandfoundajobinasmallcompanysothatshecouldhavemoretimetotakecareofherthree-year-oldson.
“Iamwelleducatedandcanhaveagoodjob,thankstotheprogressmadeingenderequalityinthepastyears,”saidLiu.“ButIhavethefeelingthatwhenItrytotakecareofmyfamily,Icannotworkwellinmycareer,andviceversa.”WomendeputiestotheNationalPeople’sCongressin2016BecauseofthesefamilyresponsibilitiesLiuhadlostseveralpromotionopportunities.“Inordertotakecareofafamily,eitherthehusbandorthewifeshouldsacrificehisorhercareer,”saidLiu.“Inmostcircumstances,itisthewife.”
Liu’shusbandisalsoateacheratthesameuniversityandwasrecentlypromotedtoprofessor.“IamatraditionalwomanandIknowImustquitmyjobinordertobettertakecareofmysonsothatmyhusbandcanputmoretimeintohisworkandmakegreaterprogressinhiscareer,”saidLiu.“Idon’tknowwhetheritisakindofgenderinequality,butImadethedecisionbymyself.”
Becausewomentakematernityleaveaftergivingbirth,manycompaniesandinstitutionsarereluctanttorecruitwomenandevenfirethemforvariousfictitiousreasonswhentheybecomepregnant.
InmostpartsofChina,womencanhaveatleast98daysofpaidmaternityleave.InGuangdongProvince,theleavecanbe178daysfornaturallaborand208daysforCaesareanbirth.Thesespecialmeasuresforwomenstipulatedbylawhavebecomethereasonforsomecompaniesandinstitutionstofindexcusestofirewomenemployees.
“Theydonotwanttoshoulderextracostsandwouldratherhiremen,whocanworkallyearround,”saidHeZhen,alawyerofBeijingZhichengLegalAidandResearchCenterforMigrantWorkers.“Thisisagainstthelawandwomenshouldcollectevidenceandsuerelatedunitsoncetheyencountersuchdiscrimination.”
StartingJanuary1,2016,Chinaimplementedthetwo-childpolicy,allowingafamilytohavetwochildren.“Inthiscontext,moreeffortsshouldbemadefromboththegovernmentandsocialorganizationstobettersafeguardwomen’srightsandinterests,”Hesaid.
Henotedthatbothhusbandandwifeshouldtakeequalresponsibilitiesinraisingtheirchildren,insteadofputtingtheresponsibilityonlyonthewife.“Westillhavealongwaytogotochangepeople’smindsinthisregardandrealizegenderequalityintherealsense.”
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