Category: China

China is known for its lack of freedom. In China you can’t say anything bad about the government or the leader of the country, Xi Jinping, you can’t really express your real thoughts and feelings. China is also a very strict country, the government controls everything and everyone. Instead of giving the population access to the western technology, they make their own. They have their own google, their own YouTube, their own Instagram, basically they have their own anything. Why isn’t the population doing something about? And how can everyone life in a country where you all support the same leader and where everyone is scared to say what they really think of the Chinese Communist Party? Why are people not demonstrating against the Chinese government?

What Are Human Rights and Why Are They Important?

Human rights are fundamental rights and freedoms for all people regardless of their nationality, gender, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language or other status. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, freedom and freedom of expression. There are also social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work and the right to education. Human rights are additionally part of global law, contained in settlements and presentations that explain explicit rights that nations are required to maintain. Nations regularly fuse human rights in their very own national, state, and neighborhood laws.

Human rights additionally ensure individuals the methods important to fulfill their essential needs, for example, nourishment, lodging, and training, so they can make the most all things considered. At long last, by ensuring life, freedom, equality, and security, human rights secure individuals against maltreatment by the individuals who are all the more dominant.

What Kind of Freedom Do Chinese Lack?

Freedom of Speech

In China you can’t say anything critical towards the CPC and the leaders, especially online. If you say anything about the CPC online, they will delete it. But if you discuss it in personal chats, you may get monitored, but as long as you don’t plan to take any actions, nothing else will happen. The Chinese citizens don’t really have the freedom of speech, but it’s really not uncommon these days. In many countries, you face serious consequences if you for openly criticizing the leader of a country, and you can even go to prison or get the death penalty.

Freedom of Religion

Lately on social media I have seen, that the Chinese Uygur are being China’s Uighurs have been hardest hit. As indicated by the USCIRF report, somewhere in the range of 800,000 and 2 million Uighurs have been confined in Xinjiang since April 2017. Most are blamed for unclear connects to fanatic exercises and other vague unlawful activities. Other Muslim bunches crosswise over China have likewise been focused on. Authorities from close by Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region visited Xinjiang to visit the confinement camps and consent to helpful enemy of fear-based oppressor arrangements in November 2018. After a month, experts in Yunnan area shut three mosques, referring to infringement of strict instruction laws.

LGBT Rights

Being gay is not widely accepted in China, with only 5% of the Chinese population being open to their family and friends. Most of them face discrimination in many aspects of their lives, especially in the family and at work. And according to the UN, the LGBT community in China has a higher unemployment rate than hetero people. The Chinese government does not allow same-sex marriage, and anything showing ‘strange sexual relations’ has been banned.

Women’s Rights

Women’s rights in China have developed over the years. For centuries, women were mostly seen as accessories for the men. When Mao was the leader, gender equality wasn’t a thing, but after he passed away, the government progressed to the social market exchange economic system that resulted in the loss of state support for gender equity. Today the rights of women in China aren’t really supported or presented. China’s patriarchal traditions have reasserted themselves, obstructing women’s economic human rights, such as the right to land and the right to work. China has a long way to go before the government respect women’s rights and the genuine encounters of ladies.

Conclusion

Apparently, the cutting-edge Chinese government has no enthusiasm for complying with the sayings of free discourse, press, and difference upheld by Marx, Mao and its own dynamic constitution. While dispute may appear to be good inside the structure of hypothetical socialism, it seems, by all accounts, to be inconsistent with the socialism rehearsed in China. In disavowing its originators explanations, the administration’s position may appear to contradict the soul of socialism; yet, the decisions bode well when considered in the structure of settling on choices not on from the earlier moral suspicions like majority rule governments seek to do, yet rather based on what is best for the socialist society right now. While the Internet may yet be a lot for the well-oiled Chinese control machine to deal with, the legislature has done amazingly well so far in giving a slimmer, more China-accommodating adaptation of the web to its residents.

A large number of individuals in China are satisfied with their country, their history, and their lifestyle. They live their lives as demonstrated by the overwhelming viewpoints on models and characteristics. They have an occupation, are hitched, have an adolescent. They have a rooftop over their heads, sustenance, and drink, pieces of clothing on their bodies and their kids can go to class and they have a superior chance for a superior life. There is prosperity in the city and there is a solicitation in the country. Remember this is one of the basic human rights. Preferably, an extraordinary arrangement will happen in China to the extent of human rights. Furthermore, in a perfect world, the effect of the West can add to that. China is developing its future progressively. Not solely does the organization put a huge amount of money into nonsense greatness adventures, yet much thought is in like manner paid to the national establishment. New lanes, ranges, air terminals. However also a logically expansive power structure for the retrogressive domains that are still not furnished with control.

China is locking in on its future and not just on the inevitable destiny of its pioneers. Money related advancement is persevering and in a perfect world, the manhandled rights rising up out of destitution will disappear. Warming, better remedial thought, and better working conditions. A country that will rely upon an overall level, later on, a country that people can’t dismiss. In addition, a country that the Chinese can be pleased with.

References

1. https://chinapower.csis.org/china-gender-inequality​
2. http://theconversation.com/inequality-in-china-and-the-impact-on-womens-rights-38744
3. https://qz.com/687880/only-5-of-chinas-lgbt-citizens-have-come-out-of-the-closet/
4. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2119971/china-accused-holding-30-relatives-exiled-uygur
5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2019/04/20/is-china-conducting-a-crackdown-on-religion/#48b9168c19d3​
6. https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/​
7. https://outrightinternational.org/content/china-legal-position-and-status-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-people-people’s​
8. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(19)30153-7/fulltext
9. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights/china-says-its-people-have-more-civil-political-rights-than-ever-before-idUSKBN1E90C9​
10. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/china-and-tibet#eaa21f

It goes without saying that the world we know today is torn – be it wars, racism, segregation, elitism – all for the pursuit of one thing: power. A few moons ago, the ‘impending doom’ of the earth might have been viewed in direct correspondence to the ever-increasing frequency of natural disasters as well as global warming. However, many scholars are now of the view that, before anything else, the end of the earth will almost certainly be the result of a third world war. The fact of the matter is that the issues prevalent in the world have been significantly heightened to such a point that no one can claim to be safe anywhere, especially women and children.

No country is stranger to the term sexism. Defined as the oppression of a particular gender, sexism is, primarily, done against women. It is true that, over the last few decades, most developed countries have made substantial progress in combatting gender inequality, mainly vis-à-vis employment. However, high-profile issues such as the gender wage gap, occupational segregation, female strength in low-status jobs, and higher unemployment percentages of women remain pervasive and resistant to change (Goldin, C. 1994).

Now, one might think that it can’t possibly get any worse than this. Well, an even grimmer picture is painted by the People’s Republic of China. A place whose very landscape is discerned by the obstinate patriarchal view of female inferiority, China holds even more striking contradictions between the traditional view of sex roles and enhanced education of Chinese women as of now.

The western scholars have brought the issue of gender inequality in China to light and what has been said cannot be unsaid. These scholars have meticulously documented the circumstances of the rural and factory female workers. Gender inequality has been a long-standing theme when it comes to cultural lag in China. “The view that particular jobs are appropriate only for males or only females have been perpetuated by cultures and further reinforced by existing legal systems through marital and labor laws” (Brinkman, 1997).

The Aftermath of Rural-Urban Migration

Compelled by the force of global capitalism, China has faced rapid marketization, urbanization, and industrialization since the 1980s with the aim of accelerating integration and economic growth into the global market. The government of China executed the Household Responsibility System, taking agriculture as the very foundation of reform, and reverted to a peasant economy (Pan, Lu, & Zhang 2012). As a result of the loosening dualist social structure of the country, the most active of laborers have been granted permission to migrate into the cities. These migrants have been labeled as 农民工 that translates to ‘peasant workers’ (Chen 2005). The government departments of public education, urban administration, labor, and social security have effectively left out rural migrants from the entitlements of the citizen.

Ostracism of the Left-Behind Women

Their marginalized status of the migrants, along with a large number of the rural ‘left-behind’ population, are huge social costs that China has paid for its economic prosperity thus far. A key factor with regards to earning opportunities and family responsibilities is gender (Razavi, 2012). It is mostly the case that a couple is unable to migrate together. Therefore, the strategy is to have the husband migrate while the woman is left behind. The migration of unmarried women is more common than that of married women, and the former ones are prone to return to their village, either temporarily or permanently, due to subordination to the needs of the family. The left-behind women have developed into an ostracized group, constantly oppressed by many structural forces prevalent among Chinese society.

The rural left-behind women are obligated to take responsibility and care for their families, bear children, and play a key role in agricultural production. These left-behind women are made to suffer emotional hardship and marriage crises as a consequence of long-standing separation from their husbands. A metaphor of 3 Big Mountains (三座大山) is used to describe these women, with the mountains being: children, elderly people, and farming (Zhang & Zhang, 2006), or also ‘psychological stress, no safety, and heavy workloads’ (Chen, Qin, & Zhu, 2005).

Agricultural Feminization

The elevated burden of farm work on the left-behind women is evident, and, in addition, the comparatively low income that they receive for it puts these women at a significant disadvantage in their families (Gao, 1994). Agricultural feminization typically leads to the extensification of agricultural production, due to the underlying fact that the family is short of labor, and a left-behind woman’s weight of care for both the children and the elderly family members is amplified (Zhao, Hu, & Yang, 2009).

An overwhelming majority of the studies claims that this migration of husbands has adverse effects on the overall well-being of the left-behind women. Due to the heavy workloads, these women tend to be under a great amount of stress and thus experience deteriorating mental and physical health. Moreover, feelings of loneliness and insecurity begin to inculcate in them (Wu & Ye, 2010; Xu, 2009b) and, consequently, their relations with their husbands worsen over time. Considering a long-term perspective, outmigration of the male labor force adversely affects women’s own development (Li et al., 2000; Lin, 2003; Yuan, 2006; Zhang, 2006; Zhang, 1999; Zhu, 2001).

