Vanguard Women (Zhang Ruoming)

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I am filled with mixed feelings as I pick up my pen to write this essay. It is both hard and joyful to be a woman. For thousands of years, women have suffered because of evil traditions. Women have been seen as useless people without talent or knowledge, without hope of improvement, dependent on those around them, and unable to fend for themselves if others do not take care of them. Most families with knowledge and education only care about the education of boys, because girls' education is considered too much trouble and is carelessly tossed aside. A friend of mine once heard an official in charge of education say: "All women need to know is a few characters and a few household skills. Why do they need to attend a normal school? If women get higher education, it will just be harder to control them." Judging from the above statement, the idea that women can depend on others for guidance is just a fantasy. There is a lot of talk about "populism" nowadays, but it is only meant for men and never applied to women.

Although there are some people who talk about women's emancipation, they provide no concrete solutions. Women's emancipation should begin with women emancipating themselves; women simply cannot wait for other people to emancipate them. However, without higher education, without outside assistance, and with the burden of family duties, women themselves find it hard to move forward. That is where the hardship lies. On the other hand, the age we are in now demands vanguards and pioneers. During this transformational time, we women should carry out our "heavenly duty" and be pioneers for the women's emancipation movement, where our great joy lies. Even though, as we are aware, it is hard for women to make progress, women simply have to move ahead. Therefore, let us women fight for our own emancipation in the spirit of revolution.

The word "revolution" is the biggest taboo in China; whoever dares to advocate revolution will be damned by Heaven. However, I look at it differently; to me, revolution should be an ordinary thing, a spirit that everyone who seeks truth should have. Having suffered from misogynist oppression for thousands of years, women in China have more or less internalized all the old ideas and unequal systems and are particularly apprehensive of any kind of rebellion. The reasons for such apprehension are twofold: (1) blind faith in so-called moral standards; (2) job discrimination due to women's biological features. I think, at this transitional stage, women should replace such fears with the spirit of revolution.

First, we should get rid of blind faith in traditional moral standards.

During the recent student movement, many parents advised their daughters that a strict line should be drawn between male and female students and that they should be on guard even if they have the purest intentions. Nowadays, there are people in society who advocate gender integration in work and education. But the old moralists are adamantly against it, claiming that "it is absolutely absurd for men and women to mix and those who advocate such promiscuity are not human beings." Based on their moralistic views, those traditionalists attack those who advocate equal rights between men and women. But we all know that if women want to make progress, it is essential for them to have equal opportunity in work and education. Since the state and society are financially strapped, there cannot be any higher learning institutions, factories, or companies specially created for women; it is necessary for women to break the formal moralistic tradition and stand side by side with men in work and education. Ethical codes should be spiritual and cannot be formally defined. Some moralists often talk about the so-called Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues; but reality and practice are often at odds, and who wears a mask and only pays lip service to moral responsibilities can only be a laughingstock. True moral standards cannot really be established until formal and superficial moral standards are replaced by sincere and heartfelt ones and men and women are totally free from those restrictive social conventions. Superficial moral standards were set up by those who do not trust themselves. Those who reprimand other people's superficial moral standards trust neither themselves nor others. Therefore, I advise that we women should adhere to the moral standards of our own conscience rather than those superficial moral standards. Only then can women enjoy the opportunities society has to offer.

Second, we should eradicate erroneous notions about psychological and physical differences between men and women.

Educational inequality between men and women results from these notions. Many believe that just because women are born gentle, delicate, fragile, and unfit for rough, heavy work, they are not entitled to the same education as men. That is ridiculous!

The purpose of education is to maintain the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of humankind. Those people would not have uttered such nonsense if they had truly understood the function and significance of education. The proper way is to recognize women's physical limitations and try to do something to compensate for them. In the olden days, the deaf and mute were by and large abandoned, but nowadays, there are many ways to help them study. If one finds that women are weaker psychologically as well as physically, one should blame our undeveloped educational system rather than deny women the opportunity for education. We human beings are still in the process of evolution; if one of our organs is used often, it gets developed; otherwise, it degenerates. Since women traditionally received less education than men, it is only to be expected that men and women are somewhat different. But the blame should be placed solely on the old educational system. We should never try to restrict women's education, using the psychological and physical differences between men and women as an excuse. Furthermore, why can't women who are supposedly more psychologically sensitive and refined be engaged in research and higher learning? Never believe in those fallacies, my fellow women! We should eradicate them with our revolutionary spirit!

