Research Paper On Gender Discrimination In China

Name
Tutor
Course
Date
Gender Discrimination in China
Introduction
Discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment or unequal treatment of targeted members of a particular group in the society. Discrimination is a widespread phenomenon in past and current societies. The commonest form of discrimination that has been observed in almost all cultures is gender-based discrimination towards female members of the community. China, a country in Asia, just like any other community has faced important challenges and developments in gender discrimination and inequality. Gender inequality in china has existed in the country for a long time, because of the role the China’s traditions have in relation to equality between the sexes (ICEF). Even though there are reported cases of sex discrimination in the current Chinese society, it is plausible that a lot has been attained towards gender equality, for instance; provision of education, economic participation, voicing choices in marriage and the rise of feminism in China.
Discussion
The period before and around the 1980s marked critical development in women's rights in Asia. Availability of education to the female child has been one of the most discussed forms of women discrimination. It is reported that a significant population of Chinese girls could not access education and related facilities (Wu et al. 2). Even in the current times, there are claims of inequality in accessing education for the female child. A closer look at the state of education in China reveals a more positive perspective. Between the 1980 and 2000, the number of schools in China drastically improved. Zeng et. al states that between the period, the number of elementary schools and the number of available slots in secondary schools increased tremendously, and accelerated in early 21st century, as the country started to open up vocational training and education schools (462). Within that period, the nation was experiencing the most rapid positive economic transformation in the world. Hence, the ability of the country to provide quality education to the growing population improved.
As the country experienced massive economic transformation, there was a growing need for skilled labor. In response to this demand, the government increased investment in secondary and tertiary education, making it available for both boys and girls. Availability of education for girls was, however, challenged by Chinese traditions. The same cannot be echoed for the current Chinese society. China is described as one of the regions in the world with the highest rate of education availability for both the male and the female child (Wu et al. 3). From a feminist point of view, equality in education has not yet been attained. The rather observation can be associated with the adoption of the Hokou system, which divided the nation into the rural and urban regions. Gender discrimination and inequality in the education sector are some of the challenges facing the rural regions as discussed in Wu et al (5). However, gender discrimination is not a term that can be used to describe China’s education system as a whole. There is need to appreciate the enormous strides that the country as attained, posing as an example to many nations in Asia. Based on rankings done in 2016, China is ranked as one of the countries indicating tremendous improvement between 2013 and 2016 (ICEF).
Gender inequality entails curtailed economic participation of women in the society. In the economic context, high unemployment rates among women are one of the most addressed forms of gender discrimination in China (ICEF). Ancient ideologies condemned the equal participation of women in productive activities. Traditional schools of thought in China have criticized the participation of women in economic activities, for instance, the manufacturing industry. Traditionalists express that active involvement of women in income activities does not improve the quality of their social life or even the economic one. Contrary to the traditional paradigm, Neoclassic school of thought considers the participation of women in economic activities contributive to the quality of social, economic and political aspects of women. Within the neoclassic are feminists who exclusively champion for this perspective (Wu et al. 16).
Employment status of women is one of the commonly used socioeconomic indicators (Liu 12). In recent times, following China's growing economic significance, there has been a focus on employment equality in China. It is challenging to determine the real nature of unemployment among Chinese women, because of the social-economic complexity of the country. For instance, unemployment is said to be higher among urban women as opposed to rural women. Cases of unemployment discrimination such as gender insensitive advertisement have been rampant in the country (Liu 15). As earlier mentioned, the feminist outlook is pushing the agenda of women discrimination to the extreme levels.