Gender Relations

As far as gender relations go, even after having been migrated to the cities, men still remain to be in charge of the family decisions, especially those related to investments in production (Zhou, 2006). The left-behind women are still seen as inferior to men when it comes to making important choices, and, as such, men have been granted the role of ‘managers’ while women are the ‘producers’. In this particular case, the wives who have to stay behind are burdened with farm work and housework, while being reliant on the men for providing them with both economic as well as emotional support. These terms of gender relations tend to reduce women to a mere subordinate position to men in rural China (Jiang & Zhou, 2007). Studies suggest that the left- behind women have much worse mental health as opposed to other women vis-à-vis fear, pressure, stress and, most of all, loneliness.

The One-Child Policy and Its Effect on China’s Gender Imbalance

The significance of China’s one-child policy cannot be understated, having played a key role in the economic prosperity of the country. The Chinese government employed the use of economic incentives in order to reach their demographic goals (Howden & Zhou, 2014). As far as reducing the population growth goes, this was achieved by confining 91.5% of the population to bear only one child per couple. Perhaps, one of the biggest consequences of this policy is the distorted sex ratio, which, appallingly, has halted the birth of millions of girls around China (Hesketh et al., 2005).

The cultural, ‘son-preference’ mindset prevalent in China is what inevitably led to the imbalanced gender gap. A recent study discovered that over millions of missing girls were lost to this one-child policy. It was also found that the implementation of the family planning policy was to be held responsible for sex-selective abortions. According to Chu (2011), the one-child policy pushed the Chinese couples into putting a lot of effort in foretelling their baby’s gender, which led to the formation of gender-specific abortion technology.

Bulet et al. (2011), discovered that between the years 1981 to 2000, the one-child policy was responsible for the absence of roughly 15 to 20 million women. These numbers are sufficient to elucidate the 38 to 48% female deficiency during this particular period of time. In addition, Bulet et al. (2011), also came upon the realization that the one-child policy was accountable for around 50% of the gender gap, even long before the existence of prenatal sex-selective technology.

‘Leftover’ Women

Over the last couple of decades, there has been significant growth in the number of unmarried Chinese professional women. In China, these women have been ‘slapped’ with the label of剩女or sheng nu which literally translates to ‘leftover women’. In the year of 2011, Xinhua News Agency stated: “The tragedy is they don’t realize that as women age, they are worth less and less, so by the time they get their MA or Ph.D., they are already old, like yellowed pearls” (Business Insider, 2013). This statement is a clear reflector of the misogynistic attitude of the Chinese men with regards to working women in China. Patriarchy reigns free as the qualified, self-sufficient, and career-oriented women in China struggle to find suitable partners without being labeled as being too ‘controlling’.

China has observed a steady reappearance of traditional attitudes concerning gender roles, beginning from the market reform era to this very day. A survey that was carried out by the All-China Women’s Federation and China’s National Bureau of Statistics disclosed that the number of both Chinese men and women who hold firm belief in the customary gender split and who claim that ‘men belong in public, women belong inside’ or, in Chinese, 男主外,女主內, has effectively grown by 8 percentage points to 61.6% of men, and by 4 percentage points to 54.8% of women over the course of 10 years (New York Times, 2013).

A study conducted by Christina Hahn and Katarina Elshult in 2016 concluded that by employing an interactionist grounded theory method, the interactional constraints that 50 single Chinese professional women were faced with, were, in fact, issued by their male romantic partners and parents. The predominant gender constraints being ‘discriminatory’ and ‘controlling’ issued by the women’s male suitors as well as partners echoed the prevalence of the Chinese male-controlled structure. As a matter of fact, this was discovered to be the principal cause of women being ‘leftover’ in the marriage market in China. It seems to be the case that accomplished women pose a threat to the Chinese men who, in turn, view these women to be ‘useless’ or ‘uncontrollable’.

Family’s Take on Women’s Rights in China

According to a study conducted by Emily Hannum et al., 2009, an overwhelming majority of mothers in China continue to rely on their sons for providing them with old-age support. In addition, roughly one in five mothers who were interviewed were consistent with the traditional saying that still proves to be highly popular in China, ‘Sending girls to school is useless since they will get married and leave home’.

As compared to the boys, girls tend to face a much greater probability of being asked to perform household chores. However, the performance of girls in academia effectively left behind or, in the very least, stood in comparison to that of the boys. About seven years later, the boys had attained more schooling as opposed to the girls by roughly one-third of a year. This was indeed an unassertive advantage that one could not explain entirely through early parental investments or student engagement.

The fieldwork affirmed that parents of sons and daughters tended to view their boys as being the ones with superior talent, whereas their girls as being more dedicated and hardworking. Hannum’s work suggested that, in the very least, in the Chinese province of Gansu, the educational attitudes and practices of the parents toward both boys and girls are much more complicated and not as much uniformly negative for girls as is commonly perceived to be in general.

The Result of Gender Imbalance China

The gender gap has effectively doubled the divorce rate in the past 10 years from 1% in 2003, to 2.57% in 2013 (Powell, 2015). This is a significantly low rate when we compare it with international standards. Yet still, Powell has discovered that in the urban areas of China, where women are starting to become much more economically independent, and have begun to have demographically more choices, the divorce rates are around 30%. As a result, Fincher (2014) and Powell (2015) are of the view that the gender gap also sparks a trend among the women for increasing the empowerment of women in urban areas, the ones who manage to break through the stereotypical, traditional values and norms of the society.

In addition, perhaps the biggest consequence of the gender imbalance in China is that the Chinese women have begun to make sure that they are financially stable and perfectly capable of supporting themselves before they dive into the marriage market (Ji, 2015; Asia’s Catastrophic Gender Imbalance, 2011).

On the word of Asia’s Catastrophic Gender Imbalance Report 2011, the Chinese Government’s response to the rapidly increasing sex imbalance is to ratify campaigns and administer laws that are aimed at changing the mindset of the masses in order to effectively put a halt to sex-selective abortions. However, Powell (2015) has pointed out that the Chinese government views the empowerment of Chinese women with regards to marriage and divorce as a moral ‘disgrace’, and wishes to curb this newfound mentality.

Conclusion

The People’s Republic of China has undergone significant gender inequality issues and continues to do so to this very day. What started from Mao Zedong’s famous saying in 1968, “Women hold half the sky”, has turned to a land of “Women belong inside”. It has not once been the case in the history of Chinese politics that a woman gets appointed to China’s highest political body, that is, the politburo standing committee. So, becoming the leader of the country does not even seem to have a one in a million likelihood of occurrence.

The phenomenon of the ‘leftover’ women came into existence due to the trickle-down effect that began from enforcing the one-child policy and effectively ended with the leftover women. This highlights the fact that the one-child policy gives rise to a skewed sex ratio that concluded in China’s gender imbalance and, consequently, its gender inequality. Owing to the drastic economic transformation of the country, the leftover women now have to fight against a whole generation of patriarchal parents.

Furthermore, due to China’s restructuring of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, women were influenced adversely. This was mainly owing to the privatization process that led to layoffs of, primarily, female workers. The country’s development has also unfairly benefited men – the income gap between the urban male and female workers has increased from 15% in 1990 to 25% in 2000. In fact, a 2017 poll conveyed that, on average, Chinese women earn 22% less than their male counterparts.

Subsequently, gender inequality plays a pivotal role in regards to the economic stability of the country. Women in China have always been sidelined and reduced to mere objects. Most of their job adverts are a clear portrayal of patriarchy, often being ‘only for men’. The fact of the matter is that if China carries on with ignoring the economic potential of its women population, it will inevitably face immense penalties with regards to long-term economic growth. It won’t be until China realized the underlying truth behind Mao’s claim that this country will see real progress.

References

1. Bauer, J. et al. (1992) ‘Gender Inequality in Urban China: Education and Employment’, Modern China, 18(3), pp. 333–370.
2. Fincher, L. H. (2014) ‘Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China’, Zed Books Ltd.
3. Hannum, E. et al. (2009) ‘Family Sources of Educational Gender Inequality in Rural China: A Critical Assessment’, International Journal of Educational Development, 29(5), pp. 474-486.
4. Ye J. (Guest Editor), Wu H., et al. (2016) ‘Left-Behind Women: Gender Exclusion and Inequality in Rural-Urban Migration in China’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 43:4, 910-941.
5. Dong, X. (2018) ‘The Startling Plight of Urban Women and Marriage: A Research Overview of Entrenched Gender Inequality In China’.
6. Larson, C. (2016) ‘The Startling plight of China’s Leftover Ladies’, Available at: https://studymoose.com/the-startling-plight-of-chinas-leftover-ladies-by-christina-larson-essay (Accessed: 23 Feb. 2019).
7. Wang, Q. & Dongchao, M. (2016) ‘Revisiting Gender Inequality: Perspectives from the People’s Republic of China’, Palgrave Macmillan US.
8. Meng, X. (2014) ‘Feminization of Agricultural Production in Rural China : A Sociological Analysis’.
9. To, S. (2013) ‘Understanding Sheng Nu (“Leftover Women”): The Phenomenon of Late Marriage among Chinese Professional Women’, 36(1), pp 1-20.
10. Hahn, C. & Elshult, K. (2016) ‘The Puzzle of China’s Leftover Women’.

Abstract

Agriculture is an important part of Ancient China. Farming has always been the nature of Chinese culture. The influence agriculture had on the culture and tradition, the development in science and technology, and the society in that period can be obtained from several historical texts and books. In this paper, we study the agricultural practice and reforms made in ancient agriculture and their influence on the culture and development of society. Agriculture in ancient China was more labor-intensive still inventions and use of different techniques ranging from a simple metal plough to complex water-powered bellows can be found. These techniques helped shape ancient agriculture to be more productive and Chinese society and culture to develop and expand. The traditional Chinese calendar and the festivals celebrated also reflect the agriculture culture in ancient China. With the year starting with sowing of seeds and ending on harvesting. China’s growth of farming over the history has certainly played a major part in the development of the country with the largest population in the world. (Liu, Duan and Yu, 2013)

Introduction

Since ancient times, China has been an agricultural country (Zeng, 2015) . Every dynasty back then attached great importance to agriculture and its development. Emperors themselves practiced and accumulated knowledge of farming. So now we have a several books and text describing the farming culture and methods used back then. Two of these books are: Fan Sheng Zhi Shu (The Book of Fan Shengzhi) and Wang Zhen Nong Shu (Agricultural Treatise of Wang Zhen).

