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Gender: An Effective Perspective of Chinese Ethical Analysis
ZHAO Jun, HU Xiaohong
Northeast Normal University, China, 130024
[email protected]
Abstract: “Gender” emerges and develops with the social liberation movement and it is always an
indispensable part of the social revolution in China. However, the history of Chinese society has built
different gender culture, formed the gender differences, which allows people on the real life of freedom
and equality has become urgent. With the enhancement of postmodernism and gender mainstreaming
conception, people began to put forward more question to Chinese traditional ethics. Their reflection has
raised gender to a higher level, a new state of “self-identification” and “self-realization”, to make the
gender as an effective dimension of Chinese ethical analysis, to establish the concept of genuine equality
on humans takes place.
Keywords: Gender equality, Gender culture, Gender, Chinese ethics
1 Introduction
Gender research is a global and hot issue. There are a lots of scholars have made remarkable
achievements for this topic at home and abroad. Researchers have researched on this issue from various
viewpoints. These studies analyzed rationality and the necessity of gender identity from the micro level
of the personas, clothing decoration, and performance art, from the meso level of the public and private
areas in the face of the traditional social division of labor and values, from the macro level of social
stratification system and social structure on all kinds of gender relationship. All these studies focus on
gender panorama in different cultural background, ignore the relationship between gender and
traditional ethics, and haven’t clearly revealed the gender problems existing in traditional ethics.
Therefore, this paper quoted based on the four elements of gender on American historian Joan W.
Scott’s, took gender as an effective perspective of Chinese ethical analysis creatively, deconstructed
Chinese traditional ethics, and explored gender values in contemporary Chinese society and culture.
2 Text
In fact, with the development of society, the traditional Chinese ethics were changing, and enhanced
gender consciousness which make people seek liberation and free. Then, what is the role of gender in
the modern Chinese ethics? How to give the meaning of gender in Chinese contemporary ethics relation
to social culture and knowledge? All these problems depends on the gender as an analytical perspective,
this will lead to an overall reflection on Chinese traditional life, and to find more suitable and
developmental way of life for human beings.
2.1 The links between gender and Chinese ethics
In China, the word of ethics first appeared in the book of “Li Ji”, which means “music refers to ethics”.
Jia Yi of Han Dynasty advocated “using ethics to educate citizen.” [1] Zheng Xuan of Eastern Han
Dynasty proposed ethics should interpret legislation. “Shuo-wen chieh-tzu” explains the ethic refer to the
relationship between blood and generation of people, reflects a kind of moral relation, requires human
behavior should conform certain social orders. Since “the Eastern Civilization Spread Out to the West”,
Chinese ethics meaning absorbing western culture, more interpreting various social “relationship”,
directly involving multiple relations of interpersonal relationships, as well as the analyzing the following
rules of these relations.
However, the construction of ethical relations can not be separated from the “gender” element, double
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construction of gender and society constitutes the genuine ethical relationship. Ethics is also endowed
with fresh significance on gender. On the surface, gender is “the key role of culture in the formation of
gender identity in human culture, and explores the relationship between social development and
equality.” [2] Deeply, gender is “a kind of mechanism rather than a simple concept of culture.” [3] Also,
gender is “a kind of social structure, reflects a kind of social system.” [4] Obviously, gender correlation
based on two propositions: “Gender is a constitutive element of social relationships based on perceived
differences between the sexes, and gender is a primary way of signifying relationships of power.” [5]
Scott thought gender involves four interrelated elements: First, culturally available symbols that evokes
multiple representations; Second, normative concepts; Third, a notion of politics; Fourth, subjective
identity. [6] Our factors are closely to each other, any of these can not be seen individually. In fact,
gender is full of Chinese traditional ethical relationship strongly, deconstructs the social and power
relations, and exposes the power relationship in Chinese politics, economy, culture, family and other
fields. It can be said that gender is involved in the growth of ethical virtues, and ethics dependents on
gender. Gender provides a kind of analysis method for ethics, so that people can carry on the effective
decoding for ethical significance, understanding human complex association in the various forms of
interaction. Therefore, taking gender as an effective way of Chinese ethical analysis, will further
analyze existing in unequal power relations, and promote Chinese society toward real justice, freedom
and harmony.
2.2 Ethical shaping: the polymorphism of cultural symbols
Gender is represented by the certain symbol which includes a variety of cultural form. There is no doubt
that the culture symbol is the most important carrier of the construction of gender, it is influenced by the
social and cultural constructions, thus becoming the most intuitive forms of cultural expression. So,
what kinds of women refer to cultural symbol? How to explain on symbol culture by women?
In the west, “Pandora” stands for “powerful women”, “feminist”, “female star” and other specific
groups of stereotyped demonized impression. In China, “the goddess” symbol “perfect woman” will be
the ideal match for Chinese men.
