Paste your essay in here…女人, 여자 , 女性: An Examination of the Roles of Women in East Asian Societies
To be a woman in 19th century East Asia meant to be your son’s mother or your husband’s wife. A woman’s identity among other facets of East Asian society are androcentric; however, in in the last century women have made incredible strides to change that. Despite these efforts, women are still viewed as subordinate to men. Although justified by religious ideology, these concepts aren’t reflective of women’s potential. Since the 1800s, women’s roles and rights in East Asian societies have co-evolved in relation to the social, political and economic changes in the region.
Women in the 19th Century: Foundations
Classic Chinese Daoist and Confucian ideology influenced what was believed to be a woman’s role in Chinese society throughout most of history and into the 19th century. One of the Five Classics, I Ching (c. 800 BC), which states “Great Righteousness is shown in that man and woman occupy their correct places; the relative positions of Heaven and Earth” (Wang and Lynn 2004). Confucian principles drove Chinese society, so women's roles in society were upheld by those standards. I Ching uses female and male as metaphors for the concept of yin and yang, respectively, assigning more fickle qualities to yin and more aggressive qualities to yang. As written, Women were expected to submit to men and to protect the patriarchy. Having this language written in the Classics, the highest regarded text in Chinese society, indicates how deeply rooted sexism, though not labeled at the time, was in Chinese society.
Subordination was especially apparent through marriage. Poor families would, essentially, sell their daughters to rid themselves of economic burden, while simultaneously earning a profit (Croll 25). In her book Feminism and Socialism in China, Dr. Elizabeth Croll examines the relationship between China’s changes in Chinese politics and feminism. Because it was an expectation that daughters would go off to join another family, girls were put at a disadvantage such that they weren’t given a traditional education. Instead, they learned how to become daughters and wives of another family (Croll 25).
Similarly, in Korea, Neo-Confucian family law dominated throughout the Joseon era. Confucian family law held a patrilineal system, meaning “traced family identity and lineage” and rituals related to them must be related to a male in the family (Hwang 64). Specifically, chesa, ancestral worship rituals, did not include female ancestors, and women were not allowed to participate, minimizing their perceived roles and influence on the family and distancing them from their ancestral identity. During the early Joseon period, women’s marriage rights were essentially non-existent. Because marriage was expected of all women of age in Korean society,
daughters were typically cut off from their inheritance, and expectations were extremely high of women. Specifically, they were not allowed to divorce, but their husbands were allowed to divorce them under the seven grounds for divorce: “disobedience to parents-in-law, failure to bear a son, adultery, jealousy, hereditary disease, talkativeness and larceny,” according to A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present by Michael J. Seth. Because women’s names and identifiers were in relation to their spouse and son, getting divorced essentially meant they had lost their identity in addition to the right to property and to live a peaceful public life. If a woman was widowed, she wasn’t allowed to remarry and was encouraged to commit suicide to uphold the Confucian principle of loyalty (Seth 163). This emphasizes the extent to which women’s identities were bound to men’s. A woman’s role in Korea was to supplement that of a man’s.
However, new groups of women emerged, who challenging typical expectations of Korean women during this time: the mudang and kisaeng. The mudang were female shamans, whose roles were to connect the spiritual world to the human world. Kisaeng, female entertainers who typically came from slave families, were women who were given the education to serve as social rather than sexual prostitutes to widowers (Seth 163). This is an interesting contradiction to the ways in which typical Korean women were refused an education to learn how to become wives. While the kisaeng were a contrast to the stereotype at the time, it highlights a double standard for men and women such that widows were not allowed to remarry or have a life after the death of their spouses. Meanwhile, widowers were allowed to enjoy the company of other women after the death of their spouse.
Very early in Japanese history, women held high status in Japan. Prior to and even during the early Tokugawa period (1392-1897), there were female empresses (Britannica). However, as time progressed, their status declined. Women were also held to Confucian standards such that texts from a popular Confucian philosopher stated “such is the stupidity of her character that it is incumbent on her, in every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her husband” (Ekken 45). Notable Confucian thinker Kaibara Ekken wrote a behavioral code, The Great Learning for Women (Onna Daigaku), dedicated to women’s roles in Japanese society, constantly describing them as silly, foolish and incapable of doing anything not related to the health and happiness of her male counterpart. Wives in Tokugawa-era Japan, particularly of the samurai class were expected to represent the household through their appearance and behavior. Traits of what would be considered to be a good wife include submissiveness, self-control, and reverence for her husband. This, again, shows how a woman’s role in 19th century Japan simply exists to validate and protect the reputation of men in her family and the patriarchy at large. While Japan made significant strides culturally and economically, allowing women to participate in the industrial landscape. Women were still seen as subordinate bound to men despite abolishing the Tokugawa class system.
Religious beliefs laid the foundations for how women are to be treated in East Asian societies. By justifying subjugation with the highest regarded ideology, the societies made marriage an expectation for women and had dire consequences for deviating from the norm. While some of the expectations and standards are still weaved into East Asian society, women still had the chance to progress as a result of social, political and economic changes in the 20th century.
