Chinese Women in Transition: From the "Class and Gender" Perspective

Abstract

During Chinese "socio-economic transition period" from 1978 to the present day, with the reform and rapid growth of the economy, the Chinese social structure underwent enormous changes. In addition to this, the situation of Chinese women has also changed. Contemporary Chinese women are in a quite different position from their "pre-communist," "traditional" counterparts. Over the past several decades, more equalitarian policies have made a great deal of difference, not only to women's own self-identification, but also to their social milieu. This paper studies the Chinese women transition from class and gender perspective, not only reviewing the social class transition and women's socioeconomic role changes, but also putting forward the method issues how to study the gender issues and gender social stratification. This perspective innovation offers an important contribution to the understanding of current woman issues in China.