Introduction
The Women’s Labor Movement is a global occurrence that results from economic, social, and political changes. Within this brief paper, I examine some of the labor issues experienced by the women in Asia. Specifically, I will study China, India and Thailand’s history; in order to understand why there is a division of gender and labor, as well as where it arises. I first discuss the labor issues in China faced by urban workers who are residents, and what the impact is on the migrant workers vying for the same jobs. I will discuss how China’s political system is one of the contributing influences on women laborers and what their progress has been. In the second section, I will examine India’s labor phenomena, where women are leaving …show more content…
Therefore to understand the present, we must look at the past. While each of the three countries I look at in this paper have their own labor movement, they have similarities and differences that are rooted in their own history as well as Eastern culture. In China, you can trace the belief about the division of gender and labor as far back as Confucius’ teachings, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). Written by Confucius in the second century AD, he said of women, “they are as different from men as earth is from heaven,” and that “Women indeed are human beings, but they are of a lower state than men and never attain to full equality with them”, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). He also said, “the rules of conduct stated are that a woman must submit, women are not allowed to take part in public affairs”, (Croll, 2000, p134). From these early writings, there is a segregation of labor and a hierarchy based on a set of conceptual elaborations and practical rules, which eventually evolved and defined correct female behavior in the home and in society, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). In 1949, this all changed when the Communist party took over and formed the People’s Republic of China. Contrary to Confucius, this political system endorses equality to all the …show more content…
In the period referred to as the Vedic period, women were of equal status to men. Somewhere along the second millennium BC, the status changed. According to the book Endangered Daughters, women were confined to domestic religious devotions, which aimed at increasing the welfare and extending the lifespan of family members. The reason for this division were women excluded by their physical impurity from Sanskrit ritual and religion from the late second millennium BC, and confined to domestic religious devotions which aimed at increasing the welfare and extending the life-span of family members with this ritual division between sacrificial and domestic it soon became the template for other male /female relations, (Croll, 2000, p. 135). Despite efforts to restore some balance to the gendered labor divisions, these role allocations continue today with females primarily confined to the domestic domain, (Croll, 2000, p.
The Women’s Labor Movement is a global occurrence that results from economic, social, and political changes. Within this brief paper, I examine some of the labor issues experienced by the women in Asia. Specifically, I will study China, India and Thailand’s history; in order to understand why there is a division of gender and labor, as well as where it arises. I first discuss the labor issues in China faced by urban workers who are residents, and what the impact is on the migrant workers vying for the same jobs. I will discuss how China’s political system is one of the contributing influences on women laborers and what their progress has been. In the second section, I will examine India’s labor phenomena, where women are leaving …show more content…
Therefore to understand the present, we must look at the past. While each of the three countries I look at in this paper have their own labor movement, they have similarities and differences that are rooted in their own history as well as Eastern culture. In China, you can trace the belief about the division of gender and labor as far back as Confucius’ teachings, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). Written by Confucius in the second century AD, he said of women, “they are as different from men as earth is from heaven,” and that “Women indeed are human beings, but they are of a lower state than men and never attain to full equality with them”, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). He also said, “the rules of conduct stated are that a woman must submit, women are not allowed to take part in public affairs”, (Croll, 2000, p134). From these early writings, there is a segregation of labor and a hierarchy based on a set of conceptual elaborations and practical rules, which eventually evolved and defined correct female behavior in the home and in society, (Croll, 2000, p. 134). In 1949, this all changed when the Communist party took over and formed the People’s Republic of China. Contrary to Confucius, this political system endorses equality to all the …show more content…
In the period referred to as the Vedic period, women were of equal status to men. Somewhere along the second millennium BC, the status changed. According to the book Endangered Daughters, women were confined to domestic religious devotions, which aimed at increasing the welfare and extending the lifespan of family members. The reason for this division were women excluded by their physical impurity from Sanskrit ritual and religion from the late second millennium BC, and confined to domestic religious devotions which aimed at increasing the welfare and extending the life-span of family members with this ritual division between sacrificial and domestic it soon became the template for other male /female relations, (Croll, 2000, p. 135). Despite efforts to restore some balance to the gendered labor divisions, these role allocations continue today with females primarily confined to the domestic domain, (Croll, 2000, p.