Nation,Gender And Life

Thousands of years of traditional culture had formed a gender system in China with men as the core.The majority of rural women had been marginalized because of their gender and location.Since modern times,people of insight,party groups,and state power had called for women’s liberation and feminist movements,but they did not changed the status of rural women’s low status and traditional family roles.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the Communist Party of China inherited and developed Marx’s arguments on women’s liberation and launched a women’s liberation movement in cities and rural areas.Rural women were formally incorporated into the national social system under the political mobilization of "women’s liberation"and "equality between men and women." Their main identity and gender relations had changed under the shaping of the country,mainly reflected in five aspects:marriage and family,economic activities,health maintenance,political participation,spiritual world,etc.The reform of marriage system is significant in the cause of women’s liberation and social emancipation.The Marriage Law of 1950 was the first step for the country to establish a new gender system.It had strongly impacted the traditional marriage and family system and gender power relations.Therefore,it was supported by female farmers and was misunderstood by male farmers.It was gradually implemented in the game of new and old gender concepts.Rural women had the right to freedom of marriage,the right to speak and independent personality in the family relationship.Their family status had improved significantly.In addition to changes,the rural women’s family roles had continued.Playing a wife and disregarding the legitimate rights of women still existed.Mobilizing rural women to participate in social mass production was an important part of womenfolk’s work during this period.The country used top-down administrative forces and adopted various mobilization methods,which enable rural women to go to the fields.By analyzing the labor days and participation rates of participating labor,we find that rural women "promote half the sky" in production and labor.In this process,they established the status of "laborers",formed labor consciousness and labor habits,and realized the transition from "family people" to"social people" However,the traditional gender division of labor had caused labor women to bear dual responsibilities,and there was also gender inequality in income distribution.The new country actively protected the right to health of rural women,and used political discourse to explain and transform women’s bodies.Foot binding died in the 1950s.The state’s discipline of rural women’s bodies was also reflected in the birth reform,which included the promotion of new births and the establishment of a maternal and child health network.It not only changed the mode of delivery,but also the birth space.Excessive labor causes various problems in the body,so women’s physiology and body enter the public sphere and the public’s vision under the policy of"protection".The body of women who originally belonged to the private sector was included in the public domain,which became an important symbol of the socialization of rural women’s status.The first upsurge of women’s political participation occurred in new China.Rural women not only actively participated in grassroots democratic elections,but also were elected grassroots representatives to participate in the management of local governments.Many outstanding women became grassroots leaders and formed a unique management group.They were spokesmen for the party and the government at the local level.After the founding of the new China,grassroots rural womenfolk’s organizations continued to sink with state power.The women’s Congress was the mother’s family and the link between the party and the country.But unfortunately,there was a clear gender difference in the political power participation in rural areas.The political space of rural women was relatively narrow,and they were at the margin position of the rural power structure.The collectivized life of the 1950s made rural women feel "collective effervescence",and their soul was baptized.Not only did they improve their cultural quality in the literacy movement,but they also gained unprecedented spiritual excitement and cultural self-confidence.Various recreational activities gave rural women legal status in public.Collective labor,various meetings,etc.provide rural women with activities in public places,making their spiritual world enriched and satisfied.At the same time,with the development of various educational campaigns,their collective consciousness had been gradually constructed.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China,gender differences always exist.So the history of rural women had both gender and national strength.They collide,and had a profound impact on the lives of rural women.Rural women gradually got rid of the traditional role and completed the gorgeous turn from "family person" to "social person" and "national person".Due to the special historical and cultural reasons,Shandong rural women’s identity transformation was more thorough.But there are some differences in the completion time and degree.The characteristics and problems reflected in the process of rural womenfolk’s identity reorganization have prompted us to think deeply about the issue of women’s liberation in rural China and strive to achieve a harmonious situation of gender equality.