Dispersing the "Public" and the "Private": Gender and the State in the Birth Planning Policy of China
Published on Nov 19, 2015
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Dispersing the "Public" and the "Private": Gender and the State in the Birth Planning Policy of China
Hi, I will be discussing the reading by Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, 'Dispersing the "Public" and the "Private": Gender and the State in the Birth Planning Policy of China.
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Public vs. private
Western views
Wong's article sets the stage to explore how western ideas of liberation for women does not work in the context of socialist China. Mainly in the concept of private vs. public.
In the west feminists argue that women are kept in the 'Private' sphere, a place which is nonpolitical and women are consigned to reproductive labor. Whereas men are granted access to the public sphere, where they can enact their rights and act with full personhood.
This concept does not necessarily work in in socialist China, the idea of "public" is a very complicated place for women.
In the west feminists argue that women are kept in the 'Private' sphere, a place which is nonpolitical and women are consigned to reproductive labor. Whereas men are granted access to the public sphere, where they can enact their rights and act with full personhood.
This concept does not necessarily work in in socialist China, the idea of "public" is a very complicated place for women.
Photo by torremountain
Components
- Grabbing production and reproduction together
- Planning
So the birth planning policy is often seen in the western world as the intense expression of state power in how they have interfered in peoples lives.
Wong focuses on 2 main components in what makes this policy possible.
1. 'Grabbing reproduction and production together'.
So this is the idea that material production is base of our survival and development but to produce material there must be reproduction of the human species.
This goes into the second component which is;
2. Planning
So to achieve this adjustment, state planning must be enacted.
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Wong focuses on 2 main components in what makes this policy possible.
1. 'Grabbing reproduction and production together'.
So this is the idea that material production is base of our survival and development but to produce material there must be reproduction of the human species.
This goes into the second component which is;
2. Planning
So to achieve this adjustment, state planning must be enacted.
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Photo by m@®©ãǿ►ðȅtǭǹȁðǿr◄©
"It is, therefore, considered necessary for human reproduction and material production to mutually adjust to one another"
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"Our economy is a planned economy, and reproduction must also be planned" - Ma Yinchu (1957)
Photo by blmiers2
State interest
Family Interest
So with this idea of planning came this enmeshment of the private practice of reproduction and the public progression of the nation as a whole. The policy managed to subdue family interests for state interests and the official view is that reproduction is not an individual, private matter, but a collective duty and responsibility.
That isn't to
That isn't to
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Confucianism
"Individual, the family and the state in a series of concentric circles"
I won't talk too long about this but Confucianism is another large component in this idea of collectivism.
So in Confucian world order, everything is governed by a series of relationships.
Ruler and subject, father and son, older brother and younger brother, husband and wife and friend and friend.
So in most of these relationships there is an importance of superior and subordinate.
The relationships to state and the familial relationships in Confucianism were very important.
If you maintain your role correctly this will lead to a harmonious society.
So in Confucian world order, everything is governed by a series of relationships.
Ruler and subject, father and son, older brother and younger brother, husband and wife and friend and friend.
So in most of these relationships there is an importance of superior and subordinate.
The relationships to state and the familial relationships in Confucianism were very important.
If you maintain your role correctly this will lead to a harmonious society.
Photo by Claudio.Ar
The Liberated woman
remnants of the familial order
The western shift in how the individual is independent of family and land did not become prominent in China.
The importance of familial order in how the nation functions is retained.
The importance of familial order in how the nation functions is retained.
Photo by Luigi_Alesi
Emancipation through collectivization
So the liberation of women was suggested to be through the collectivization of their reproduction and it entering the public-sphere.
So Chinese women did exit the private-sphere which western feminists put emphasis on breaking down, but their access to the public sphere was granted by the collectivization of themselves for the nation.
Here you see how China attempts to maintain the traditional familial order by portraying the whole country becoming a large family through collectivization.
So Chinese women did exit the private-sphere which western feminists put emphasis on breaking down, but their access to the public sphere was granted by the collectivization of themselves for the nation.
Here you see how China attempts to maintain the traditional familial order by portraying the whole country becoming a large family through collectivization.
Photo by Zach Dischner
1979
Sichuan Province
In 1979 the "one-child package" is introduced into the Sichuan province.
So in this time regulation and enactment of the policy was more relaxed, and they were still finding their way with it.
So in this time regulation and enactment of the policy was more relaxed, and they were still finding their way with it.
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oppression
feudal value of male superiority
So when they received a huge resistance from peasant families who relied on children to help in farming they at local levels made some accommodations.
So they tolerated if a family was considered to be having "real difficulties" that would be able to have another child.
By "real difficulties" they meant the family only had a girl.
So this accommodation which was allowed actually invited and condoned gender inequality.
So they tolerated if a family was considered to be having "real difficulties" that would be able to have another child.
By "real difficulties" they meant the family only had a girl.
So this accommodation which was allowed actually invited and condoned gender inequality.
Photo by dayangchi
Discrimination
- Violence against women
- Pressure to bear son
- Harm to women's mental and physical health
In 1982, 3 years after the implementation of the policy. the All-China Women's Federation begins pointing out the discrimination women face under the policy.
SO things like;
- Violence against women who did not bear sons
- Abortion of female fetuses
- Immense stress and pressure
SO things like;
- Violence against women who did not bear sons
- Abortion of female fetuses
- Immense stress and pressure
Photo by A Guy Taking Pictures
Equality
Navigating a space for Chinese women's resistance
SO to combat the discrimination women were facing the ACWF utilized the fractured public sphere.
