Friday, November 26, 2010

For China’s Women, More Opportunities, More Pitfalls

Victoria Phillips
11/26/2010
4:32 pm


China still lags behind in gender equality. Women have came a long way as far as making personal decisions. They now are more or less given the choice to choose their own careers and who they marry. These choices were not given to their ancestors. However, they still have to apply for permission to have a child. And when they do apply for jobs, they are usually asked questions like “have you had a child yet?” If the woman has not, they tend to not be hired because the employer does not want to give out time off for having the baby. Also, the employer has to help in covering the costs for childbirth. Most women have to choose between having a career or having a family. It is almost impossible to have both. China has established women’s rights at least on paper. These rights outlawed sexual harassment which was the first time in China’s history that that has happened.
I think that China as well as places like India have the stigma of having oppressed women and to some extent that may be true, at least to spectators. To China and her people, this is part of their culture. It seems as if they are starting to make women’s rights more of a priority, but it’s obvious that they still have a long way to go. To employers, women are seen more as a financial burden because of the belief that women should care for the children. If men were seen as equal caretakers, then maybe women wouldn’t have such a hard time being hired because time off to take care of children would be equal for both genders.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/world/asia/26iht-china.html?pagewanted=2&%2339;s rights&_r=1&sq=women&st=cse&scp=1

5 comments:

Corinne Knowles said...

I can't imagine living in a society where I have to ask for permission to have a child. I'm glad these women have more rights than even their grandparents did but it looks like they still have a ways to go in certain areas.

Macy James said...

I agree with Corinnne, I couldn't imagine living this way. I believe that we all take our country for granted and unfortuntly don't realize what other people in other countries are going through. I am definitely thankful for the women rights we have here.

Tenna Wyatt said...

I enjoyed reading this article. Its good to know that women in today's societies have more rights than women from past generations, but it angers me to think of having someone give me a job based on whether or not I have had a baby yet. What about those women who don't want kids.

Anonymous said...

I think that is crazy. How could someone live that way. I cant imagined having to ask my child for permission to have my child. Im glad that we have women rights in our society

Anonymous said...

I am thankful to live in a democratic country with so many opportunities and freedom. I couldn't imagine having to get permission to have a child.