Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 23:23:56 -0500 (EST)
From: louisgodena-AT-ids.net (Louis R Godena)
Subject: M-I: Re: Women's Legal Status and Employment in Socialist China



A marked feature of the "Chinese road to socialism" has been a constant
fluctuation of the party's view of the role of women -- from a position of
official equality during the decade of the Cultural Revolution (summed up in
the facile epigram "women are the same as men") to a greater ambivalence
concerning "women's problems" which,  during the course of the past decade,
are increasingly discussed as a matter of biology,  rather than as social or
political phenomena.

The newly instituted legal system of the Deng regime has produced
"protective" legislation for workers which focuses on the biological
differences between men and women.    While these laws are an effort to
accommodate women's reproductive needs in the workplace,  in tone and focus,
they have their origins both in Confucian tradition and ever changing
socialist goals (Margaret Y.K. Woo,  "Chinese Women Workers: The Delicate
Balance between Protection and Equality, " in Christina K Gilmartin,  *et
al* [eds],   *Engendering China: Women,  Culture and the State* [Cambridge,
Mass., 1994: Harvard University Press],  pp. 279 - 295).

The new 1982 Constitution's promise of equal rights for women is stated
unambiguously (women enjoy  "equal rights with men in all spheres of life";
the State "protects the rights and interests of women,  applies the
principle of equal pay for equal work to men and women alike,  and trains
and selects cadres from among women").    The promise of equality was
reaffirmed by the adoption in 1992 of a Women's Rights Protection Law,
which vowed to protect "women's special rights and interests granted by
law."   But,  while prohibiting discriminatory hiring,  pay,  and
termination,  the Law states that there are  "certain work categories or
positions that are unfit for women," and also affirms women's differences
>from men by requiring all "units to protect women's safety and health at
work in accordance with law." 

This general theme is reflected in the new "contract labor" regulations
which require that enterprises give equal consideration to the hiring of
women,  but only where "suitable",  a situation left very much to the
discretion of the prospective employer.     Likewise,  the Labor Insurance
Regulations,  first promulgated in the 1950s and revived following the end
of the Cultural Revolution in 1979,  differentiate between men and women by
requiring women workers to retire at age fifty,  as compared to age sixty
for men.    In the 1980s,  new laws levied under the aegis of Health Care
Regulations (1986) and Labor Protection Regulations (1988) provide for a
paid maternity leave of ninety days,  fifteen of which may be taken prior to
delivery.    During pregnancy,  frequent rest breaks are mandated,  and for
post-partum,  nursing mothers are entitled to at least three thirty minute
breaks per day to care for the infant.     A pregnant female worker may
invoke her right to reduce her workload or voluntarily be assigned to other
work on the presentation of a medical certificate.

In addition,   new (1993) legislation (first proposed by the All-China
Federation of Trade Unions and the All-China Women's Federation) identify
five periods of a women's reproductive life during which she is to be
accorded special treatment (*wuji baohu*) in the workplace:  menstruation,
pregnancy,  delivery,  nursing,  and menopause. For each of these periods,
the new regulations impose strict limits on the types of work women can
perform,  and under what conditions.    Many feminists,  both inside and
outside the Communist Party,  have criticized the new models,  claiming that
gender equality has assumed a secondary importance to the new socialist goal
of economic development (Terisa White and Li Ziyun,  "Women's Equality and
Economic Development in China," in *Chinese Economic Review*,  22 [1994],
pp.  112-129).  

This idea for special protection for women is reinforced by traditional
medical beliefs --stemming from the Confucian tradition-- that women are
weakened by their reproductive responsibilities.    At the same time,  the
recognition of positive guarantees is consistent both with Chinese socialist
ideals and international standards of worker safety and health.     The
juxtaposition of socialist aims with confucian tradition is replicated again
and again throughout Chinese society and has produced ambiguous results.
In the economic sphere,  the growing concern for the health and safety of
women workers has coincided with a greater discretion being enjoyed by the
prospecitve employers to hire whom they please.    There is growing evidence
that women workers in some situations are being passed over in hiring in
favor of their less potentially troublesome male counterparts.    This and
other issues are being addressed this week in a special joint plenum of the
party and the All-China Women's Federation (Chen YiYun,  "China's Women
Workers seek new gains in the 'Economic Miracle' -- Again," *Business China*
[January 13, 1997].

Louis Godena



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