Fan Sheng Zhi Shu, book of the western Han Dynasty presents the understanding of principles of farming from choosing the time, to soil fertilization, irrigation, and even harvesting. It presents agriculture as a joint effort of Heaven, Earth and People. Similarly, Wang Zhen Nong Shu, the book of Yuan Dynasty has information on weather conditions and human effort, description of large cereals and even fruits and about 300 different real objects of that time. This detailed knowledge of the seeds, weather, soil properties, irrigation and those large number of farming instrument which were in use were unknown to the other part of the world. From this information, we can say that ancient agriculture in China had high scientific and technological level of understanding. Infrastructure development to facilitate farming and distribution of foods were also developed in ancient China.For example, The Dujiangyan and The Grand Canal. Dujiangyan is an ancient irrigation system constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin as an irrigation and flood control project, which is still in use today. (UNESCO, 2018)

Farming in ancient china was also diverse. With numbers of grains and cereals, fruit farming, sericulture and horticulture also developed. ‘The earliest authentic record of artificial cultivation of fruit is seen in Ancient Chinese Agriculture. Tangerines originate in South China. Kiwifruit was cultivated back in the Tang Dynasty. Tea Plant is native to China. China is also among the earliest countries to plant mulberry trees for sericulture’. (Zeng, 2015)

Influence on Culture and Tradition

The Book Fan Sheng Zhi Shu has mentioned the basic farming concept of ancient China. From the very beginning, Farming has been taken as a joint effort of three dimension- Heaven, Earth and People. The seasonal change, weather and timing representing Heaven and the geographic advantages like terrain position, soil character representing Earth when utilized in conjunction with manpower(people) result in good agricultural production. This concept has shaped the culture and tradition in ancient China. With this concept and to guide farming work we can see the development of 24 solar terms and the ancient Chinese agriculture calendar.

The 24 Solar Terms

24 Solar Terms is a knowledge system created by Chinese ancestors to guide the agriculture production and daily life in an agricultural civilization society by observing the sun, nature, and climate.(Yang, 2018) 24 solar terms consist of 12 major solar terms and 12 minor solar terms.

Chinese Agricultural Calendar

The Agricultural Calendar is an integrated lunar-solar calendar as it embraces the movement of the moon as well as that of the Sun. The calendar was useful to farmers to count the days with the help of moon phases. Even now the major festivals like Spring Festival (first day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of first month on the Chinese lunar-solar calendar), Dragon boat festival (the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar-solar calendar) are based on Chinese Lunar Calendar.

References

1. Hinsbergh, G. Van (2016) The 24 Solar Terms of the Traditional Chinese Calendar, China Highlight. Available at: https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/the-24-solar-terms.htm (Accessed: 28 April 2020).
2. Liu, Y., Duan, M. and Yu, Z. (2013) ‘Agricultural landscapes and biodiversity in China’, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Elsevier B.V., 166, pp. 46–54. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2011.05.009.
3. UNESCO (2018) Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System – UNESCO World Heritage Centre, World Heritage Convention. Available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1001 (Accessed: 28 April 2020).
4. Yang, X. (2018) ‘Chinese traditional perceptions of the calendar year: Implications of Jieqi for contemporary product development and sustainability’, Tourism Management. Elsevier Ltd, 64, pp. 202–217. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.08.013.
5. Zeng, X. (2015) ‘Agriculture’, in A History of Chinese Science and Technology. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 351–429. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-44257-9_6.

The economic and political changes which have occurred within Chinese society over the last three generations have influenced the traditional familial culture of its citizens to an extremely high level. This influence has seen changes in cultural practices and structure, though simultaneously, the continuity of many ideas. This notion is reflected by Yan, who states that “the centripetal power of the third generation of children, who attract attention, love, and care from both their grandparents and their parents is evident of a ‘breakthrough’ in traditional Chinese family culture, due to the changing political and economic discourse” (2016, p. 245). This notion is thus supported through an analysis of Kipnis’ article (2009) ‘Education and the Governing of Child-Centered Relatedness’, Yan’s article (2016) ‘Intergenerational Intimacy and Descending Familism in Rural North China’, and Fong’s (2002) ‘Coming of Age under China’s One Child Policy’, in which cultural ideas surrounding household structure, commensality, and metaphors are able to be compared.

Culture, according to J.D. Eller (2016, p. 25), is “a great meaning system – a ‘web of significance’ in which we are suspended…(in which) the symbols of culture act like a lens, shaping the reality that is refracted through them”. This idea of a ‘great meaning system’ is visible within Fong’s article (2002), in which she details the changing meaning system and reputation of daughters and filial piety, due to the political changes of China, specifically the one-child policy. Filial piety is an extremely significant cultural concept within China, described by Fong (2002, p. 128) as a ‘salient aspect’ of China’s legacy, and is promoted by Chinese leaders through linking it to economic and political prosperity and growth. Fong (2002, p. 130), within her article, details how

“Female singletons enjoyed unprecedented parental support, both because they had no brothers to compete with, and because they grew up in a socioeconomic system that provided daughters with the means to follow the cultural model of filial duty once reserved for sons”. Further, Fong (2002) discusses how within a survey she conducted, the parents of boys were more likely to live in a rural area, though the parents of girls in an urban area were more likely to obey the one-child policy and avoid gender favoritism, through sex selection. Fong (2002, p.131) thus concludes that this is because they understood that daughters could be as filial and economically productive as their male counterparts. To support this conclusion, Fong (2002, p. 131) identifies that most daughters born after 1979 in China did not have any brothers, which resulted in the parents’ willingness to raise a daughter to follow ‘the cultural model of filial duty once reserved for sons’. Thus, Fong (2002) has identified a shift in cultural norms in Chinese society, in which females, following the introduction of the one-child policy, experienced a transformation in cultural structure, however, simultaneously illustrates the cultural continuity of the idea of filial piety in children. Fong’s conclusions (2002) thus support Yan’s (2016, p. 245) claim that a ‘breakthrough’ in ‘traditional Chinese family culture’ occurred due to political change within Chinese society.

In order to fully evaluate Yan’s claim (2016), and to obtain a conclusion that illustrates that the shift in intergenerational relationships was a direct result of political changes, though simultaneously, is evidence of cultural continuity, a comparison between Fong (2002) and Yan’s (2016) deductions is necessary. Yan (2016), within their article ‘Intergenerational Intimacy and Descending Familism in Rural North China’ explores the changing ideas of intimacy and intergenerational values, whilst simultaneously arguing that their conclusions directly result from changes on a political level. Similar to Fong’s (2002) understanding that the one-child policy results in the development of a Chinese daughter’s reputation and social mobility, Yan (2016, p. 253) states that “the one child policy since the early 1980s has profoundly influenced the Chinese family in multiple ways, such as…the dramatically increased parental (and often grandparental as well) investment in this only child in both material and emotional terms”. Thus, Yan (2016) aligns his argument in the same way as Fong (2002), through the exploration of the heightening of parental investment in the single child, due to political changes. Yan (2016, p. 253), however, further argues how “the lasting effect of birth-control policy also made married daughters more valuable to their own parents and the patriarchal norm of filial obedience less possible”. Thus, Yan (2016) illustrates, similar to Fong (2002), that political changes have caused a transformation in cultural ideas, though further, how these ideas still remain of extreme significance to the Chinese population, and have continued despite these political shifts.

Commensality and social organization are defining cultural concepts which are evident across all societies, and, according to Ochs and Shohet (2006, p. 35) in their article ‘The Cultural Structuring of Mealtime Socialization’, commensality is an example of “socialization processes that promote continuity and change across generations”. This idea of commensality and social organization, similar to cultural structure as mentioned above, has undergone transformation due to the enforcement of political change. Though, this cultural concept remains evident within Chinese societies. This is demonstrated by Kipnis (2009) within his article ‘Education and the Governing of Child-Centered Relatedness’, in which he explores the apprehension held by rural parents for the replacement of meals by schools. In order to optimize learning time at school, a direct reflection of the value of education and its metaphorical representation of filial piety, rural schools chose to provide hot meals for their students’ lunches, instead of allowing students to return home to eat lunch with their farming parents (Kipnis 2009). Kipnis (2009) details how many parents were not happy with this arrangement. These households were near the school, and wanted their children to return home for lunch. Kipnis (2009, p. 207) however contrasts this deduction with the attitude of the children, as “the students, however, were more positive about the experience. Almost all students agreed that it was fun to eat with their classmates”. From this contrast, Kipnis (2009) was able to conclude that the apprehension held by the parents reflects the importance of commensality to that generation of Chinese society, and that as the children did not hold such negative views, it reflects an intergenerational shift in response to political changes. Kipnis’ conclusions (2009) thus support the claim made my Yan (2016), that intergenerational relationships are reflections and adaptations of the political changes in Chinese society.

These intergenerational relationships are representative of the cultural changes within the society, though combined with the changing notions of commensality, reflect the cultural notions which continue. Social organization continues to manifest in both rural and urban China, despite the interruption to mealtime socialization, and is thus an indication of cultural continuities and adaptation. This notion becomes evident through a comparison of Kipnis’ (2009) and Yan’s (2016) articles, through specifically Yan’s discussion (2016) on a new form of social organization which continues in spite of the developments outlined by Kipnis (2009) in rural China. Yan (2016) outlines in his article how over the last three decades, television and cell phones have had an immense social impact upon Chinese citizens. He argues that “television brings family members together and exposes them to the same kinds of pop culture…and cell phones enable those who leave the village to work in the cities to maintain close contact with their family members at home” (Yan 2016, p. 253). When contrasted against Kipnis’ work (2009), and his detailing of the apprehension of parents towards their children not sharing a meal with them, the use of television and mobile phones becomes a clear example of intergenerational adaptation and social organization, which has become a replacement of mealtime socialization, due to the rising significance of education. Thus, commensality and social organization becomes a clear example of a cultural concept which undergoes change due to political shifts, yet continues through its adaptation to the rising dispersal and significance of technology. Through the comparison of Kipnis (2009) and Yan’s (2016) analyses of different facets of social organization within rural and urban China, it becomes extremely clear that the intergenerational relationships adapt and change in response to political shifts, to allow for the continuation of social organization, and other cultural concepts.