Third, end gender inequality at work.

Some people say that, since men are in charge of outside affairs and women are in charge of domestic affairs, women should be happy to be housewives all their lives and need not learn any particular vocational skills. This is an absurd catch-22. Men invented the so-called rule of "men take charge of the outside and women take charge of the inside" in order to control women. Obviously, this is designed to deprive women of their labor rights, economic rights, and independence. Then men can claim that women have no skills and are fit only for housework. If women had been in charge of outside affairs historically, I'll bet that the situation would have been totally reversed. It is said that in the rural areas of Guilin, Guangxi Province, it is the women who go to work in the fields and the men who do all the housework. So why should women do all the housework in most other places in China? Differences between men's and women's obligations should be reflected in reproduction alone; those who believe in gender inequality at work are too authoritarian for the modern world. We women should not be deceived by such a fallacy; when completely deprived of economic independence and subject to all kinds of maltreatment, it will be too late for regrets. Women's duty does not lie in reproduction alone; most jobs in human society should be accessible to women.

Anyone can engage in a "mental revolution" along the lines of what I described above. But the actual implementation requires courage and perseverance, and can only be accomplished by those who have extraordinary consciousness and are capable of fighting against the forces of darkness. These pioneers should not only seek their individual emancipation but also act as trailblazers for the masses. Any cause or major social change demands "a major battle," so to speak. And defeat and victory will most likely be determined during the preparation stage. All women should in theory be emancipated as they battle the forces of darkness, but emancipation is actually out of reach for most of them. Therefore, we need to have pioneers to lead the masses in the fight for emancipation. To do this, these pioneers need to first prepare themselves and then lead the masses.

I. Recruiting Comrades

Based on the experiences of the most recent student movement, we realize that a big group may not be as good as a small group. Big groups tend to create a lot of hot air without any substantial results, because they may suffer from complicated organizational problems and frictions. Women's emancipation is not easy; it will be unable to advance smoothly and may possibly end up being abortive if compromised by internal impurity and disunity. Therefore, in order to destroy the forces of darkness obstructing women's emancipation, we need to mobilize "vanguard comrades," whose qualifications should be demonstrated in the following three ways.

First, the vanguard should be wholeheartedly devoted to the cause.

For a woman to seek her own personal emancipation is a relatively simple matter; it is obtainable if she tries hard. But the emancipation of the women of the masses is no easy task. The first step should be to awaken the masses; the second step is to prepare them for emancipation. How can one achieve the fighting spirit necessary for such a difficult task without first having the intention of emancipating the masses? If one has certain personal motives, what one practices may well be in conflict with the interests of the masses. For example, there are many calls for public social contact between men and women these days, but many who are willing to "set examples by their own conduct" often do so for the sole purpose of finding a husband or a wife, thus endangering the future of "public social contact between men and women." Many young men and women may be victimized in the sense that they still cannot be free from the traditional type of family—their families will be old wine in new bottles. If this happens, "public social contact between men and women" will lose its true meaning for most. If that happens, who will be left to advocate women's emancipation? Even if there are some advocates, they will not have many followers. Consequently, the movement will be inadequate, tainted, and hindered for several more decades. Only those who are genuinely devoted to women's emancipation and willing to sacrifice everything and smash anything standing in the way of women's emancipation can be considered true comrades.

Second, the vanguard should have the spirit of self-sacrifice.

Advocacy of women's emancipation places us in conflict with the current social establishment, so of course we need to dedicate a lot of time and energy to it. It may even be at the expense of our reputation, because breaking the social barrier between men and women as I mentioned earlier conflicts with social convention. It is no exaggeration that one may be attacked for being "inhuman," "immoral," "scandalous," and "anti-traditional." One needs to possess the spirit of self-sacrifice to survive those attacks; otherwise, it would not take long at all before one loses heart and collapses. In addition, one also needs to sacrifice the love of one's family when necessary to the spirit of revolution; sometimes, one may even run the risk of losing one's life. A worthy comrade must possess the spirit of self-sacrifice.