The public sphere of China uses the family model of all citizens being children of the state but it no longer was solely organized by traditional familial order.
So though citizens had obligations to the constitution they were also protected by it.
It states "all citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal before the law."
And this is what the ACWF used to protect women.
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"They therefore urged the state to enact a law to penalize those who fostered the value of male superiority and those who abused women with no sons"
They argued that to truly depart from feudalism and reach the modernization China sought the state must enact a law to penalize those who fostered the value of male superiority and those who abused women with no sons.
They concluded that if this was accomplished than women would be in full support of the policy.
The problem from their perspective was that of male superiority as practiced under the Birth Planning Policy -- but not the policy per se. Whereas, as Wong points out, the policy itself would be criticized with a Western interpretation of women's rights.
They concluded that if this was accomplished than women would be in full support of the policy.
The problem from their perspective was that of male superiority as practiced under the Birth Planning Policy -- but not the policy per se. Whereas, as Wong points out, the policy itself would be criticized with a Western interpretation of women's rights.
Photo by angela7dreams
Progress
China was seeking to progress past Confucian feudalism which they believed was the cause of weakness and backwardness.
Chinese scholars have noted the oppression of women as being a notable marker of feudalism and that by raising the status of women the nation would progress.
This is what ACWF used to help women.
They stated that male superiority which led to violence against women and female infanticide did not adhere to the the equality which was important to socialist modernization.
Wong emphasizes that the notion of women's rights differs from the West where individual rights are the emphasis.
Rather, equality efforts are to be achieved within the framework of socialist modernization -- a collective pursuit -- which should be of benefit to both women and men.
Chinese scholars have noted the oppression of women as being a notable marker of feudalism and that by raising the status of women the nation would progress.
This is what ACWF used to help women.
They stated that male superiority which led to violence against women and female infanticide did not adhere to the the equality which was important to socialist modernization.
Wong emphasizes that the notion of women's rights differs from the West where individual rights are the emphasis.
Rather, equality efforts are to be achieved within the framework of socialist modernization -- a collective pursuit -- which should be of benefit to both women and men.
Photo by Chalkie_CC
Untitled Slide
- Protection under the law
- Educational campaigns
- Legal centers for women
By taking this position the ACWF was able to achieve;
1. Protection under the law against violence.
2. Educational campaigns to convince the population that women did not determine the sex alone.
3. Legal centers for women who suffered from violence.
Though these laws and changes are progressive in practice they do not always ensure equality for women, the experiences of Chinese women with discrimination are very diverse.
1. Protection under the law against violence.
2. Educational campaigns to convince the population that women did not determine the sex alone.
3. Legal centers for women who suffered from violence.
Though these laws and changes are progressive in practice they do not always ensure equality for women, the experiences of Chinese women with discrimination are very diverse.
Photo by Claudio.Ar
Wong's Conclusion
- Sacrifice and empowerment
- Multiplicity and contradiction
- Women's rights and modernization
- Individual and collective interests
Wong concludes with;
- The public sphere in modern China calls citizens to sacrifice and collectivize themselves but it also gives them a place where they can claim their rights.
- The interaction of women within the state is filled with multiplicity and contradictions, sometimes the things which oppress them can also at times liberate them.
- The policy which collectivized women resulted in violence against them but also spotlighted how women's issues are relevant to the nation as a whole. Women's status is important China's modernization.
- The individual and the collective are often seen at odds but they don't necessarily need to be.
- The public sphere in modern China calls citizens to sacrifice and collectivize themselves but it also gives them a place where they can claim their rights.
- The interaction of women within the state is filled with multiplicity and contradictions, sometimes the things which oppress them can also at times liberate them.
- The policy which collectivized women resulted in violence against them but also spotlighted how women's issues are relevant to the nation as a whole. Women's status is important China's modernization.
- The individual and the collective are often seen at odds but they don't necessarily need to be.
Photo by Earl-Wilkerson
Comparison
In comparison with this weeks reading
Hirschkind and Mahmood in their paper "Feminism, the Taliban, and Politics of Counter-Insurgency," notice that Westerners take issue with how Muslim women dress, lack of access to education and lack of employment but completely ignore the issues of war, militarization and starvation as being injurious to women.
Western viewpoints often latch onto a view issues with out discussing the root causes.
Hirschkind and Mahmood in their paper "Feminism, the Taliban, and Politics of Counter-Insurgency," notice that Westerners take issue with how Muslim women dress, lack of access to education and lack of employment but completely ignore the issues of war, militarization and starvation as being injurious to women.
Western viewpoints often latch onto a view issues with out discussing the root causes.
Photo by Werner Kunz
Point of view
So Hirschkind and Mahmood also suggest like Wong thinking about the lives of Muslim women from outside the Western viewpoint. To attempt to understand the complexities of Muslim and Chinese women's lives you must first attempt to understand the context that these women are living in.
Photo by crl!
What we see from the outside is much more complex from within.
My conclusion from both readings is that the writers are trying to communicate that what is seen from the outside, from a place completely severed from what is being looked at people tend to make overly simplistic judgements and decisions on the issues.
At first glance western feminist might view the birth planning policy as an all powerful state enacting oppression on passive women but in reality the how the policy came into being and the struggle under it are far more complex.
So instead of ignorantly attempting to "help" we should try to understand.
At first glance western feminist might view the birth planning policy as an all powerful state enacting oppression on passive women but in reality the how the policy came into being and the struggle under it are far more complex.
So instead of ignorantly attempting to "help" we should try to understand.
Photo by drbob97
