A Research On The Effect Of Changes In The Means Of Livelihood On Jing Women’s Social Status

In recent years, it has become the trend of the world to promote gender mainstreaming and gender equality and harmony, China also take equality between men and women as a basic national policy. But the development of women still face with many difficulties and challenges at present, women are in a relatively weak position than men in economic, political, cultural and social aspects, it is not conducive to gender equality and harmony. This study investigated Jing women’s social status from the perspective of changes in the means of livelihood, hoping to form a useful complement to the current gender theory research and also want to promote gender mainstreaming in minority areas, and to improve women’s social status, give full play to the role of women in the new socialist countryside construction.This study used qualitative research methods, through the research of X Village in Guangxi Dongxing City, and found that after the reform and opening up, the employment opportunities for Jing women and their income increased, their economic status improved with changes in the means of livelihood. The economic contribution to the family increases, making they have more autonomy in the family, the relationship is becoming equal between family members. But changes in the means of livelihood didn’t improved the political status of Jing women, instead, the idea of "Men outside the home and women inside the home" is deep-rooted due to traditional gender division of labor. Women’s quality and ability is not high, and institutional mechanism is not perfect, restricted the women’s participation in political life. There are problems of women’s participation in politics such as low proportion, weak awareness, low ability and poor issues. In culture, changes in the means of livelihoods improved the Jing women’s cultural status to some extent. Jing women played an important role in the protection and transmission of traditional culture, their educational opportunities increased with the improvement of educational systems and facilities. In addition, the improvement of living standards maked women’s mental life richer. It is clear that the changes in the means of livelihood affected the Jing women’s social status to a certain extent and created the conditions for the improvement of their social status, in particular the impact of the traditional gender division of labor, so that women have a broader space for development. But as long as the constraints of gender equality in the social system and culture still exist, women will not be able to achieve all-round development. It needs the joint efforts of the society and women themselves to further improve the Jing women’s social status. On the one hand, the government and society should actively create conditions and improve the environment for women’s development. On the other hand, the Jing women should change their concepts, and strive to improve their own quality.