1) Feminism is the advocacy for political, social, and economic equality for women, including women’s suffrage and job equality. A feminist is someone who supports and advocates for feminism. Given this definition, do you think that Mao Zedong was a feminist?
"I should say yes by this definition of feminist. Although his purposes for being one may not have been altogether positive, he was definitely a feminist. During the PRC, Mao gave equal opportunities to women by allowing them to get an education and therefore a job to support themselves later on in life."
2) After Mao and People's Republic of China, has women's role in China improved?
"Yes, no doubt. Whatever political purposes Mao supported women's equality for, the result is obvious, though it did take decades for women to get equal opportunities of education and jobs as men, especially in rural areas. Take the example of education. Women before PRC did not have opportunity to go into school as men. After PRC, the Party encourage people sending their girls to school and now this is mandatory legally (we call ‘9 year mandatory education’) because of Mao's reforms."
3) If so, do you have any specific examples of how women's role in China has improved? For example, this could be about how a family member or even you have more opportunities financially and socially after the PRC.
"My mother is the youngest girl in a big family (9 children). My grandfather ran a rice wine brewery in a small village. When she was a child, people still thought a girl did not need any education, but my grandfather sent her to school and let her finish junior school which was the best education she could have at that moment. And she became a teacher in village and then worked in government education bureau, which gave her better life than many of her contemporaries, and also the reason she encouraged and financially supported me to go university in China and overseas. Before PRC, women normally stayed at home as housewives and should not go to public places (100 years ago women in China had to wrap their feet with cloth so their feet were seriously injured and then could not walk long distance, because men wanted to constrain women movement). After PRC, it was commonly seen that women working in almost all areas and even taking high level manager role."
"I should say yes by this definition of feminist. Although his purposes for being one may not have been altogether positive, he was definitely a feminist. During the PRC, Mao gave equal opportunities to women by allowing them to get an education and therefore a job to support themselves later on in life."
2) After Mao and People's Republic of China, has women's role in China improved?
"Yes, no doubt. Whatever political purposes Mao supported women's equality for, the result is obvious, though it did take decades for women to get equal opportunities of education and jobs as men, especially in rural areas. Take the example of education. Women before PRC did not have opportunity to go into school as men. After PRC, the Party encourage people sending their girls to school and now this is mandatory legally (we call ‘9 year mandatory education’) because of Mao's reforms."
3) If so, do you have any specific examples of how women's role in China has improved? For example, this could be about how a family member or even you have more opportunities financially and socially after the PRC.
"My mother is the youngest girl in a big family (9 children). My grandfather ran a rice wine brewery in a small village. When she was a child, people still thought a girl did not need any education, but my grandfather sent her to school and let her finish junior school which was the best education she could have at that moment. And she became a teacher in village and then worked in government education bureau, which gave her better life than many of her contemporaries, and also the reason she encouraged and financially supported me to go university in China and overseas. Before PRC, women normally stayed at home as housewives and should not go to public places (100 years ago women in China had to wrap their feet with cloth so their feet were seriously injured and then could not walk long distance, because men wanted to constrain women movement). After PRC, it was commonly seen that women working in almost all areas and even taking high level manager role."