Oct. 14, 2016
History 395
The Arising of Feminist China through Communism Traditional versus unconventional, which school of thought would win in China, and why would one even take this thought into consideration? To understand the personal plights and woman to continue in the advancements of society as a whole and Chinese communist understood that reality. In contrast, the Nationalist of China only focused of the unification and expelling of foreign influences from China and the ideals of social equity and feminism was seen as threat to the nationhood. The feminist rallying cry of “the personal is political” ascribes to the life of Xie Bingying’s life. Her pursuits of personal growth through education was contested by the …show more content…
Traditional Confusion ideals focused less on individual pursuits and catered more to family unity; in a feminist perspective this approach disenfranchises the woman right to have educational, economic, and social freedom of choice because on is expected to be under the realms of their elders because of their sacrifices that they made for the family. Xie independent and curious disposition was a motif of Communist thought in opposed to the Nationalist agenda. An example of her individuality is present when Xie’s grandmother describes her as being “too troublesome” (Xie pg.2) to her mother. The word “troublesome” not only describes what the family thought of Xie, but it is a representation of what Chinese Nationalist felt of the feminist movement, which was troublesome and not important to the progress of China.
Xie’s village and its social customs were opposed to the feminist approach of freedom and liberation of through the means of education. Class structure and social hierarchy penetrated well beyond divisions of labor and economic status, but it spilled into the segregation of the sexes and scholastic prospects. Xie described this when she stated that, “According to customs boys and girls could not sit together after four years of …show more content…
She stated that, “upon entering the school I saw so many lively and unaffected girls bouncing balls and jumping rope that I thought I had gone to heaven” (Xie pg. 25). Xie’s use of descriptive imagery leaves as striking picture of social harmony similar to the Chinese Communist perception of a classless society and social equity with the sexes. The communit wished to project to their audience socialism wanted to promote equality and tranquilgty to all that were disenfranchised. Xie used the phrase, “unaffected girls” to describe the fact that these girls were not influenced by the strict traditions of