thoughts about session 8 (China w/Dr. Clayton)

[Anonymous]

I agree with Carla that both the topic of marriage and landlords in China made for an interesting discussion in our last session. I'm sure that the women initially felt empowered by the ability to have a voice in the process of marriage. However, I can't help but feel for the poor women who lost their lives because their husbands got word of them wanting to divorce them, it's just so sad.

In last weeks seminar Professor Dube showed us a photo of the landlord being verbally attacked by the people who lived on his land. I, too, wonder how many of them put up a fight, fled the area or put up with the treatment that they faced once the new power took office. Also, I wonder how long the stigma stayed with the family and if their are any traces of it today in rural area?

[Anonymous]

I concur with all the observations listed above. Especially with Mrs. Jauregui's because I, like many of my students, am a visual learner. Dr. Dube’s photographs definitely provided me with a visual catalog of concepts, which would definitely benefit my students next time I teach Asian Literature.

[Anonymous]

I find it fascinating when my students report that after learning about a new concept in my class, the next time they hear about it on T.V. their little antennas go up and they completely tune in to listen. Well, I feel exactly the same way. In fact, last Sunday the KOCE Asia News broadcast and the New York Times reported that the Three Gorges Dam in China is generating great controversy as a result of its negative impact on ecology, geology and human displacements. According to these sources the Chinese government is concerned about the compromised safety of the facility as well as the excessive amounts of pollution it is generating, in addition to the continual flooding of the nearby regions, which are resulting in the destruction of entire lime landscapes and in the increase of landslides and earthquakes in the region. However, what is most important is that the thousands of displaced families who were evicted from the land WHERE (NOT WERE!) the reservoir was built, have not been able to rebuild their lives and are causing more struggles to the already overpopulated urban and suburban areas of the country. What is fascinating about this report is not only that I was interested in learning more about this global issue, but rather, that I was able to draw a connection and see the relevance with our classroom discussion as my students do, and saw that this ties beautifully to Dr. Dube’s discussion of Land Reform.
edited by mcshah on 5/24/2011

[Anonymous]

I wonder how the modern Chinese woman views herself not only in self-esteem, but emotionally, socially, and finally economically. I ask because with the changes in marriage laws, what is the correlation to changes in the other topics above? If all should be equal under communism, how much remains the same (I guess a form of de facto sexism)? With a long history of values and beliefs being changed so rapidly, what social consequences were experienced?

[Anonymous]

Annet raises an interesting question about the descendents of the landlord class and their treatment today. With Deng’s (I think it was him) statement “to be rich is glorious”, it would seem that the there should be a re-thinking about perception of these people. However, with change to happen slowly in the countryside and many years of oppression (under the thumb of the landlords of old), there may still be much resentment and ostracizing of these people. It would be interesting to find out what the current view is.

[Anonymous]

I also agree that the article would be very valuable when addressing racisim and sterotypes. I have realized, when teaching my unit on Islam, that my students have preconcieved stereotypes about sertain ethnicities. This really made me aware of the fact that my students need to be taught what racism is and how they can help to suppress sterotypes. Because our school is composed of pre-dominantly Latino students, my students are not very tolerant of other ethnic backgrounds. I believe that this article will not only help my students to understand the racism in the world, but also to diminish any stereotypes or racist beliefs that they have. Thanks for putting that on here

[Anonymous]

I wonder about those things as well..how women are impacted in China in many different areas. I am stunned reviewing my notes and seeing "50,000 women killed by husbands or suicide.' I am referring to notes I took from the May 10th class. I wonder has anyone had the opportunity to view 'Small Happiness' or 'Blind Mountain?' It is interesting that the Chinese women are equal in the workforce ethic with men but still must deal with sexism in other areas of thier lives such as marriage and family. The Marriage reforms that came about with Mao seem much more freeing for the woman as far as individual choice of a partner and having the aged increased to 18 years old.

