Women In China

Question 1

What was the population of China in 2011?

Answer 1

1.3 billion

Question 2

When was the communist revolution?

Answer 2

1949, led by Mao Zedong.

Question 3

What did the communist revolution declare?

Answer 3

It declared that everyone was equal, women in China experienced the greatest improvement in their status.

Question 4

When was the one child policy introduced ?

Answer 4

1980

Question 5

What was life like in China before 1949?

Answer 5

Most people were extremely poor. Food shortages and famines were common.

Question 6

Why did people want sons?

Answer 6

Sons could look after their parents when they were old or ill as there were no old age pensions.

Question 7

Why did they not want daughters?

Answer 7

They were seen as a “rat in the rice”.

You would have to give a dowry to the man who would marry your daughter.

She would go and live with her new husbands family and look after them.

They did not see the point in reading a daughter who would eat their food, cost them money and then leave.

Question 8

What was infanticide ?

Answer 8

The killing of an infant

Question 9

What was the foot binding process?

Answer 9

A piece of cloth was wound around the feet bending all toes except the big one inward and under the sole.

A large stone was used to crush the arch.

The feet were bound day and night in thick cloth so they wouldn’t heal

Toenails would grow into tha balls of feet and broken bones were sore

Question 10

What was married life like before 1949

Answer 10

It was bad, a wife was owned by her husband and he could treat her anyway he wanted

Question 11

What is a revolution?

Answer 11

A transformation or very big change

Question 12

What were the communist laws affecting women in China ?

Answer 12

1. Infanticide - anyone who killed babies would be prosecuted in court for murder.
2. Buying and selling women and girls- no one had the right to buy or sell a woman, females were not property.
3. Footbinding - was already illegal but the Chinese communist government sent people around China to check that this no longer happened parents who still bound feet were arrested.
4. Marriage laws - a woman can only marry if she consents and a wife and husband have equal rights in the marriage

Question 13

What was the population of China in

A- 1950

B- 1980

Answer 13

A. 500 million

B. 1,000 million

Question 14

Why did the population explode after 1949?

Answer 14

• infanticide was prevented
• food was more evenly shared
• health care was improved

Question 15

If the policy succeeded the fall in population was to be seen by the year…

Answer 15

2020

Question 16

Name the different ways of propaganda used:

Answer 16

Education, children are taught the reasons behind it and taught to agree.

Tv
Cinema
Magazines
Books
Posters
Street Carnivals

Question 17

What is a marriage law?

Answer 17

No one under the age of 24 could get married in China. This was to reduce the amount of time a woman had to become pregnant.

Question 18

What was a marriage license?

Answer 18

Couples had to pass an examination in family planning before they could get a license allowing them to marry.

Question 19

What was a pregnancy license ?

Answer 19

No woman could become pregnant without this.

Licenses were only given to married woman and they were issued by the women’s workplace, only a certain amount were allowed to become pregnant a year.

Question 20

What was the baby register?

Answer 20

Babies had to be registered at a police station to be entitled to education, healthcare etc.

Question 21

What happens if a woman becomes pregnant illegally?

Answer 21

She would be persuaded to have an abortion.

Question 22

What were the one child contracts ?

Answer 22

In return for signing this contract to have in child the woman would get a pay bonus and the child would get:

• Free health care
• Free nursery
• Free education
• Priority for university education
• Priority for good jobs

Question 23

What happened if the one child contract was broke?

Answer 23

You had to pay a big fine and repay all the bonuses.

Question 24

Who were the granny police ?

Answer 24

To ensure no woman became pregnant twice the Chinese government hired the granny police. They checked to see if any woman was pregnant. They would visit woman every day and remind them to obey the policy, use birth control and check if they were pregnant.

If they suspect a woman is pregnant they will escort her to the local hospital to see if she is and if she is she will be persuaded to have an abortion.

Question 25

What were the results of the policy?

Answer 25

1. The deaths of girls, many farmers wanted sons instead and this led to many “accidental” deaths of girls so they could try again for a son.
2. The abandonment of girls,
3. Population stability, there are 400 million less people today in China than there would have been without the policy