Women: the Communes Flashcards
What was Mao’s vision for women on the communes? Think about their contribution to work, childcare and household chores.
Mao claimed that enabling women to work would bring them ‘liberation through labour’ and argued that this was a form of equality.
Childcare would be centralised by the creation of Party kindergarten, while the burden of food preparation was alleviated by communal canteens.
What was the reality of work for women on the communes?
Quality of life was not improved. Although more women now worked they would still take on domestic responsibilities such as childcare and cleaning.
Forced to carry out backbreaking labour.
What was the reality of the Kindergartners?
Children could be separated from their mothers for weeks at a time.
There was an appalling level of care for children. Kindergartens were often housed in ramshackle buildings. Disease spread rapidly in the poorly maintained kindergartens. Food supplies for children were stolen by starving adults.
Kindergartens were staffed with hurriedly trained elderly or very young women.
What was the reality of the Canteens?
Women were likely to get less food than men due to food being allocated on the basis of the amount of physical labour performed.
When food supply was low, it was often women who were neglected on the grounds that men needed to have strength to go out and search for food for the family
How did family life change on the communes?
Family time was limited due to the excessive amount of work people had to perform. Children would be separated from their parents. The giant mess halls meant that families couldn’t eat together.
How did the work points system reinforce women’s social inferiority?
Women received less ‘work points’ than men regardless of their productivity or skill.
The realities of physical strength meant that men could reach ten points whereas women were limited to eight points.
The lower earning power of wives meant that it made sense for them to sacrifice their paid labour in favour of domestic chores.
Find some examples of abuse and discrimination women suffered.
Expectant mothers were forced to work leading to miscarriage. In one commune in Guangzhou, two party secretaries of a commune forced themselves upon 34 women.
Why were some women forced into prostitution?
Due to the famine. They would trade sex for food.