A metaphor, according to Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p. 3) in their article ‘Metaphors We Live By’, is not just “a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish”, but further, a part of a cultural and conceptual system which defines and shapes our everyday experiences and how we perceive the world. A clear example of this is the value of education within China, due to its metaphorical connection to filial piety and parental sacrifice. These concepts, upon analysis, reveal the shifting cultural interpretations of the value of education, the continuation of filial piety, and further, the influence of political laws, including the one-child policy. Kipnis (2009, p. 205), in his article, discusses the perceived importance of education in the cultivation of personhood among youth. He writes, “In modern China, the desire of the state to cultivate the quality of its population, especially its children, is often mirrored by parents and other relatives”, and further, “teachers take over much of the responsibility of raising and disciplining children from families, they teach a familial ethics of filial piety and sacrifice” (Kipnis 2009, p. 205). Kipnis (2009) highlights the importance of education in China, and further, how this is metaphorically linked to notions of filial piety and the cultivation of young people. Kipnis’ assertion (2009, p. 205) of quality is a direct result of political influence, as he argues that “in post Mao China, the continuing spread of formal education must be placed in the context of other main state intervention into intimate family life: the birth control policy…one of the tenants has been that reducing the quantity of the Chinese population would lead to, or enable, an increase in its quality”. Thus, Kipnis (2009) is illustrating the influence of political change on culture, through his identification of the metaphorical importance of education and filial piety. His connection between the one-child policy, and the subsequent metaphorical significance of quality within the singleton generation, and the cultural shift of intergenerational values, in response to political change, is evident.

The notion of a metaphorical connection between education and filial piety, and its increased significance following political change, is further evident through an analysis of Fong’s article (2002, p. 143-144), in which she explores the idea of parental sacrifice, which “induces guilt and a heightened sense of filial obligation in their children”. Through the exploration of this intergenerational relationship, and more specifically, the concept of parental sacrifice, an understanding of cultural continuation and adaptation is able to be identified. Fong (2002, p.135) discusses how a Chinese mother she interviewed had received a scholarship to study in Japan, though deferred it for a year, for the sake of her son, as it was his first year of high school. She states how she believes that “to be a good student, a child needs two parents, so that there’s always one to keep an eye on him to make sure he’s studying” (Fong 2002, p. 135) This is a clear example of parental sacrifice, and the perceived necessity of two parents to ensure good behavior, thus demonstrating the clear connection between piety and parental sacrifice. This is evident further within the stress a Chinese parents experiences due to their child’s academic performance. Fong (2002, p. 143) discusses how this ‘inflammation’, as they refer to it, affects parents of all socioeconomic levels. She writes how “when parents came down with arthritis, fatigue, diabetes, chronic pain, heart disease, respiratory ailments, or high blood pressure, they, their children, and their relatives attributed these illnesses at least partly to the physical, emotional, and economic sacrifices parents made for their children” (Fong 2002, p. 143). Fong (2002) discusses how this notion induces a sense of guilt and filial obligation in the younger generation. This creation of guilt is clearly linked to the metaphorical importance of education and piety, and is thus an example of a continuation and adaptation of culture in response to a political shift. Therefore, Fong (2002) and Kipnis (2009), when examined concurrently, demonstrate both the cultural change as a result of political shifts, seen in the introduction of the one-child policy and the subsequent ‘quality over quantity’ mentality, and further, the continuation of culture, which manifests as filial piety and parental sacrifice, demonstrating the continuing significance of education.

In conclusion, the cultural ideas of structure, commensality and socialization, and metaphors, when examined in rural and urban China, are all clear examples of the changes and continuation which occurs in response to changes in political and economic circumstances. An exploration of the intergenerational relationships and how they interact within these cultural frameworks reveals to an extremely high extent a clear ‘breakthrough’ in ‘traditional Chinese culture’, and thus strongly supports Yan’s (2016, p. 245) argument surrounding the implications of economic and political change.

In an effort to improve the integrity of the human race, there have been diverse policies, declarations, and movements that seek to make the world a better place. The existence of human rights forms one of the most fundamental basics of human living and practices, which are supposed to be inherent to every individual. These rights are definitive regardless of the background of a human being, their gender, race, and any attribute given to their person. Deneen (2) nonetheless highlights the epic failure of this philosophy of liberty, stating that it has not lacked in its efforts but has, to a great extent, succeeded too well and brought the current social fray, political fragility, and economic instability. The founding philosophy of the American fathers is therefore a mockery of the context in which they created liberalism (Deneen, 2). Presently, the world witnesses social, political, economic technological, and environmental forms of decay that seem to have little or no solutions.

One major social contention that exists currently is gender equality and equity. Of significance to this concern are the struggles that have been highlighted by either gender on the basis of their sex. In reference to these experiences and struggles, different approaches have been used to sensitize the public, fight the wrongdoers, and change policies but the concerns seem to be increasing. As noted by Oberschall (13), revolutions in society take place in the event of social unrest and political distrust, a situation that is similar to current dissatisfactions with world affairs. This respective paper, therefore, discusses the Me Too movement, which is social activism that revolves around sexual harassment and the call to stop it. The paper moreover discusses the consequences of the Me Too movement in depth using China as its case.

The Me Too Movement

Founded by Miss Burke in 2006 to bring healing to the lives of black women and girls who had been harassed, the Me Too movement addresses the silence of sexual harassment victims. The initiative was brought to the limelight in late 2017 after top producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment by a number of Hollywood actresses (Sherwyn and Wagner, 176). The movement seeks to understand why a large number of sexual assault victims remain silent; and prompts them to speak up by providing a platform to share their stories. Through the media and other social avenues, the #Metoo movement has been highlighted with information and victims’ accounts spreading quite fast to the rest of the world. Top media outlets getting hold of the victims’ stories include the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Aljazeera, CNN, and subsequent international networks as well as local networks. The movement additionally shows the reality of the prevalence of sexual violence in different sectors of work all over the world (Lee, 433). It advocates for gender equality and a violence-free environment in the workplace. This has resulted in the mobilization of women especially due to their shared experiences. The world has been brought to question in addressing the empowerment and sensitization of gender matters, particularly to men and boys. Among the countries that have experienced a ripple effect of social activism in China. In this research paper, the movement in China and its development will be discussed in detail as well as the consequences of Me Too. These consequences include legal, social, political, and technological consequences that the movement has had in China.

Me Too in China

The Me Too campaign in China has been gradual but escalated in 2018 after a good number of sexual harassment cases were made public. The movement was spearheaded by cases of sexual assault of young women by professors in universities in China. It is estimated that 69% of university students in China claim to have undergone sexual assault yet only 4% have reported it (Lin and Liu, 118). Many of the victims fear retribution and the humiliation that comes with speaking out. In the age of the recognition of human rights, the expectation would be that justice is well served for the victims as well as the perpetrators of the sexual crime. In reference to the Chinese nonetheless, it is important to consider the difference in ideologies in China and other countries. Whilst the US believes in a liberalist theory, the Chinese are essentially Marxist (Yan, 2). These differences may explain the censorship over victims’ accounts of sexual harassment, which happened as a consequence of exposure to sexual crimes. Lin and Liu (119) discuss the extremities of the gag on sexual harassment victims and the need to empower women in China. Hines (145) addresses the fact that feminism is viewed as a menace particularly in China, which undermines the struggles of sexual harassment victims in their attempt to voice their experiences. Chinese women have however become more creative and vigilant in the light of these restrictions but the outcome of the movement is still uncertain in China. Prior to the Me Too movement in China, however, there were cases of suicides, and concerns over sexual assault were often undermined (Lin and Liu, 120). Although the country has taken some accountability by conducting investigations and making arrests, there is still a need for improvement in the justice system.

Legal consequences of the Me Too Movement in China

On the first day of January 2018, a young woman who previously studied at Beihang University came out and accused her supervisor of attempted rape (Lin and Liu, 119). This accusation over the internet was followed by the admissions of sexual harassment experiences from Chinese women over social media. The sharing of the respective sexual harassment experiences took place under the #metoo movement, otherwise known as #Woyeshi in China. It felt like a safe space for these women to open up and mobilize others to speak out. The activism was however short-lived. King, Pan, and Roberts (326) discuss the controversial censorship practice in China that allows the government to criticize its citizens but silences any expressions that are collective in nature. The censors, therefore, took down the posts for fear of creating conflict in the country (Lin and Liu, 121). It is extremely challenging for people to express their opinions on their rights or to fight for them out rightly in China. This is because the relevant authorities immediately come to shut them down claiming to maintain public peace and stability in the country. In the year 2015, five women who soon after came to be known as the ‘Feminist Five’ took to the public transport systems and streets to voice their concerns (Fincher, 84). Their aim was mainly to protest against sexual harassment in the country. They were detained for 30 days having been accused of disrupting the peace, picking quarrels, and provoking trouble among the people. This is also similar to Ye Haiyan who was detained and harassed by law enforcement in 2013 (Zeng, 41). This is after she tried to expose cases of sexual abuse of school girls in certain provinces of China.

The Me Too movement has nonetheless affected China’s legal sphere as some of the accused have been detained with individuals such as professors getting stripped of their titles and being defamed. A 26-year-old woman by the name of Zhou Xiaoxuan wrote about how she was sexually harassed during her internship as a screenwriter working under one of the most recognizable faces on television in the country; Zhu Jun (Huang). In July 2018, her story was widely shared and she has become the face of #Metoo in China. Zhou was however sued by the accused on the grounds of defamation. Although there are certain steps that have been taken to curb sexual violence in the country, there is still much to be done and implemented. The women’s protection law was amended in 2005 to outlaw sexual harassment and allow victims to sue in court. The Me Too movement has made it impossible for the government and the public, in general, to ignore sexual harassment as a crisis in China. The country is therefore preparing a draft civil code set to be implemented in 2020. This code will highlight what is expected of employers in creating measures against sexual harassment in the workplace. The legal changes brought about by Me Too in China reflect the revolution that can be influenced through social activism. The legal consequences moreover have future implications for Chinese laws and ideologies that make the country.

