Chinese Women: Liberated

New York: Far East Reporter Publications, [1974]. Fine; some light toning, remnants of price sticker to upper wrapper.. Equal parts fiery and erudite, "Chinese Women: Liberated" seeks to inform Western readers about feminist struggles in China during the 1970s. The author Maud Russell (1893-1989) was a social worker and writer who documented the Cultural Revolution in detail for the Far East Reporter. Here, Russell addresses the role of women in the major cultural shifts happening in China at that time, and begins by drawing a parallel between Chinese and American women's struggles: "A women's liberation movement is sweeping across the United States. Women are revolting against economic and sex exploitation ... In much of women's struggle against these inequalities and injustices men have been seen as the 'enemy'-- but the struggle must be seen on a far deeper level - as the women of China have demonstrated" (pp. 1-2). Russell continues by giving her reader a brief summary of "Women's Status Under the Old China", and how historical events in the early half of the century shaped their lives. She notes that women who became politically educated in 1940s China were "never to be the same" (pp. 7-8), especially after the New Marriage Law enacted in 1950, which allowed women to enjoy a new level of equality. Russell records and translates the law into English for her reader. She discusses marriage, communism, and economics. To close, Russell presents her reader with two case studies: a transcript of a Chinese divorce case in which the wife seeks divorce, and another where the husband seeks divorce.
A striking view of China through the eyes of an American feminist.
8vo (8.5" by 5.5"), pp. 40, in original printed wrappers.