Women in the 20th Century: Major Change
The 20th Century was an incredible time for change throughout East Asia. Towards the end of the 19th century, feminist movements could be traced as early as the late 19th century in Li Rhuzen’s novel Flowers in the Mirror (Jing Hua Yuan), where he describes a utopian country in which women are allowed to participate in academia. This novel among other feminist sentiments influenced not only a generation of women to participate in academia but also a series of educational reforms (Lee 357). Private schools for girls opened sporadically throughout the late 19th century, teaching girls knitting, embroidery and gardening. At the start of the 20th Century, Empress Dowager Cixi began the Late Qing Reforms in China. The reforms sought to reshape China’s cultural, economic, educational, military and political landscape. However women’s educations were overlooked during the reform period and remained in the private sector. It wasn’t until 1907, that the Chinese government opened schools for girls. While this showed progress in Chinese society, as many girls were entering schools, the divide ensued because women were expected to take classes that supplemented domestic duties as opposed to their male counterparts, perpetuating a pattern of protecting the patriarchy. Following The Xinhai Revolution (1911) and the May Fourth Student Movement (1919), reforms in education allowed women to pursue similar subjects in school at a similar level. Mirroring the civil unrest against the Qing Dynasty, women fought for their rights to exist as equal to their male peers. As civilians were becoming change agents, women also used this time to make a critical change to their status.
In 1950, Mao led China’s Communist Revolution, in which the goal was to eliminate social hierarchy, enforce true equality and eradicate any remnants of old Chinese society. Mao was a huge propagator in the fight for gender equality declaring that “‘women hold up half the sky’”(Mao). Women’s roles during this time changed due to the New Marriage Law of 1950, in which women were finally given the ability to divorce along with other rights not, like equal status in the home and equal rights to the shared property (Brown 1993). This change promoted the roles and statuses of women as landowners and heads of households in a time period with emphasis on equality. Communist China made great reforms regarding the practice of child marriages, arranged marriages and prostitution, giving women control over livelihood.
Similar to China in the early 20th century, feminist movements were gaining traction in Korea. Following the March First Movement of 1919 in which Korean people fought and failed to liberate the country from Japanese imperialistic rule, Japan loosened its restrictions on Korean social life. The Japanese allowed Korea to industrialize and urbanize, giving women an opportunity to participate in urban culture. As a result, women in both rural and urban areas of Korean began to reshape the common notions of what it means to be a woman in Korea. At the turn of the decade, the concepts of “New Woman” and “Modern Girl” were growing in popularity (Hwang 143). These terms referred to women served as a symbol of the new Korea: urban and educated. Through mass media, women became the propagators and influencers for their own cause, mobilizing women and the feminist movement. Women continued to encourage other women to be more assertive in their societal roles, specifically into entering the workforce. Many women entered the manufacturing, agricultural religion and social welfare industries as not only workers but leaders in some cases (Hwang 145). This movement was crucial for the status of Korean women in the future.
Like Mao’s Communist ideal in China, Kim Il Sung’s vision for North Korea was progressive in terms of ensuring equality between the sexes. In particular, the Law on Sex Equality of 1946 and North Korean Labor Law allow women to fully participate in cultural, social and political life, like owning homes and taking time to care for children (Park 533). Similarly in South Korea, laws in 1948 allowed women to vote, drive and inherit property (World Trade Press 1). As both countries strive for modernity and economic stability, it’s imperative that they include women in the workforce. Compared to the last century, growing Both Koreas, though with different political ideologies give women the ultimate privilege: the ability to adopt and to be successful in multiple roles.
The west played a large role in reshaping Japanese society in the 20th century. The Taisho period (1912-26) was exceptional in allowing women the ability to vote and have input in the government. After World War II, the United States drafted a Constitution for Japan, in which Article 14 states “All people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin,” which legally doesn’t allow discrimination against women, but the Equal Employment Opportunity of 1986 “prohibits gender discrimination with respect to vocational training, fringe benefits, retirement and dismissal, and urges firms to try to equalize opportunity with regard to recruitment, hiring, job assignment, and promotion” further allowing Japanese women to adopt roles in the workforce not previously available (Edwards 1).
Women in the 21st Century: Modern Times
In China, women are underrepresented politically, dropping to 53rd from 16th in 1997 in terms of female representation in their parliament (Didi 2010). Currently, women make up nearly 70% of China’s workforce. The number of working women in “professional and technical, commerce and service, and industrial production” industries surpass those of men, indicating a strong female presence in the workforce (Li 2013).
In South Korea, women have been climbing the ranks both politically and economically. From 2013-2017, Park Geun-hye served as the first female president of South Korea. According to Newsweek, Samsung’s goal is to let women make up 10% of its executive staff. While North Korean men and women are socially equal, women appear to be more economically powerful by earning more money through illegal markets, making them the primary breadwinner.
In Japan, women have gained independence from the constraints of familial obligation as a co-evolution with the booming Japanese economy. It’s an unintended consequence of the education system, as schools were segregated by gender. As a result, men and women tend to satisfactorily socialize within their gender, leaving no desire to interact with the other gender. Women adapting to this lifestyle became known as the “Female Marriage Resistance,” referring to women avoiding marriage and childbirth due to their independence. Although women have unequal pay and aren’t allowed much mobility in the workforce, the mere opportunity to work has allowed women to delay typical familial duties until marriage. Women in Japan make 73% of what a man makes even though they make up nearly half of the Japanese workforce (The World Bank, 2018). Logically, this disparity makes women dependent upon a man for his income because it can sustain her more than her own. When a married couple starts a family, it’s expected that the husband spends extended periods of time away from the wife, while the wife stays home to look after the house and children.
Conclusion
With the current empowerment of women, East Asia is now facing the consequences of what happens when women aren’t forced into roles and take on the ones natural to them. China and Japan currently have issues with population control as a result of political manipulation of human nature. While East Asian women have come a long way since the 1800s, there are still economic and political disparities that sustain the patriarchy. They are continuously making strides to not be bound by traditional standards and reinventing their identity. As China, Korea and Japan continue to evolve, hopefully, women don’t have to co-evolve alongside them but rather are included in the next evolution.