Women History of China

Encyclopedia Paper

When looking at the history of China, you can see that women have had to abide by a certain lifestyle where they were expected to be obedient to their parents and their husbands later on in life. These women went through many hardships because they always had to deal with anything that was thrown at them. This was expected of all women due to their culture and what a good woman would be. There were two worlds which people in China could belong to; the inner and the outer world. The women were considered a part of the inner world due to the fact that they always remained at home and had to do what they were told. The men were allowed to go out and were allowed to work. Men and women played completely different roles in society and had a different set of rules due to being feminine and masculine. Women weren’t allowed to have the same opportunities as men such as having an education or having rights which would make them superior. Very few women ever had the chance to get a proper education and become someone important. Although due to religion men and women were supposedly complementary to one another; they were still treated differently as expected of society.

Children and femininity

The femininity in China has affected females both older and younger. Girl children in China were treated very differently from the boys. For starters, girl children weren’t allowed the opportunity to have an education. They would stay at home and be with their mother in the household and had to grow up in a very strict manner. They were to stay in the house and carry on tasks that were assigned to them and had to make sure to do everything in a very specific way. They were expected to be obedient to all elders and especially their father. Later on in life, they would also have to be obedient not only to their husband, but also his family. Girl children were expected to speak and act in a manner that was acceptable and what was thought to be the perfect daughter/woman. Since the girls had to stay in the house all the time and never had an education, they were never given the chance to own anything nor be able to work. The female children would also receive less attention and had poor treating compared to those of the boy child. If there was anything being administered to the children, the boy(s) would get the better portion while the girl(s) would get a smaller portion. Girl children were often given the second best option in every situation when it came to opportunities.

Since boys were supposed to be trained to be superior and dominant as they grew older, they were always given the best opportunities when it came down to it. “In early China, there is no greater horror than to leave a family with no living male representative, since only men could carry on the sacrifices to ancestors, giving them sustenance in the other world