[Anonymous]

I agree, I forgot about the 50,000 suicides/murders. I am reminded about a report I saw on "bride burning" in India. This unfortunate happening has to do with not producing a male child or not following the orders of the husband or his family, etc. It seems no matter how far we have come, we still have a long way to go.
edited by rkorb on 5/30/2011

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed reading the story of your aunt and her percepttions that the youth in the U.S. have too many choices in higher education as you were pondering the reactions of the Chinese abolishing arranged marriages and how the people may have reacted to that. It bought to mind the commercial that aired a few years ago of a guy in a market being overwhelmed by choices in peanut butter, bread, soups...and he was just staring with his mouth open, spaced out, unable to make a choice! It is interesting when I ask my students what do you think the possible benefits would be of an arranged marriage system, they all protested loudly that there could be none! We are all so conditioned for individual free will that the concept of 'too many choices' about anythng seems to be a very obsucre topic. When I presented the idea that perhaps the parents knew their children better than the childrend knew themselves and the idea of what is attractive to a person at 18 years old may be quite different to who would be attractive to that same person when they were 30...some agreed. I just asked them to always keep in mind the benefits of ideas that they strongly object to so as not to have a closed mind..just as an excercise in logic and reasoning not necessarily with the aim of changing their own tightly held opinions. I know that some of my friends when i was young were given three choices by their parents of where they could go to college and what they could major in. Those friends finished college and chose professions much sooner than my friends (and myself) who kept changing schools and majors and wandered all over...that is not to imply choosing sooner is better or makes for a happier individual, just perhaps a more productive one.

[Anonymous]

"A Revolution is not a dinner party." This type of sentiment perhaps provides some logic as to the reasons for the chaos that occured with the GREAT LEAP FORWARD and all of the initiatives that harmed China under Mao. Session 9 made my head spin with all the historical information of the Opium Wars of 1839 througt the Peoples Republic of China in 1949. Learning about the U.S.A..s reasons for getting involved in the Korean War and the Chinese coming in to defend North Korea for the U.S. The Chinese sentiment that "The Imperialists won't stop." We learned about how the Chinese Communist Party was organized with a Standing Commitee at the top of 9 people all the way down to the National Party Congress at the bottem consisting of 3000 members. The Land Reform where work teams were sent into the villages and also that 5 MILLION landlords were killed and The Right to Divorce Act that caused such violence against women.(50,000 women killed by their husband or by commiting suicide.) The Mob mentality that occurec in the name of revolution was barbaric. The example of the Soviets form of communism and how it influenced Mao's decision to make The Great Leap Forward as a tool to improve life for the common people. We learned about communes of 25, - 30,000 people and how they worked more productively under this system but still was not a solution to the huge labor force but little land delimma.

[Anonymous]

We at Maywood Academy have the same problem. That’s precisely why I recently taught a “Religions of the World” unit and required my seniors to produce a documentary for a country they adopted and researched. The focus of the research included economics, geography, demographics, politics, RELIGION, and literary contributions. It was very interesting to see my students step out of their comfort zone and venture into interviewing individuals from different walks of life and philosophical and cultural values. It was most interesting, however, to see how their preconceived notions about certain religions actually changed throughout the process of their investigation as they had many of their questions answered by reliable sources. It would have definitely made a huge difference in the entire unit to have access to articles as this to help students become aware of their own biases earlier in the process.

[Anonymous]

I watched “Blind Mountain” and shared it with my students after reading and discussing No Name Woman. They were certainly captivated by the crude reality of women in rural China as a result of the one child policy and the gendercide (I love this word! I just heard it in a documentary about the infanticide of girls in modern India). What is ironic about all this though, is that most people assume that women in the western world are much better off because of the notion that “we are liberated” but the reality is that like women in China, we contribute equally to the labor force and the economics of our nation. However, statistics show that women are paid significantly less than their male counterparts despite the fact that we are equally or more educated than they are. Most importantly, sexism is a reality in America as well, which explains why more and more women are staying single – many men find it difficult to stay married to a professional, who often times brings in a higher income. So much for being LIBERATED, right?

[Anonymous]

Good questions Ron. Being a woman, I wonder what rights the women in China have or don't have in comparison to what we have in the U.S. I especially wonder since the pendulum has swung and now women have the upper hand in China. Very interesting.

[Anonymous]

Now in most big cities in China, women view themselves equal emotionally, and economically. There is a saying that woman can hold up half the sky. Women do jobs like men and they get equal pay. They have high self-esteem. Things are quite different from the time before or right after the year 1949, which Mao declared a new China started.

[Anonymous]

Now in most big cities in China, women view themselves equal emotionally, and economically. There is a saying that woman can hold up half the sky. Women do jobs like men and they get equal pay. They have high self-esteem. Things are quite different from the time before or right after the year 1949, which Mao declared a new China started.

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