In contemporary Chinese society, different groups of women have their own “Pandora”, “powerful
women” were considered the lack of gentle and obedient temperament; “feminist” are often associated
with a single, divorced, lesbian. According distinguishing to the professional characteristics, different
professional groups of women have various Pandora’s female temperament. They have a unique in
appearance, ability, mental, and also symbols “female doctor”, “Bai Gujing”, or “Sophisticated Lady”
by cultural refinement. [7] However, these women’s unique temperament makes men feel the pressure
and this advantage is often deemed as dangerous and threats. Therefore, the female appeal exhibit
cultural symbol, on the surface is caused by physiological of women, essentially reflects the statute of
Chinese social customs and traditional gender culture on women, reflects Chinese traditional ethics will
be classified as the current specific social norm existence. To men craving for the “goddess”, reflects the
absence of the history of the Chinese women’s experience, the male control female reflects the female
subjectivity by traditional Chinese philosophy theory overhead in reality. Consequently, traditional
ethical culture symbol crushed pursuit of life style and personal value by Chinese female, and it will also
put social values into two opposite mire of gender conventions.
Thus, female cultural symbols have shown development foundation of the mainstream of social
ideology background by men, they constructed ethical structure and ethics category in Chinese Society.
There is no doubt that women become the victims, it is a kind of repression of the free development on
gender culture. On the origin and reflection of female cultural symbol is that the depth of thinking on
gender culture in Chinese social life and the gender system. So reflection is at least partly responsible
for critical role of binary opposition for “normative concepts” in a certain extent.
2.3 The ethical solidification: the constraint of normative concepts
Scott explained “normative concepts” is that “these concepts typically take the form of a fixed binary
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opposition, categorically and unequivocally asserting the meaning of male and female, masculine and
feminine. The position that emerges as dominant, however, is stated as the only possible one.” [8] It
causes the normative concept in religion, law, politics has become the restriction and regulation of
ideological ethics of male and female, fixes a mode of a kind of contemporary moral ethical culture, and
driving people not aware to implementation of the culture and morality. It needs to be asked: How to be
bound by the norms of modern Chinese women? What kind of states of binary codes does exist? The
function of history and culture or female body disciplines are perhaps the best answers.
History and culture control the gender norms. There are functions of cultural inheritance on history and
culture, and restrict each cultural individual judgment and understanding for objectives. Therefore,
culture forms the habits and customs, restricts every social member’s behavior and thought. For instance,
the Spring Festival in Northwest China, women came back their parent’s house only in the sixth day
during the New Year, it is as “broken five”. [9] In addition, “Da Fan” is an important content of the
funeral process in rural funeral customs. The order of people for holding person order of hold the banner
is the eldest son- the eldest grandson- the second son- the eldest grandson of the second son- the eldest
nephew. It is thus clear that “once gender inequality conditions through the specification get fixed,
update, and by other symbolic way to explain or fuzzy individual differences, then the legitimacy
followed.” [10] Chinese women are too weak of sexual behavior system in the long term, because of
social norms have given the authority and legitimacy of the male preferred sound. At this point, the
basic values of Chinese female ethics have two characteristics: one is the value orientation for male of
the thought firmly uphold patriarchal; the other is guarantee the relationship of family ethics from the
practice. It developed “universal values” of social evaluation and moral standard on female role, which
greatly hindered the rational development of gender ethics, but also the discipline women’s bodies.
Female body practice normative concepts of gender. In modern workplace, the “norms” become the
rules of behavior language on women, and teach them to learn how to cater to the male in workplace,
women need to have characteristics of workplace such as self-control, clear, strong, and slender, “the
female body shape and popular with their professional clothing appearance told the necessity.” [11]
Sandra Bartky concluded: “disciplines the body that has determined the size and appearance of the
discipline practice; produces practice in specific body gestures, posture and movement; practices that
promote their bodies as a decorative appearance to show.” [12] The disciplines of body practices attract
countless females in accordance with this standard involuntarily create, and is close to the standard of
“beauty landscape”. The Chinese traditional ethics has apparently link with all sorts of body disciplines
and their moral conducts by female. Female body as a kind of cultural symbol by the “materialization”,
with the boost social values and ethical orientation, make Chinese women fought in the specification to
extricate themselves, so that the power relationship between binary oppositions become more acute and
complex.
2.4 The ethical dispersion: the cover of politics notion
Politics notion make gender closely with labor, education and policy, which represents unequal binary
opposition of “gender system” and “gender class”. Thus, gender analysis is also a political analysis, and
it focuses on differences between power relations and social relations on gender. So, what is the reason
that makes power always one-sided? What is the reason that the binary opposition indestructible? The
answers perhaps are the national security attached power and the modern patriarchal maintained power
are perhaps the answers. The national security attached power. National security is always associated
with male together, “depend on male identity” seems to have become the only way to solve the security
of the state, which will be linked to masculine and national strength, led directly to the male discourse
and male status rising and established. In fact, heroes not only exist in the male group, why do women
in Chinese historical events invisible? “The real social problems rather than has been denied the
opportunity to gain experience or character of men, as it is in different social value has not been
appreciated and rewarded in the female character groups.” [13] To obtain the supreme power for national
security in reality, almost all built on the premise of women excluded. “So, binary opposition of gender
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relations has become part of the power; In any case, any questions or change on gender can threaten the
whole system.” [14] So, power relationship further strengthened the gender differences in politics, and it
reflects the modern patriarchal stick to traditional ethical position.