Intro

A Chinese woman was seven months pregnant with her second child. A group of people barged into their house and took her away. She was taken to a hospital while her husband pleaded for them not to take her. They didn’t sign any papers or agree to anything. She was shoved into a room where against medical advice, they injected a needle into her stomach. 10 hours later she gave birth to a dying infant. She wasn’t even allowed to hold her baby before they sealed it in a bag. The mother paid a cleaner to go and bury the baby on a nearby hill (Denyer n.p.). This happened because of the one-child policy in China during that time. This law prohibited people from having more than one child.

World The population hit a boost during the industrial revolution (Population Reference Bureau n.p.). The Industrial Revolution was between 1760 and 1820 (History n.p.). The food industry boomed, meaning more people could afford to eat. This meant there was less poverty and an overall rise in population. During this time the world population grew to about 700 million, which is a 57% increase. The population was predicted to hit 1 billion by the 1800s (Population Reference Bureau n.p.)

The average woman in the 1800s had eight children, making the 1800s have the highest birth rate ever in the U.S. Considering this, it is no surprise that the concern of population increase was going around by the late 1860s (Reagan, 9). This rate dropped radically by the end of the 19th century. The typical woman was now only bearing an average of three children (Reagan, 9).

The world’s population today is continuing to grow. We hit a huge landmark of 7 billion in 2011. It is no surprise that we hit this number, considering that in the 20th century alone the population grew from 1.6 to 6 billion people (Worldometers n.p.).

What is population control and how has it affected our culture and world? Why is it necessary?

Effects of population control in countries (CHINA) Section: 1

There have been many effects of population control, especially in China. Population control in China has been going on for uncountable years (Clarke n.p.). China has always had a large population, starting in Ancient China when the population was already ¼ of the world’s population (Asia for educators n.p.). There were signs of overpopulation and population control many years before the one-child policy was even put into place.

The main threat of overpopulation in China started in the 1950s when the population grew to the upper side of 500 million people (Wang n.p.). During this time, the population started to outgrow the food supply. The food supply demand in China was not able to be met by the rapidly growing population (Pletcher n.p.). There was a huge rise in the promotion of birth control and Family Planning. The government strongly promoted the use of birth control, as they could see a catastrophe of overpopulation in the near future (Pletcher n.p.).

There have also been other events that have contributed to population control before the one-child policy. For instance, in 1958, under the rule of Mao Zedong, the Great Leap Forward campaign was put in place (Szczepanski n.p.). This campaign sought to modernize China’s economy. This was a five-year plan to make China more capable of competing with industrialized Western Nations (Szczepanski n.p.). This campaign was planned to have gone on for 5 years until it was brought to a sudden halt after 3 years of brutal conditions where millions of lives were lost. There was an economic policy that was comprised of adverse weather conditions that led to the loss of around 48 million lives (Britannica n.p.).

By this time, the one-child policy the one child was being widely considered. The one-child policy was put in place during the 1980s (Connet n.p.). This is a policy that limited each family to one child. This act was put in place in order to slow China’s population growth.

In the early 1980s, the policy was changed so that couples could now have two children, only if the parents were both only children (Connet n.p.). Because of this, many families were hoping to have a boy since they wanted their family name to continue on. Boys were expected to take care of the family, while girls could be married off and were not expected to help care for or provide for the parents. This meant that if a woman was pregnant with a baby girl they would most likely apply for an abortion considering a male was preferred (The Globalist n.p.). This skewed the gender ratio massively.

Today there are around 33 million more men than women in China (Radio Free Asia n.p.). If a mother were to be pregnant with her second child, the government would force her to have an abortion or put the baby up for adoption. On the other hand, if the mother was able to get away with having her second child, this child would most often be undocumented, meaning the child would have a hard time in education and finding work (Liu n.p.).

The effects of the one-child policy in China have left a huge impression. The one-child policy is said to have prevented 400 million births (Parkinson n.p.). The nation was aging rapidly and its birth rate was too low to make up for this. People were retiring, and there weren’t enough people to fill jobs in the workforce. China’s median age of their population is currently 37, but by 2050 scientists predict that it will have shot up to 50 (Statista n.p.). The one-child- policy has left such a huge impact on China that is likely that even since the policy was relaxed, most people will continue to only have one child (Lui n.p.). The population control in China will most likely never end, as it is currently the country with the highest population in the world.

Worlds resources Section: 2

(Australian Academy of Science n.p.) The world consists of 7.3 billion people who, while occupied by consuming resources, are also producing massive amounts of waste. That’s more than 7 billion people who need to be cared for, kept warm, and fed. People are consuming water, air, land, and fossil fuels. Because of this, we get water and air pollutants, litter, and greenhouse gasses.

Natural resources will not last forever, though. With a constantly growing population, resources are depleting rapidly. The population isn’t evenly distributed across the world, so places with a higher population are more likely to run out of resources sooner. People predict an environmental catastrophe in the near future. If this ever happens, the places with a lower population will be raided for resources first (Australian Academy of Science n.p.).

The world’s population is growing by approximately 74 million people each year. As our population increases the health of our environment decreases (Australian Academy of Science n.p.). Scientists are continuing to try to determine approximately how many people the world can hold. Many scientists disagree on the fluctuating number of 500 million and one trillion people that the world can hold. They are trying to find the best way of determining the accurate holding capacity of the earth. This all relates back to consuming resources. If everyone around the world were to be consuming a number of resources over the substance level the world would most likely only be able to support around 2 billion (Australian Academy of Science n.p.).

In past centuries the world has been in a geological epoch, which means that geological and climate events have determined that time period. In the 20th and 21st centuries, we have transitioned in an Anthropocene epoch. Now it is not the environment’s acts, but the human acts that determine the health of our planet (The Guardian n.p.).

Medical advancements Section: 3

Without modern-day medicine, our population would not be where it is today. Medical advances within the past 100 years have led to a huge uprise in our population. In 1910 through around 1920 there was nearly no medicine or vaccines for common colds and sicknesses (History of Vaccines n.p.). During this time measles and smallpox were one of the most widely spread diseases. Measles had become such a nationally notifiable disease that there were a reported 6,000 deaths per year. A vaccine for measles didn’t come into play until the late 1960s. Another disease that affected over 33 million people was pneumonia (CDC n.p.). Pneumonia was the third leading cause of death in the 1900s. A vaccine for this illness was first developed in 1977 (History of Vaccines n.p.). These illnesses and many more caused a huge decline in population. Since there were not many vaccines or cures for these widely spread diseases at the time many people would suffer.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, sanitation was not thought to be a cause for sickness. Cities and factories were overpopulated and dirty. Health standards were low, and there weren’t any safety precautions (Tucker.p.). This led to people having to battle life-threatening diseases. During this time the population dropped by 30% due to illnesses and unsanitary circumstances (CDC n.p.). By the late 1880s, scientists realized that many life-threatening diseases could be prevented by simple sanitation procedures. In 1845 Dr. John Snow discovered that cholera was transmitted through unsanitary water. Considering that during this time there was an outrage in cholera this discovery had a huge impact on the health of the country (Martinez n.p.). Many other diseases during this time had been linked to sanitation, so when scientists made this realization there was a huge rise in the population (History n.p.). Today many lives are saved by modern medicine. Nowadays, some of the deadliest diseases can be prevented by a simple injection. Fatal diseases such as Haemophilus influenza can be prevented with a vaccine (CDC n.p.).

World events that have contributed to population numbers Section: 4

There have been many events in our past that have either risen or lowered the world’s population. In recorded history, there have definitely been more events that have led to a decline in our population, than events that have led to an uprise. One of the most devastating events in human history was the Black Death (History n.p.). The black plague was a deadly bacteria that was spread by fleas and rats. The plague started in Eurasia in 1347 and spread rapidly by trade ships and transported items (Edmond n.p.). This disease was estimated to have killed up to 200 million people in Eurasia between 1347 and 1351. This wiped out between 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population. Europe’s population in 1300 was around 78 million but after the black plague in 1400, the population was down to 60 million (Szczepanski n.p.). It took Europe and Eurasia many years to recover from the black death.

Another event that greatly affected the world’s population was the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide during the second world war, in which the German Nazis murdered 6 million European Jews. This wiped out over two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe (Berenbaum n.p.). The German Nazis also targeted other types of people like gypsies, Romans, and homosexuals. In total, the Nazis left millions of people died just in order to create the perfect race (Haaretz n.p.). This horrible act has affected the world in a very negative way. Even for the people who weren’t killed, it left them with devastating mental and emotional pain. Many survivors still face traumatizing effects from the Holocaust (Holocaust Encyclopedia n.p.). The Jewish are still trying to rebuild in some parts of the world. In 1933 the population was an estimated 9.3 million Jews. By 1950 their population had dropped to 3.5 million Jews. This was a huge hit to the Jewish population (Chabad n.p.). Many people consider that the Holocaust was a population control tactic for the Germans. It’s clear that the Nazis were trying to eliminate people but the question remains if it was just to lower the population of Europe (Zubrin n.p.). Hopefully, the world will not face another genocide after seeing how the Holocaust affected the world.

Conclusion

Population control will always be a heavily debated topic. Population control has pros but also has cons. It is good in some ways considering that it has helped the world’s population stay at a sustainable level. Overpopulation can lead to a fast decline in resources. In other ways, it has made a huge irreversible impact on the population. Some places have taken it to the extreme lowering the population by an unhealthy amount. Although if population control were to be completely abolished our population might exceed the limits. Though not all of the events that have lowered the population were specifically meant for that issue. Population control is also not always man-initiated, such as the black plague which was not “made” to wipe out half the population. Population control has its pros and cons and it has definitely left a huge impact on the world and the way we live.