Third, the vanguard should remain single.

Those who sincerely advocate women's emancipation have to be wholeheartedly involved in a lifelong cause. The cause of women's emancipation needs such people if it is to have a bright future. Women's emancipation cannot be successful without this spirit of devotion. In contemporary Chinese society, those who are willing to be the vanguard of women's emancipation would do best to stay single. I am sure that some people would challenge such a statement. Isn't "marriage" one of the important issues in the women's emancipation movement? Isn't freedom of marriage part of women's emancipation? Isn't a good free marriage good news for women's emancipation? Can't those who are happily married serve as role models for our society? I assume that these are the four main questions people might ask. But before I address these questions, I would like to make it clear that those who are willing to remain single for the sake of women's emancipation can be devoted to the cause and yet need not, and cannot, try to personally see the cause to completion. In fact, the work of women's emancipation never ends. As long as one is willing to devote one's whole life to the cause, one will be of great assistance. Besides, marriage is only one issue in the entire women's emancipation movement; and it does not mean that one cannot advocate and practice women's emancipation without being married first. Now allow me to address the above four questions.

"Marriage " is one of the issues in the women's emancipation movement; but it is not an essential one. The more important issues have to do with gaining proper education and economic independence. Once a good education and economic independence are achieved, the issue of "marriage" will automatically be solved.

Once equipped with the same education and economic independence that men enjoy, women will certainly be able to get rid of the old ideas about marriage and then enjoy truly happy marriages.

That women can enjoy happy marriages is certainly good news for women's emancipation, but it is not necessarily a premise for the cause.

Those who advocate women's emancipation should fight for the women of the masses and help them to smash all kinds of fetters and to seek true happiness. Of course, those who are happily married can serve as role models in the women's emancipation movement; but this does not mean that those who are unmarried cannot be effective leaders of the movement as well. As a matter of fact, the latter may very well win people's trust, and trust may even be more proper and powerful as a leading social force.

Having answered the above four questions, I would like to ask some questions in return:

1. It is still extremely difficult to advocate women's emancipation in China today. Issues of the highest priority, such as gaining a proper education and economic independence, cannot be solved overnight. Those who are willing to be part of the vanguard in this cause cannot afford to allow their personal concerns about marriage to interfere with it, because that would further complicate the issue.

2. Those who intend to be the vanguard in women's emancipation are working for the women of the masses; if they try to solve their own personal problems first, they will not really be able to popularize women's emancipation.

3. To be in the vanguard of women's emancipation requires self-sacrifice. If one remains single, one will be able to dedicate oneself, heart and soul, to the cause.

4. Since marriage is one of the issues addressed by the women's emancipation movement, we should take it seriously and imbue it with a new social meaning that accords with its true significance. Those in the vanguard who advocate women's emancipation should devote their full attention to it and cannot afford the "leisure" of falling in love and solving what has been called "life's most important issue."

5. In our society today, marriages that accord with life's true significance are rare. Can those so-called modern free marriages of some young men that we have seen so far be considered true model marriages? No, not by me! What passes for "love" is often an impulsive act, while the combination of feeling, thought, and personal desire is hard to come by in our society. It is not easy for a man and woman to get married, since it is very difficult to find "a perfectly compatible" partner from your circle of friends and gradually reach a perfect mutual understanding. Since a perfect marriage is so rare, we often see marriages that just make the best of an inadequate situation. Once a marriage is like this, it is no longer a marriage. In due course, the husband and wife become estranged and will cause each other a lot of frustration and agony. In that case, those who are unhappy in their own marriages will simply feel incongruous with the ideals of women's emancipation and be less powerful as a leading force for the cause.

Based on the above five points about the differences between single and married women, it should be clear which kind of woman is best suited for the vanguard of women's emancipation. However, we should avoid overgeneralization, since those who want to remain single do not necessarily share the same convictions. We should discuss the issues on a case-by-case basis.

Now, let us examine several kinds of women who remain single.