The modern patriarchal maintained the power. Some scholars made a summary of the contemporary
patriarchal: “it seems fair to say, all the contemporary society is man rule in some extent, although the
subordination of women is different from degree and the way of expression, but the gender imbalance is
a universal fact of human social life.” [15] For example, Chinese women have played an important role in
family labor, “if the housework into fixed salary payment, the annual 420 billion RMB”, [16] but why
calculation GDP often excluded the exchange value of household labor out of the national income. In
addition, the control surgery of family-planning policy often has fallen in women. Tendency of these
policy and decision-making body is related to the proportion of women. Data shows that in high-rise
structure in our country, the overall proportion of women were all below 10%; UN studies shows that
any group representatives in decision-making layer accounted for more than 30% proportion can impact
on public policy. [17] Obviously, female in the organs of state power imbalance influence directly to
women’s interests. Policy can not be completely separated from the concrete environment and cultural
background, only positive change existing social traditional ethics consciousness and enhance the
female subject identity, to promote social progress, to realize the balanced development of power
relations.
2.5 Ethical awareness: subject identity
By critical and subversive character of post modernism challenge traditions, and it emphasize that
women should regain their subject status, and realize self-value. So feminists can’t help thinking, gender
how to challenge the “absolute”, and realize their subject identity? How to realize the true liberation
reply to subservient relationship? So I need to find a specific field to analyze this kind of essence,
revealed it as the so-called “universal truth”.
The post modernists first deconstructed the “knowledge” field. For a long time, knowledge is regarded
as the product of rational and objective. The rationality and objectivity is the focus on criticism by post
modernists, they think the pure rational and objective is not exist, and the real objectivity is actually non
objective. Jane Flax clearly pointed out in “The end of innocence”: “in eighteenth Century, in order to
human reason instead of the revelation of God, and this process determines the core role of reason......
Through the exercise of the authority of reason, knowledge conflict and rights can be overcome.” [18] She
simply illustrates that rationality can be used as a neutral platform, conflict resolution knowledge and
rights. But the rationality is never neutral, social life is not uniform, which will undoubtedly rationality
and knowledge on the objective negative. The scholars in the knowledge generation process are more
keen to discover the identity of gender exist in the Chinese language. For example, the ancient Chinese
call his wife, “humble wife”, “poor wife”, or “chaff”. There is discrimination in these titles for women.
Several professional titles still exhibit male normative ideas in modern society, such as some gender
specific names for “the female driver”, “the female fire”, and reflect the professional idiom in Chinese
society existence. The knowledge of critical understanding and vigilance is female subject identity. It is
the resistance on “natural”, “universal” and “objectivity”. The criticism of the rationality and objectivity
makes gender characteristics of knowledge bared undoubtedly, also make people realize that knowledge
is the ethical support with social and cultural code and brand, and make them to promote the voice of
“gender mainstreaming” more strongly.
Gender mainstreaming is a concrete strategy change in Chinese traditional ethics, and it is the practical
measures for the awakening of subject consciousness. Gender mainstreaming is not only taking the
Chinese women into the mainstream simply, the main purposes are to change the original gender
unequal power relationships. [19] Gender mainstreaming is a process of empowered on Chinese women,
to let women have to participate in the decision-making of the opportunities and conditions, to enjoy the
treatment and protection of resources equalization. From a deeper perspective, gender mainstreaming
for power system changed from the structure. It needs to make changes to the power foundation and
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operation mode in the organization, legislation, policy, plan and project levels, such as changing the
traditional Chinese hierarchy. Feminists hope that people of the traditional mainstream status produced
gender consciousness, make the vulnerable groups and marginalized groups into the mainstream.
Therefore, gender discussed not only the problem of gender roles, but social values issues; not only the
problem of gender differences, but power relations on strong and weak. It can be said that gender
mainstreaming transcends the pure issues of gender, and it is a break through for the traditional Chinese
ethics mode and change the power of fundamental structure. It is the true identity of Chinese society and
the progress of human civilization.
3 Conclusion
Review on gender involves four factors, gender critic and interpret the culture, social norms, power
relations in gender differences existence. It promoted the subject identity of the vulnerable groups, and
achieved to analyze multiple perspectives of Chinese ethics. From practical view point of gender, gender
is a kind of political carrier of power relation on change to Chinese traditional ethics and social notion.
It provides a broad space for constructing equal social relations of individuals essentially.
Author in Brief:
1. Zhao Jun, Ph.D., Northeast Normal University.
2. Hu Xiaohong, Ph.D., professor & Ph.D., supervisor of School of Marxism, secretary general of
Female Research Center, Northeast Normal University.
Fund:
The Humanities and Social Sciences Program Ministry of Education of China Foundation, Empolder to
Open Education Resource on Moral Education (12YJA710031).
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