Pope Francis once said during a visit to the island of Lampedusa “We are a society which has forgotten how to weep, how to experience compassion – ‘suffering with’ others: the globalisation of indifference has taken from us the ability to weep!” (Liaugminas). Pope Francis was bringing to light the issues surrounding the topic of immigration and indifferences and such globalisation of indifference can be seen in the history of Chinese immigration and in contemporary Australia. Such indifferences are the reasons behind why people come to Australia as well as the indifferences of our experiences and the difficulties the Chinese faced while immigrating here. There are many cases throughout the history of Australia of Chinese immigration and each and every one of them portray difficulties that had to be overcome. Even up to contemporary Australia, we see many examples of Chinese immigrants and their later generations still experiencing cases of discrimination, racism, and essentially the same difficulties faced by their earlier immigrant ancestors.

Though there were earlier cases of Chinese immigration, the earliest significant case of Chinese immigration occurred with Chinese men arriving to Australia as indentured servants. Arriving from the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, these men were the results of the ceased operation of the convict transportation in the 1840s. During this time, there were concerns that the indenturned servants system was in a sense, a way around the abolishment of slavery and that the indentured servants were treated essentially the same as slaves. In an editorial to denounce the Chinese importation of indentured servants, “examples of violence and the appearance before the benches by Chinese labourers located in the Northern Districts were reprinted and used as evidence of their debased ways” and also it was written that “the trade was aligned with the slave trade, questioning the inability of the Chinese to ‘…become, to any extent, free and intelligent British subjects’” (Darnell 10). Interestingly, the amount of Chinese immigrants coming to Australia not as indentured servants was quite small. This could be because there was no pushing or pulling influence for the Chinese to immigrate as it was written in the Australian Bureau of Statistics that “only 28 having arrived in New South Wales during the three years ending 1849” (Feature). This however, changed with the 1851 Gold Rush.

The 1850s introduced a large influx of Chinese immigration as news of a new gold rush reached parts of southern China. These immigrants were leaving a country in the midst of revolution and also the effects of overpopulation and the opium trade. This is quite interesting as it depicts that during this time, not only was there a pull factor of a new gold rush, but there were also push factors that influenced this large movement of Chinese immigrants. One common obstacle that the Chinese immigrants during this time had to face was simply the journey itself to Australia. A voyage from the Guangdong province to Melbourne took around 3 months and the fare was often paid through a credit-ticket system that had high succession in exploiting them. Eric C. Rolls wrote in his book, Sojourners, ‘About one third of those who came to Australia paid their own way. They came as artisans, shopkeepers, merchants, a few as gaming-house keepers. The rest came on credit tickets, not on contract. They borrowed the money to come from money-lenders, bankers, village elders, families or entrepreneurs. They put up their land as security; in some cases they mortgaged their very families. People were saleable” (Rolls 106). Mr Lester Holland, President of the Young History Society, said that these miners under the credit-ticket system were split into groups of 150 people and 100 of those people would be responsible for the building of infrastructure, farming, building of mining tools, and other jobs while the remaining 50 “would be involved with the actual ‘winning’ of the goldbearing clay and dirt” (Yimei). This resulted in the surface alluvial gold running out and the men being unable to pay off their debt. This shows that the Chinese were very easily exploited and many were not very fortunate leaving them in debt, poverty, and distress.

It did not take long for the Chinese immigrants during this time to be treated and seen with contempt and racism. Mr. Lester Holland had also said that the Chinese gold miners were “more organized” and “were able to extract more gold from a given area” (Yimei). This along with the fact that there were many indifferences in culture, lifestyle, traditions, and habits fostered hate from the english-born gold miners. These in turn, eventually led to the first anti-Chinese legislations being passed as well as riots and a long history of discrimination. In June 1855, the colony of Victoria passed its first anti-Chinese legislation called the The Victorian Act of 1855. This was used to restrict the flow of Chinese immigrants through the use of a poll tax. The poll tax worked by imposing ten pounds on every Chinese immigrant and limited the number allowed on each vessel per tonnage of shipping. Interestingly, according to La Trobe University, this poll tax “did not distinguish between naturalised, British citizens, Australian-born and Chinese-born individuals” (Humanities). In an article by Culture Victoria, they state that New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia mirrored these anti-Chinese legislations and then in 1857, “additional annual residents’ fees of between 4 and 6 pounds were imposed on Chinese on top of the poll tax” (Discrimination). Culture Victoria also mentions that these additional fees were quite hefty considering that the “1854 Eureka rebellion took place over the cost of a monthly 1 pound 10 shillings tax which was then considered exorbitant” (Discrimination). It was only until the 1860s was when this poll tax was repealed.

To avoid the poll tax, many ships dropped off the Chinese immigrants in parts of South Australia like Sydney and Adelaide. According to an article from Culture Victoria, “this meant a 900 kilometre southward march from Sydney in NSW across the Murray River to the goldfields” or another route of a similarly daunting distance (Different). This journey was not only very long but there was also the risk of starvation, sickness and dehydration. In a book called Birds of Passage, the author, Brain Castro, writes about the past through what he perceives as the perspective of his own ancestor and in one part he writes about the journey from Robe, describing “They did not speak much. They tried to imagine the distance they still had to travel. It was difficult to grasp the idea that they had four or five hundred miles to walk” (Castro). The harsh conditions were not the only thing the Chinese immigrants had to deal with. Chinese immigrants going to the gold mines through South Australia would often pay guides and in accordance to Culture Victoria, these “travellers were often exploited by dodgy, inept or alcoholic guides and bullockies” as they would abandon them and repeat this exploit with another group.

Those that were able to make it to the goldmines often found themselves among strong anti-Chinese sentiment. Such strong anti-Chinese sentiment caused by indifference as well as competition and envy led to a series of anti-Chinese violence. In 1857, there was the Buckland Riot where, pursuant to Culture Victoria, a mob of approximately 90 Europeans attacked the Chinese settlement in Buckland, “burning tents and buildings” and “beating Chinese people with sticks and stones and killing and wounding an unknown number” (Anti-Chinese). This riot was quite successful in their objective as many of the Chinese driven out did not return and few charges were made over the major offences. The more commonly known and infamous example of anti-Chinese violence were the Lambing Flat riots in 1860-61 in New South Wales. There was a weak police presence in Central New South Wales and several anti-Chinese riots that lasted around 10 months with the most serious and final happening on 30 June 1861 where, the National Museum Australia states, “250 Chinese miners were gravely injured and most lost all their belongings” (Violence). In response, New South Wales Government passed the Chinese Immigrants Regulation and Restriction Act to limit the flow of Chinese into the colony and this was later repealed in 1867 when all the gold had run out.

After the end of the gold rush, the population of Chinese in the mining colonies declined as people dispersed or returned to China. Culture Victoria indicates, as gold diminished by the 1870s, “Chinese immigrants lived in poverty and distress” and “there were high rates of suicide and mental illness amongst the Chinese population” (Discrimination). At the same time Chinese immigrants began moving into cities and establishing themselves in other industries and occupations other than mining. In some text written by Mo Yimei, who wrote the text to trace the history of Chinses Australians and in correspondence to a 50 metre scroll called the Harvest of endurance : a history of the Chinese in Australia 1788-1988, he writes, “The three most common occupations they found were market gardening, cabinet making, and laundering” (Yinmei 4). During this time, unions had quite an issue with the Chinese as they often advocated for immigration control while arguing that the Chinese “allegedly competed for jobs, worked for substandard wages under poor conditions, and refused to embrace unionism” as documented in Race and Organized Labor in Australia, 1850–1901 by Raymond Markey (Markey 350). Many sources such as the Migration Heritage Centre point to the Seaman’s strike in 1878 as a prime example where anti-Chinese sentiment rose as a result of a “decision by the Australian Steam Navigation Company’s (ASN) to replace Australian crews by Chinese crews at less than half the standard wage” (Prejudice). This prompted an anti-Chinese campaign that eventually led to the 1881 Influx of Chinese Restriction Act. These were laws passed in 1881 and 1887 restricted the influx of Chinese Immigrants who were making their into New South Wales from gold digging colonies. This, according to the Nation Archives of Australia, “applied an entrance tax of £10 and a limit on each ship of one Chinese passenger per 100 tons of ship’s tonnage” and later it was amended to “raising the poll tax to £100 and the tonnage to one Chinese passenger per 300 tons” (Laws). There was little competition in the market gardening and laundering industries but the Chinese in the cabinet making industry were quite successful and this prompted unions to help pass legislation like the 1896 Factories and Shops Act in Victoria as they saw them as an economic threat to Furniture makers of European descent. This essentially subjected Chinese workshops and factories “to building codes, inspections and regulations while their European counterparts would be exempt” as reported by an independent, non-profit media organization called Right Now (Incognita). This Act paired with the effects of the The Australian Economic Depression of 1890 meant that many Chinese were forced to leave the industry.

In 1901, the six colonies of Australia federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. One of the most famous anti-Chinese legislations, the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act or better known as the White Australia Policy was introduced and passed in this new parliament. This act, according to the National Museum Australia, “gave immigration officers the power to make any non-European migrant sit a 50-word dictation test” (White). What was interesting was that this dictation test could be given in any European language and was later changed to any prescribed language. This meant that it was essentially impossible for migrants to pass. This act was quite effective as National Museum Australia states that “The test was administered 1359 times prior to 1909, with only 52 people granted entry to Australia. After 1909 not a single migrant made to sit the test passed” (White). National Museum Australia also acknowledged that there was an immediate demographic impact as a result of this act where Asians born outside of Australia were “only 1.25% of the Australian population in 1901” and that percentage “had shrunk to around 0.21% by the late 1940s” (White).

As World War One broke out, many Chinese Australian men faced institutionalized racism which related to the White Australian Policy as they only wanted people of European descent to enlist. Historian Emily Cheah Ah-Qune said that throughout the World Wars, Chinese men “were barred from enlisting by medical officers because they were not substantially European enough” (Ford). This policy was later relaxed as more soldiers were needed for the war.

