Soph from the future (5/22/22)
READINGS: Hershatter, Gail. “4. Activist.” In The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China’s Collective Past. Asia Pacific Modern, 8. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
- Questions: what power do these women activists have? What changes? What remains the same? Is this progress?
Marriage freedom activists of the 1950s, such as Feng Gaixia, set the groundwork for future fairer marriage practices in China. Fighting against harsh backlash from family and local communities, these women activists found power through education, self expression through the arts, and support from other women. Women taught themselves to read and write through winter classes, and worked hard to get other women to join the movement. Through theatre arts, specifically Chinese Opera (well hello there) women were able to preform stories of the revolution on stage, and find ways to empower themselves and others through storytelling. There’s an emphasis on the power of song throughout the article we read- the lyrics of these chants giving women a unified war cry of freedom.
This collective passion brought change in how it challenged traditional ideas around marriage and forever changed the public’s thoughts on the subject. While the movement wasn’t able to achieve complete equality and freedom in marriage, women activists of the past were some of the first to stand up and challenge tradition. They took the brunt of the cultural backlash, sacrificing their relationships with family and communities in the name of freedom. From the text, “And the Marriage Law campaigns, brief and limited though they were, did have a certain penumbra effect. Young women who had no specific memories of the campaigns nevertheless picked up the ambient notion that they should have some say in partner choice.”
And yes… I’d say it’s progress. It’s messy and unfinished, but it’s definitely progress. It shook up things a bit and started a greater, overall conversation!
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TO DO LIST
- Week 15 5-15 Report
- Reflection #3
- Final Project
TADA LIST
- Week 10 5-15 Report
- *SKIPPED OPTIONAL WEEK 11 5-15 REPORT*
- Week 12 5-15 Report
- Reflection #2
- Week 13 5-15 Report
- Week 14 5-15 Report
