Mao Zedong said "Women hold up half the sky". Do you agree?

Question

I am an American.  I was not taught to admire Mao Zedong or to agree with his method of ruling China.  I was taught that he was the bad guy.  So you can imagine my surprise when I came across this quote "Women hold up half the sky."  In fact, I was quite surprised to learn some of things this man said about women's rights.  I had to rethink whether or not he was truly a bad bad guy (??).  Some of his ideas about women's rights sounded kind of forward-thinking to me.

REF:  Mao on Women

Answer 1

I wasn't thought no such history as that of Mao Zedong back in school, I became familiar with his exemplary past life through research. For the record, I think western nations have a way of always undermining one nation in a bid to assume might and superiority over another and more nations.

If you go through recorded history of Mao Zedong with an open mind, you'd realize he was a fine leader, a leader the vast majority of china loves and still dominates their list of greatest leaders with others like ancient Qin Shi Huang, 12th century Kublai Khan and 80's Deng Xiaoping to mention a few. Asides from the failure of his "cultural revolution" and "great leap forward" initiatives which when implemented were responsible for greatly affecting china's economy and caused a large scale famine respectively, Mao Zedong did great in other aspect like issues concerning women rights.

History has it that during Mao's young age, he was active on groups that opposed china's tradition on feudal marriages. A certain piece he published made the public aware of his opinion and stands on fair treatment for women. He criticized societal neglect on the needs of women and  how the feeling of always being dominated by men and the system has left them oppressed. He went further by giving it a name, "Feudal Patriarchy". In the year of 1945 through the writings of his "Little Red Book", Mao demanded for freedom of marriage and equality as between men and women.

Mao Zedong wasn't just known for his famous role in leading China towards communism and keeping it alive, his infamous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, he was also known for the fight of women's right justice.

Answer 2

I went to school in France and also in America. My first years were spent in France and when I was 13 I was in school in the US. I saw a lot of ways the American's taught school and how they wanted us to think one way and follow their way of thinking. I think this had a lot to do with China and how they were so down on this country for so long. I did not agree with some of the things they taught in school and how they wanted to twist some of the histories around to their way of thinking. I guess this is only me.
I have always admired China and if you take a close look at the history of China you can actually learn a lot from some of the rulers. I understand that a few of them were dictators and controllers, but in some ways, they had the right idea about how to rule a government and how to control the people. I am not saying they were always the correct views or the right way to do things.

Comments

I'm not sure I can think of any nation in the history of mankind that was always correct in the way it governed its citizens.  That includes America.

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You are right on that one. It seems that whoever is in office become a dictator and wants to show people who are in charge. I'm not sure, but it almost makes me think that once they are elected they end up with a big head and they need to show people who are the boss. This is sad and it will never change. 

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"Once they are elected, they end up with a big head"...are you referring to a certain someone we all see as having a big head? # laughs.

I like to think that when someone campaigns for a position, he\she is unaware of the limited powers that position wills, even though it looks otherwise on the outside. It is almost impossible to actualize all promises made during a campaign. Senate, labor unions and other watchdogs with certain jurisdictions and even citizens are a few legal barriers that will stand in your way and needs constitutional crossing. Hence, all elected leaders seem to change when they assume office, but definitely not a dictator in a civilized society like yours. 

Answer 3

Based on my knowledge, Mao Zedong did not care about Chinese women at his time. It was only lately that women were being empowered to work. But then, equality is not yet fully practiced in this country.

Answer 4

Having said that, I do agree with the quote.  Women are essential to the success of any society and a nation.  They are just as capable and valuable as men and should be given the same rights and opportunities.  "Women hold up half the sky" is a powerful reminder of that.