Ann Ferguson, a professor of Women’s Studies and Philosophy, lectured yesterday in the Campus Center about the role of women in Chinese society. She discussed a recent visit to China, and her observations on women’s lives there.

She began her lecture by describing a weeklong course she taught last summer in a Chinese philosophy school. In her course, a feminist critique of Western philosophy, she asked students about their views on women’s rights.

“The discussions we had were interesting,” Ferguson said. “The belief that women and men naturally play complementary roles was a belief that was held, of course, by a lot of the men – and some of the women. Most of the women were very strong in their opposition to this idea, though.”

The men, Ferguson said, were divided in their beliefs about women’s ideal role. Some supported gender equality, while others felt that women were biologically inferior.

“A few thought that men were superior to women because of physical strength, and the psychological strength that comes with it,” Ferguson said. “One man argued that women, throughout history, hadn’t done anything much. He got jumped on by the women, and didn’t come back to the class.”

Ferguson felt that the course offered a unique opportunity to Chinese students to speak freely about gender issues. The younger generation, she said, often didn’t have the chance to discuss women’s rights.

After discussing the philosophy course, Ferguson showed slides of photos taken throughout her trip, and displayed unique objects she had collected. She then segued into a discussion of the history of Chinese women’s liberation.

“China is often used as an example of a place where patriarchy was challenged,” Ferguson said. “The whole way in which the Chinese patriarchal family, arranged marriage…and foot bindings were confronted by feminism [are examples of this].

“When the Communist Party began in 1920,” Ferguson explained, “it connected women’s rights with nationalism. Many feminists have noted that the idea of building a nation against colonialism usually involves a change in the position of women.

“Communist leaders thought of themselves as male feminists,” Ferguson continued. “Mao Tse-Dung publicized the story of a woman who committed suicide to escape an arranged marriage, and made her into a hero.”

In the 1950s and ’60s, many reforms were introduced in China. Foot-binding was banned, and women were permitted to join wage labor forces.

“One of the main tactics then was to smash patriarchal feminism was to eliminate families’ modes of production and establish communes,” said Ferguson. “The one-child policy was introduced. The policy did eliminate some problems, but also brought new problems, such as female infanticide.”

In the 1970s, during the Chinese “cultural revolution”, the image of the “iron woman” was introduced.

“The iron woman had a reputation of being androgynous, not a beauty object at all,” said Ferguson. “The image was that women are strong. That generation thought that the iron woman, and the campaigns of the Communist Party to get men to do housework, would bring about women’s liberation. But that didn’t happen completely.”

Through the economic reforms of the 1980s, Ferguson explained, hopes for female equality died down.

“China has decided to take the capitalist road,” she said. “There is a capitalist economy controlled by the Communist Party. What they have [enacted] is urban renewal, which has really been people removal.

“In the ’90s, the problems really started,” Ferguson continued. “There was drastic changes in welfare policy – in many ways, they’re worse than we are. They’ve also cut back on healthcare. They’ve eliminated free public education after 10th grade. And they’ve established second-class citizenship for rural people – there are ‘citizen’ cards, and ‘farmer’ cards.” These policies, Ferguson said, have especially affected women.

Ferguson concluded her lecture by saying that she had low expectations for the future of women’s rights in China.

“I have a lot of pessimism,” she said, “unless there’s a challenge to the apartheid control of the farmers. I don’t think there will be a program for women who are in the farming class. And it could be worse than the situation in the West because of the tight control by the Communist Party.”

After she finished speaking, Ferguson took questions and comments from the audience.

One attendee, Women’s Studies Professor Janice Raymond, described her experiences at the Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995.

“During the Conference, the government only allowed women from the All-Chinese Women’s Federation to speak,” Raymond said. “The women who did speak were very few and far between. Part of that kind of surveillance extended to people going into the conference – our bags were searched. Did you experience any of that when you were teaching?” she asked Ferguson.

“No,” Ferguson replied, “but we weren’t there for a political reason like you were.”

Ferguson concluded the afternoon’s session by describing her experiences with a Chinese man who sponsored feminist events.

“I asked the man, why are you sponsoring this? He explained that he had witnessed terrible treatment to women. He hated it, and thought it had to be changed. Unfortunately, that man is in the minority.”