The first is the kind that believes that love should not be given to one person alone. Love should be cherished and protected, but it should be everlasting, ever-shining, and all-encompassing, and shine out on everyone like a bright star.

The second kind has faith in the Buddhist teaching that "if just one last being has to be left out of nirvana, I shall be that one." We human beings should have this kind of conviction: one should give to all and remain single in order to save the world.

The third kind believes that they have seen the truth and realize that there is no such a thing as a perfect marriage, with a spiritual bond as well as mutual understanding, love, and desire, and would rather remain single all their lives.

The fourth kind aims too high and thus cannot find a spouse and has to remain single.

The fifth kind consists of natural loners who have a very jaded attitude toward marriage.

The sixth kind does not want to be burdened by family duties and household chores or is afraid of giving birth to babies and ends up being single.

The seventh kind may have suffered from heart-breaking experiences and is forced into being single.

The eighth kind views the family as a mechanism that restricts and hinders one's personal development. They choose to remain single so that they can devote themselves wholehearted to working for society.

Among these eight kinds of people, the first, second, third, and eighth are resolute supporters of women's emancipation. Meanwhile, the fourth and sixth are not so reliable and cannot be loyal to the cause because they may change their minds once they either find a good partner or overcome their fear of family duties and childbirth. The fifth kind may not change their minds so easily, but can they fully understand and be truly dedicated to women's emancipation? I don't know. Nor will the seventh kind be a strong, reliable force unless they become awakened and march along the correct path.

Now that we are trying to recruit "vanguard comrades" and have already adopted the policy of remaining single, we, as young people with strong consciousness, should do as we advocate. This is what we anxiously expect of our comrades.

II. Educational Preparation

To be a qualified comrade, one needs to be educated. Women's emancipation is more easily accepted by those who have had some education; but the pursuit of personal emancipation is more readily accepted than the struggle for the emancipation of the masses. In the field of education, we need women who are themselves educated to advocate women's education. The dearth of women is even more obvious in other professions. As women themselves know, women's lack of education cannot completely be attributed to unequal educational opportunities. We should first train a small number of comrades who seek higher learning for themselves and then try to popularize equal education, which ought to teach both academic knowledge and business skills.

1. Academic Training

Why do we need to raise issues specific to women when we are seeking to make women's education equal to that of men? The answer is that we are addressing those who are now in the process of creating the women's emancipation movement. Academic learning is the most valuable part of human knowledge, and the objective as well as the subjective goals of human evolution are defined primarily by academia. Those goals defined by men are suitable for men but not necessarily for women. Take the populist society advocated by men, for example. The so-called "education for the masses" is actually meant for men alone. Discussions about issues such as family reform, equal educational opportunity, and equal distribution of labor may not concern men at all, since they have never suffered because of these issues. Therefore, we can see that the goals and methods of women's emancipation will not work unless they are defined and designed by learned women themselves.

2. Business Training

Elementary school teaching is the only job besides working at home that is currently available to women. Women are barred from business jobs because they do not have any basic knowledge of or training in business management. Without economic independence, women are of course controlled by men at home. So, to seek emancipation, women need to be trained in business management; only when economically independent can women be free from suffering.

III. Economic Preparation

When a small number of people are themselves trained, they will be able to educate the majority. Equality should start with equal education for men and women; workplace equality does not necessarily mean that men and women should hold the same jobs. Women need to first be educated separately and then begin to realize that they are ready for coeducation and make it happen. During this transitional period, women should be allowed to work by themselves and then gradually move on to working side by side with men. And when women work separately, they will need organizers. But even what I have said thus far will be difficult to accomplish. Even with the right comrades and the right knowledge, it will be useless to organize workers or advocate equal education without the right economic preparation. All comrades who share the same spirit should practice a division of labor, with some making economic preparations and others making academic preparations. Only with this kind of cooperation can we achieve the goal of emancipating the masses of women.

My knowledge is limited, and I can only provide some preliminary suggestions here. Let me end this essay by saying to my female comrades: "We need revolutionary spirit to achieve emancipation; and we need a small number of pioneers to prepare for the ultimate emancipation of the masses."