After World War Two, the White Australian Policy started deteriorating. Arthur Calwell, Head of the Department of Immigration, determined that “Australia should have annual population growth of two per cent, of which only half could come from natural increase” (Australia’s). He still wanted the majority to be Anglo Celtic so he accomplished the population growth by accepting refugees who had survived the Nazi concentration camps during the World Wars. In 1956, Chinese were allowed to apply for citizenship and in 1958, the dictation test was abolished indicating the end of the White Australia Policy. In 1972, the first labor government since 1948 was elected and Al Grassby, Minister for Immigration, changed official policy and later “announced that every relic of past ethnic or racial discrimination had been abolished” (Australia’s). This was swiftly followed by the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act which as chronicled in the Federal Register of Legislation, makes racial discrimination against the law and prohibits racist behavior (Racial). This signified that the anti-Chinese legislations and many of the discriminatory hardships had come to an end. With the abolishment of the White Australian Policy, this made immgration much easier and it made it possible for Australia to allow “42,000 permanent visas“ to be granted to Chinese students after the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 in consonance with an article by The Guardian (Chan).

One might think that the era of Chinese discrimination and racism had come to an end, the end of White Australia, but they are quite wrong. Although the globalization of indifference that Pope Fracis refers to has not grown to imperialize in Australia throughout history, we can still see fragments of it throughout contemporary Australia. History has shown us that each case and wave of immigration brought with it anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination. Even in current day society, Chinese Australians face many discriminatory problems, one of the biggest being institutionalized discrimination. Australia claims to be multicultural yet many Chinese deal with the term coined as the bamboo ceiling which DCA’s chief executive Lisa Annese defined as Asians being “highly represented in entry-level to mid-level but under-represented at top leadership” (Dennett). The Diversity Council Australia has found that “Around 9% of the Australian labour force is Asian born, but only 4.9% make it to senior executive level” (Dennett). People are still viewing and making stereotypical assumptions through a White Australia lens. We have made much progress in immigartion and discrimination legistlation yet how is it that we have made such significant progress in gender representation in the labor force yet racial representation is so skewed? As a country built on migration, we must take action. We need to bring this issue to the attention of our legislators. We need to advocate for policies and legislations against institutionalized racism. Even simply raising awareness of institutionalized racism is a small step forward for the Chinese and a giant step forward towards a more multicultural Australia.

Population growth is defined as the increase of numbers in a population, whether it be in a country, state, or city. The way that population growth is calculated is with a simple equation; this is the birth rate added to immigration subtracting the death rate and emigration. Population growth affects the government and economy both positively and negatively. It affects them negatively because as more people are joining the workforce, the demands for pensions increase, and affects them positively because it also increases GDP and the economy’s welfare as a result.

China is an example of a country most affected by population growth. First of all, it is because the number of births outweighs the number of deaths, which is associated with new breakthroughs in science and medicine; there are approximately 17.9 million births per year to 9.8 million deaths per year in China. Moreover, more and more people migrate to China because of economic opportunities, tourism, and family issues. And of course, China’s population growth is linked to the fact that lack of education is still a problem in this society, illiterates don’t understand we need to prevent population growth.

There are many negative effects of population growth in China. One of the social problems is that there is so much more traffic in crowded public transport and traffic in urbanized locations that it lowers the quality of life for many people. Considering that the urban population in China was 606 million in 2007 and has jumped to 813 million in 2017, it is reasonable to say this will only worsen over time if change is not made. Additionally, there are also environmental problems because of the need for China to sustain a growing population, it drains natural resources such as water, wood, coal, metals, and other rare ores, thus the side effects of various types of pollution occur like air pollution being due to the burning of fossil fuels. There are 3.8 million trees cut down every yr in China, and that figure is increasing due to the increase in population and the need for resources.

China was trying to prevent population growth through many means. Such as the ‘one-child policy’ and the encouragement for older males to undergo vasectomies so there are fewer births. Though there is no sign of immediate success with these methods, China has used these as key strategies to deal with this significant issue. China’s population continues to grow at a rate of 0.6 percent per year with an already present population of 1,434,586,591. Considering the negative consequences of this, the country’s government should review its policy and find a more effective solution to this serious problem.

Bibliography

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Gender identity and expression. The diversity of the sexes and their ways of expressing themselves through fashion.

The first is for gender recognition, on the clothing, rethinking the lines between what is socially acceptable for both males and females. The LGBT+ community for sex is open to the fashion industry has brought a great deal of enlightenment, wearing skirts, men in high heels, heavy make-up wearing jewellery, transsexuals, those in society’s eyes look amazing dress in the fashion industry has become a new generation of agitation.(Shishi Kang 2018)(Fig 8-9). Unisex style is considered the new sexy to Chinese fashion consumers, who want this type of comfortable look.

When gender blurs into fashion, men and women will clash with each other in clothes.(Fig 10-11) Most clothes have no gender boundary, and many men will wear women’s clothes as a kind of match. Women will also wear men’s clothes to follow a neutral trend. Some men even dress as women. These men might be gay or straight, but simply put they identify their true selves in woman’s clothing as opposed to men’s clothing. This kind of behavior can be defined as expressing their true gender identity. Figure 12 illustrates “women wear bosses”, and how this behavior is gradually being accepted by a greater number of the general population in China.

Social & fashion movements: LGBT+ Pride Month in Shanghai China

Changes in social acceptance and space for improvement. Shanghai Pride Week is the city’s first and largest unofficial Pride festival, It the first LGBT+ Pride Festival on the mainland. How have people used fashion to support Shanghai Pride and the LGBT+ cause.

Shanghai Pride Festival is held every June in Shanghai and includes a film festival, theatre festival, conference, exhibition and a charity bazaar. There are thousands of supporters in Shanghai that participated in all sorts of activities. NIKE + RUN CLUB was a Shanghai pride festival gold sponsor and will released their latest Be True series shoes at around the same time. Most of the participants of the Rainbow Run were given free Nike apparel including a sport T-shirt. NIKE’s support among the Shanghai LGBT+ community grew a lot with this marketing promotion. NIKE also found a way to promote their own brand to new fashion consumers (Fig 13-14).

In recent years, a lot of Chinese fashion designers have started some new brands and some of them have started to design products for LGBT pride month.

Fashion movements characterized by androgynous aesthetic Chinese designers incorporating LGBT+ elements into their designers – Case study of designer Li Yiyang (Elsbeth Paridon 2019).

Li Yiyang is one of the few Chinese designers who have incorporated LGBT+ elements into his designs. Through combining a celebration of sheer queer culture, fashion and be-bang be-bang weightlifter “guns”, he has firmly taken control of his life and personal image through fashion. The question becomes how does the development of China’s fashion scene move toward the maturing of the nation’s LGBT community and culture?(Elsbeth Paridon 2019)(Fig 15-16)

Li Yiyang redefines the boundary between men and women by combining LGBT+ elements with Chinese ones. She combines both masculine and feminine features to not only find true freedom, but true self expression and identity. Li Yiyang has developed China’s gender-ambiguous fashion and played a leading role for the LGBT+ community to enter China’s fashion industry.

Fashion is a way of personalized self expression and an individuals fashion sense reveals who they are to the outside world. As LI phrases it, “they represent our thoughts, they show a major glimpse of who we are, where we are going, what kind of person we want to be, what we are working toward and who we want to be.”

What he has done is to tell the people who don’t understand this community that LGBT+ community is just a part of the social community and needs to be treated as equal.

For this reason, fashion is the best way to express the inner feelings of the LGBT+ community. By showing people who you really, one no longer need to hide in the shadows. Through fashion, we can raise the profile of LGBT+ cause and bring issues to the forefront of people’s minds. LGBT+ can begin to identify as mainstream.

If the LGBT+ community does not have enough awareness, the question is how can the movement build awareness in people that do not have a full understanding of LGBT+ people. In some areas, there are people that are not even aware of the word “homosexuality”. They believe that love and marriage are only limited to men and women. Therefore, it is very important to promote the awareness of the LGBT+ community, which is the basis for improving the situation of the LGBT+ community.

Luxury brands have not only tapped into East Asia’s lucrative LGBTQ+ Market, but also have designed products that promote awareness and support of the LGBT+ Market. These are the reasons for the consumption of luxury goods by LGBT+ group.

Presently, many fashion brands and enterprises are have a core business strategy of associating with the LGBT+ community, which can bring avant-garde, free, open and inclusive reputation. It is a proven fact that the brands which are friendly to the LGBT+ community can gain the support and loyalty of such an important segment of fashion consumers.

The reason for this is to tap into new consumer revenue streams of high earning individuals with disposable income. Furthermore, nearly all luxury fashion labels have a high ranking member of the LGBT+ community on their design teams, further opening up their acceptance of LGBT+ culture. As a result, these brands heavily market to this segment of the population in order to increase sales and customers. In a sense, they have opened up the closet doors and have adopted “Rainbow Marketing”.

Since 2009, LVMH group has formulated anti-discrimination guidelines. Since 2011, LVMH has provided its employees with anti-discrimination and harassment training. At the end of this year, LVMH group will conduct a training program with the theme of “unconscious bias and inclusiveness” for employees in key positions around the world. LVMH’s chief executive officer and executive committee members have made a full commitment to 1) respect LGBT + employees, fashion consumers, and members of the human rights community, 2) eliminate workplace discrimination of LGBT + group, support the LGBT + employees in the work, 3) show no discrimination against LGBT + group of consumers, suppliers and distributors, and 4) ask their partner companies to abide by the same code of conduct, and carry out the business community in LGBT + group to defend their human rights (Sina Fashion, 2019)(Fig 17).

Currently, Burberry is working with three LGBT+ charities to raise more support from around the world for the rainbow community. As a result of this, Burberry has presented a brand new rainbow collection to show their spirit of inclusiveness and convey the joy of diversity. Christopher Bailey, the departing creative director, said: “My final Burberry collection is dedicated to helping some of the world’s leading organisations that support LGBTQ+ youth, and I have never felt so strongly that multiculturalism is in our strength and creativity.” (Kenzie Wang 2018) This collection was allowed to sell in China, and the fact that it was not censored in any way is a huge step in the right direction for LGBT+ awareness and acceptance.

Chinese millennials with increasing purchasing power have become the most important target consumer group for luxury brands. It is necessary for marketers to dig deeper into their attitudes and interests so to capture this profit and revenue increasing segments attention. Chinese millennials yearn for freedom and diversity. One area that showcases this mentality is their interest in exploring blurred gender roles. A gender-neutral look empowers them to challenge conventional views on femininity and masculinity. Through working with androgynous-looking brand ambassadors, some luxury brands have successfully made use of this mentality. (Ruonan Zheng, November 2017)

East Asian Fashion movements representing Genderless Fashion: The influence of LGBT+ on this movement.

