China is a developing country with the largest population in the world. In China’s post 1980 modernization efforts, new tensions have emerged as women are urged to return to their traditional roles at home and at work, and to “feminize” their physical appearance. In the 1930s, they played a strategic and important role in the army. Ancient Chinese society widely practiced the ideas of Confucius. Women's education, determination, and strength have helped the Chinese people on many occasions during armed conflicts. Foreword. Therefore, the promotion of gender equality and the overall development of women is not only of great significance for China 's development, it also has a special influence on the efforts for the advancement of mankind. (13)In 1994, a State Coun-cil (1994) document stipulated: “China subscribes to the principle of equality In recent decades, advocacy for women's rights has made progress in China, although it remains a controversial issue in the country (Lary, 1985). Gender is now one of the most important factors behind income inequality in China, perhaps more so than even the longstanding divide separating Chinese … Over the past forty years, increasing attention to gender and sexuality in Brazilian historiography has given us a nuanced understanding of diverse ways in which women and men in Brazil’s past experienced patriarchy, racism, and other forms of oppression. The lives of women in China have changed significantly due to the late Qing Dynasty reforms, the changes of the Republican period, the Chinese Civil War, and the rise of the People's Republic of China.. Achievement of women's liberation has been on the agenda of the Communist Party of China since the beginning of the PRC. Mao Zedong famously said, "Women hold up half the sky." In Ancient China,men ruled the household and had complete control over his wife. History of the Women’s Movement in China and Theories on Gender Stratification History of the women’s movement in China Like women in most cultures, women in China have suffered as the result of their extremely low status. Gender Relations. of the roles and duties of men and women within the family and society – far from it – or to the often very unequal situations these stereotypes generate, in particular since the economic reforms. Of its total population of 1.3 billion, women account for about half. At the same time, the old ideal of the worker who forsakes even family duties to selflessly contribute to society still holds. Susan-Ann Dela Cruz traditional Women's Changing Gender Roles in China SOC4600-02 Senior Seminar Gender Views Policies: Open Door Policy One Child Policy both contributing to women's empowerment Intersectionality Gender and Culture the New Woman: associated with nationalistic The only role of the wife was to be a servant to their husbands and to produce sons of them so the sons could carry on the family name. GENDER RELATIONS IN Ancient CHINA: SOME GENERALIZATIONS ¢ different and separate social roles existed for men and women ¢ Strong division between men’s and women’s social spheres ¢ Gender stratiication more pronounced among upper-class, urban people • Gender divisions less rigid in impoverished rural areas • Families that struggled to survive mobilized both men Roles of Men,Women, and Children varied. The issue of gender roles and equality has been contentious in China.