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Published: April 11th 2015
“Erin, we have something we want to discuss."
“Excellent!” I say excitedly. Rarely are my students so forthcoming with discussion points.
“China needs feminism.”
This statement comes from Sigrid, one of my Chinese students, as she carefully adjusts her glasses while offering me a wide smile. I pause and shake my head. I certainly did not see this idea coming so early on a Monday morning.
Glancing about my university class, I see several of my female students nodding eagerly in agreement while the men quickly turn their glances to the floor, where they stare and shift awkwardly in their seats.
“Interesting comment Sigrid.” I smile at her and fall into thought…
Over my life I have spent seven years in China where my perception has always been that – at least in the large cities – Chinese women moved about as freely as men. While historically it is true that male babies have been preferred, I felt that this too was changing. Maybe I was wrong? Nonetheless, I was ready to learn something new.
I take a swig of my tea.
“Okay, let’s first define feminism. Would you mind giving me your definition of feminism for me?” I look at Sigrid and then let my eyes wander around the classroom.
Sigrid, still standing at her desk pauses, visibly nervous. She bites her lip and says in a forced Chinese-British accent. “Surely,
you know what feminism means?”
“Of course I do, though I am not certain that the North American definition of feminism applies in China...” I smile. “Sigrid, are you just buying time or are you not able to give me a good definition?”
As Sigrid bends down to whisper with some of the girls sitting near her, I decide to open up the question. “Can anyone tell me the definition of feminism?”
This is a class of thirty; twenty-five of the students are females.
I prohibit the use of phones in my class, so they are forced to come up with a definition on their own instead of simply looking it up. I give them time. Two minutes pass. The men sit in silence.
Vanessy, another one of my students finally stands up and says, “Actually, we agree that we don’t like the term feminism.”
This is interesting. “And what term do you like?”
Vanessy looks around the classroom as if gathering strength before she answers, “We like womanism better.”
Caught off guard I nearly break out laughing and choke on my tea instead. In between coughs, I manage to squeak out, “And do you happen to know the definition of womanism? Or more importantly, do you know the history of the term womanism?”
“No...” Vanessy trails off and looks to her classmates for support. A pregnant pause fills the classroom as we all wait for someone to offer something.
“Alright,” I put my tea down. “Your homework for next class is to look up the definition of womanism and tell me how the term came into existence.” I smile. “And then you have to tell me why it is a better term for the apparent plight of China’s women instead of feminism.” I knew that once they realized that ‘womanism’ stemmed from a history of repression of black women, that they would change their tune. As a general rule, the Chinese are not fans of colored people, and that is putting it politely.
“So, forget womanism for now, let’s talk about feminism.” Still interested in their perspective, I continue probing the class.
Standing up again, Sigrid turns to face me. “Well, it’s about social, political and economic equality for women”.
“Good,” I say as I walk to the board, writing down her words. “And what does this mean?”
The answers fly in.
“Equal job opportunities.”
“Equal pay.”
“Equal treatment under the law.”
“Equal access to education.”
“Equal rights in a marriage.”
After a couple of minutes the board is full of ideas.
“Excellent,” I say wiping the chalk dust from my hands. “I am curious about something though...” I pause as I walk down the middle of the classroom. “I may be mistaken, but I thought that Chinese culture requires that before marriage a man must have a good job, his own house and a nice car?” I scratch my head. “Or has that changed?”
“No, that’s true,” pipes up Vicky, one of my smarter students. “Those are the men’s responsibilities.”
“And what happens if he doesn't buy a house and a car before he asks you to marry him?” I ask.
“Our parents will not allow us to marry him.” The answer comes from the back of the class.
“Would you marry him anyway?” The deep silence that meets me is all the answer I need.
“It certainly sucks to be a guy in China,” I muse. "Gentlemen, how do you feel about this?”
One of my male students, R.S., looks up from the ground and says, “It’s not fair. Chinese women want equal rights, but they do not want equal responsibilities.” Frustration punctuates his words.
I walk to the chalkboard and write:
CHINA NEEDS FEMINISM
EQUAL RIGHTS = EQUAL RESPONSIBILITIES
I walk away from the board and turn to face the class. “Remember that the idea behind feminism is to gain equal rights for women and this... is a good thing.” I see a couple of their faces brighten before I add, “this also means that, as women, we need to accept all of the responsibilities that come with that.”
A couple of the female students nod as I see that sink in.
“Are you prepared to marry a man if he hasn't bought a house?” I watch them wrestle with the strangeness of that idea before I ask the next question. “And are you prepared to help a guy buy a house
before you get married?
“To demand equal rights without accepting the equal responsibilities that come with it is like using feminism as a weapon to repress men." I smile tightly at the class. “Please be careful not to do that. If you want to be treated fairly, you must treat others that way."
The class falls into an awkward quiet. A long moment passes before the bell tears through silence. A couple of the girls start to clap.
I drain the rest of my tea and smile at them.
“See you all next week. Class dismissed.”
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Cheri
non-member comment
Interesting!
How interesting! I wonder what led the student who made the original statement to make that statement. It seems that this is clearly an issue all over the world however it also seems that the idea between equal rights AND responsibilities doesn't always go hand in hand. Let me know what happened with the rest of that discussion if it continued next class. I am intrigued ?