It was recognized very early in the Bolshevik Revolution that women’s status had to be raised not only socially, but politically and economically also. In 1919, the women’s department of the Bolshevik party under Lenin was founded, namely, the Zhenotdel. Lenin and his party went to new heights concerning the liberation of women. This included that women were not forced to live with their husbands and in 1920 the divorce laws were simplified along with the legalization of Abortion. Women were being recruited by the Zhenotdel to be involved in politics by getting involved with issues not only in the rural areas but factories also. Thus, organizations like the Zhenotdel had augmented women’s role in society by playing a key role in job placements and political influence for women and thus, breaking their social hiatus from the Tsarist times.
It was imperative that women should be introduced into social work to increase employment, and as a result, the production of the USSR. One of the primary goals of Joseph Stalin’s regime was to bring a change from a peasant country to an industrial one. Stalin had critically emphasized the need for modernization, industrialization and growth in the Soviet Union in numerous speeches and statements. Due to an acute manpower shortage in 1930, increase employment of women in the industry was essential for fulfilling these economic plans, specifically, the “Five Year Plan Program”. Under Stalin, the Party Central Committee established quotas and specific measures to increase the employment of women. As a consequence of this, 3.5 million women entered the industry between 1933 and 1937 where 82% of newly employed workers were women. However, due to being given the burden of carrying out duties in work places and at home, rest and recreation had become impracticable. As a consequence, the overall Russian lifestyle and family life had changed dramatically.
By 1940, women had become fully involved in all spheres of life in USSR. The huge scale of industrial growth and development in USSR allowed women to climb the political and social ladder and become en par with men. The Soviet Union had become world leaders in women’s education as the percentage of 7 women in higher education had increased from 28% in 1927 to 43% in 1950. The transformation of the Soviet economy from an agricultural or feudal based into a comprehensive industrial one and the emergence of the USSR as a superpower greatly helped the social cause for women. The life expectancy of women had jumped from 30 years in Imperial times to 74 under Gorbachev. Thus, women had become fully empowered in Soviet society under the rule of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
In Communist China, the status of women was raised and they had become an essential part of the revolution. Women had actively participated in the struggle for power against the Kuomintang for the Communist regime in the 1930’s. Their role in the struggle was minor but important which included producing uniforms for the fighters. Women were praised to such an extent that exaggerated propaganda was released which included women fighting in the battles themselves, which was obviously not true. Therefore, women had become an essential and critical part of the communist regime in the very early stages of the revolution which gave them a major role in society and societal influence as well.
Women were unanimously celebrated as a crucial part of society under communist rule in contrast with the Imperials, Mao and the Communist Party of China helped women join the Chinese work force to contribute to production. In order to do so, Education and Healthcare for women was improved significantly under Mao. His regime worked extensively to do so, Zedong has been famously quoted as saying, “Women hold up half the sky.” This directly shows the equality that had registered in Maoist belief which should be given to women. Even though there wasn’t an exodus of women from the household to industry like in the USSR during the 1930’s, Chinese women had also begun feeling the burden of newly given liberties under the umbrella of employment. Therefore, the new added responsibility of women in Chinese society had changed the lifestyle of the traditional family especially in major developing cities.
In contrast to the Soviet political model for women, Chinese women were never encouraged to pursue politics. Even though women were allowed to take up jobs in the government, they have rarely ever reached high ranked positions. Even after the rule of Mao and the economic reformer Deng Xiaoping, there were only five highly ranked women in the 198 member strong Central Committee as of 2003. It was only in 2005 that the communist party had agreed to improve the representation of women in Chinese politics. Thus, even though the status of women was elevated socially and economically, it was restrained politically.
Women in USSR and China had been recognized as a big potential to contribute to the Communist regimes of both these states earlier on in their revolutionary phases. The implementation for equality of women and further development of education and healthcare system for them allowed them to take big leaps in the social arena by taking bigger responsibilities by handling households and their jobs; they contributed to the economic development of these countries as well. Even though the Communist Party of the Soviet Union encouraged the presence of women in politics and the Chinese Communist Party did not, they unanimously have a very supportive stand for women under Communist ideology, a big change from both the countries’ Imperial ages.
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