As stated above, he clothes people wear reveal the most obvious and personal information about them to the world. Mixing up the craft of clothing design and that of different visuals leaves a lot of room for many different interpretations to come to artistic fruition. Androgyny has become a key signifier of generation Y. In years past, it was rare to see a female model with male like features, including short hair. At fashion weeks of the past, gender roles usually defined how a woman should look and how a man should look. Lines were never crossed nor blurred. At Shanghai Fashion week, one can see numerous amounts of models with short boyish hairstyles. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, Singer and Actress Chris Li proudly wore man like clothes in haute couture. Chris Lee is China’s biggest pop star and does not fit the typical mould of the cookie cutter Chinese celebrities of the past. She displays genderless features by having short, spiky hair, and a wardrobe full of Balenciaga-style, oversized mannish pieces, and luxe sportswear (e.g. Gucci tracksuits, beanie hats and Nike trainers). Li isn’t the only celebrity bringing attention to this movement. Superstar pop music group Fanxyred is known at China’s most popular boy band despite being all female. Dr. Tommy Tse states that such celebrities “construct their gender-fluid androgynous image to appeal to the LGBT+ community and fans, and the very fact that this is mainstream signals a huge shift in what is socially acceptable and sets a new bar for social norms (Suen 2019).

With regard to the design of the clothing, gender androgynous style gives designers more inspiration and creative space. It is as if the the skirt no longer exclusively belongs to women. Many designers have begun to apply the skirt to suit men’s clothing design. When a man wears such dress, he will not feel like a woman, but feels like a soldier. Constructing this message shows that this type of style is accepted by mainstream culture. By positioning the most feminine article of clothing, the skirt, into one of the most masculine constructs of that of a soldier, it is proving that androgynous style is being more accepted by mainstream consumers.

In terms of modeling and the market for cosmetics, East Asian males have dominted the fashion trends. Trends have been gradually inclined to the feature soft feminine beauty. Many beauty brands endorse color makeup that is worn by male stars. Women’s position is gradually losing visibility, from magazine covers to makeup endorsements. Put simply, color makeup is not just a female accessory anymore by woman, but has gradually become adopted by males as well. (Fig 18)

The status of gay designers and transgender models in the fashion industry

The Fashion industry is the most gay-tolerant industry in the world. LGBT+ fashion designers and transgender models (21st Century Models 2017) are recognized for their strength and are not discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, but usually celebrated and worshipped as demi-god type creatures that personify traits of talent and success.

Nicola Formichetti, one of the biggest names in fashion, is a powerful force. Formichetti is the openly gay Italian-Japanese artistic director for Diesel. He has Lady Gaga on speed dial. Formichetti is responsible for the Mother Monster’s “meat dress” that Lady Gaga infamously wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. By collaborating with the newcomer Gaga, he entered the world of high fashion. Since then, the two have collaborated several times. Because of this partnership with Formichetti, Lady Gaga saw her fame catapult into new heights and was thought of one of the most fashion forward individuals on the planet. Aside from putting Diesel back on the map, Formichetti is also fashion director of Vogue Hommes Japan and the fashion director for the clothing brand Uniqlo. In other words, Formichetti is a multifaceted talent and he looks perfect while doing it (Fig 19).

Lea T is the world’s first transgender supermodel. Her father is a football star. Born in Lea Cerezo in 1981, she has a fantastic working relationship with famous Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci. In fact, Lea T was encouraged by Tisci to stay true to herself and undergo a gender change. She started out as an assistant of Tisci. Tisci saw her shine and decided to use her as a model for his AD campaign. Then, she stepped on the international stage and caused quite a stir at the time. (21st Century Models 2017)(Fig 20). Even though this caused some controversy, she was accepted in the high fashion community. Because this community holds such influence over world culture, she was accepted by more celebrities and as a result, the mainstream media in some western countries.

In China, the first transgender woman, Zhang Kesha, changed her gender through surgery in 1983. Due to antiquated social acceptance views, at that time, Zhang Kesha choose to escape the mainland and live an incognito life in Hong Kong. With the acceptance of LGBT+ as a social norm, celebrities like this can come out of the shadows and step into the light. The most famous transgender Chinese is Jin Xing. Jin Xing is not only known as famous dancer, but also has her unique fashion style and fashion taste. Just like high profile LGBT+ individuals in the west, high profile LGBT+ members of the Chinese community have a certain degree of influence on the fashion industry.

Conclusion

Admittedly, there are still many people who oppose the LGBT+ community and regard them as the monsters or psychopaths. However, under the guise of the fashion industry, the rights and acceptance of LGBT+ individuals is gradually improving. Increasing numbers of people know and are in contact with fashion through various ways, proving that fashion is the simplest and most effective way to promote LGBT+ community awareness. It is a proven fact that Homosexuality is not shameful and it can be pure and beautiful just like heterosexuality. Meanwhile, transgender people are even more innocent of the hatefulness that is directed toward them. A person’s sexual orientation is his/her own thing, and they can choose whether to announce it or not. No one can deprive others of this most basic right.

For centuries, fashion has been an important tool of expression of freedom for the LGBT+ community. With the inclusion and acceptance of fashion for LGBT+ groups, as well as the influence of fashion on mainstream culture, the development trend LGBT+ rights have gradually become more accepted. The question now becomes we can do going forward to give this important segment of the population a normal attitude and respect their life choices. In the future, under the influence of fashion, LGBT+ groups will have more opportunities to show their true selves and integrate even more into mainstream society. The people of the LGBT+ community can know they do not need to hide behind a curtain anymore and that society is no longer as conservative as it used to be. It will also encourage LGBT+ people in East Asia to accept themselves and face reality bravely.

Taiwan, as the first city in East Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, has experienced many rainbow movements. Under the guidance of fashion, LGBT+ groups in all parts of East Asia can organize positive and positive rainbow movements to let more people contact and understand this group. By doing so, it can promote the development of the LGBT+ community, expand the coverage of the legalization of same-sex marriage, help this group truly integrate into the society, obtain the same treatment as heterosexuals, and strive for all equal rights and acceptance.

The LGBT+ community can inspire the development of fashion and provide more inspiration and space for creating new designs. For brands, they can design products for LGBT+ Pride Month. Supporting the LGBT+ community and promoting the awareness of this community is not only a good publicity for themselves, but also a good way to win the favour and consumption of the LGBT+ community in general.

The Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) campaign was launched to transform the agrarian economy of Republic of China into socialistic economy with an aim to bring rapid growth but, in contrary resulted in famine and disaster. It was introduced by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the chairmanship of Mao Zedong. In an attempt to surpass the Soviet Union and the United States the China’s economy ended up with great recession and political struggle (Jung and Cheng, 2019). It plagued the whole economy starting as an economic revolution but, eventually evolved into cultural evolution. This essay is a detailed discussion supporting my argument that the Great Leap Forward was a total failure and the repercussions of the failed policies were faced by generations to come. The researched articles referred from the library support the claim on my statement. Various claims are discussed in detail under the following headings.

Nutritional Deprivation

The horrific magnitude of the nutritional deprivation was widespread. Though history reveals that the peasants were fed to eat as much as five meals a day under the leadership of Mao Zedong. But the feast turned into a famine. Surprisingly, the extent of famine was so massive that by the year 1960 masses of China were feeding their hunger pangs by eating anything to keep themselves alive like, chaff, grass, tree leaves, bark and roots, and wild plants. Nutritional disorders became a cause to trigger various life-threatening diseases and disorders like night blindness, rickets, beriberi, diarrhea and a shameful act of cannibalism. The amount of devastation was huge that the villages were dead with dead corpses lying on the roadside with no companions to bury the dead (Jowett, 1990). A survival strategy called Chi Qing was adopted by the villagers during the worst years of the famine. In this survival strategy the villagers ate the raw wheat crop in the fields as a survival against famine and hunger (Thaxton, 2008). Though the weather during the Great Leap Forward era in 1958 promised a good harvest but, the deviation of the labor from the agriculture to iron and construction industry left the harvest unattended. In spite of good harvest, it rotted as it was not collected in time. But, due to governmental pressure inflated and false figures of the production were reported. It was testified from different sources that famine was a result of conscious negligence and Mao’s stubbornness to maintain high export quota of food grains. The breakdown in the agricultural reporting system under the Mao’s political leadership was greatly responsible for food shortages in addition to natural disasters like flood, drought, plant disease and other such natural calamities.

Decline in Birth Rate

The famine and malnutrition occurred due to the failed policies of Mao Zedong. As a consequence, the infant mortality soared high due to increased malnutrition leading to epidemic spread of diseases (Jowett, 1990). And, there was a significant decline in the birth rate with decrease in the population. The current estimates advise was that by 1960 infant mortality gave rise to almost 300 deaths per 1000 live births with the decline in fertility rate. Additionally, the life expectancy at birth seemed to have taken a toll to getting halved. Few decades later the reasons behind the failed policies that converted the feast to famine were investigated. And, it was incurred that the food grain production was reduced due to the mismanaged Great Leap Forward strategy. In order to avoid the over production of the grains there was way less production. The land sown with food grains showed a decline by over 20 million hectares. As the disaster was nationwide thus, it was not a result of weather failures but due to failed policies. A research by Song (2007) concluded that starvation or malnutrition directly impacted the short-term famine.

Role of Political Forces

During the Great Leap Forward era, the political strings were held by the Party General Secretary Deng Xiaoping who headed the Central Secretariat. Upon the orders of Mao, the Central Secretariat was empowered with all the powers relating to economic management. Thus, Deng was the prime person responsible for directing the central secretariat in framing policies based on the crazy vision of Mao. The five major groups relating to framing policies in the field of science, economy and finance, political, foreign affairs, culture and education were planned and implemented under the direction of Deng. Mao applauded Deng’s Central Secretariat efficiency and effectiveness and in return Deng was always a strong supporter of the rash and aggressive policies introduced by Mao (Chung, 2013). Though Mao firmly controlled the campaign of the Great Leap Forward but, the reins of real control were in the hands of Deng. Mao had duly assigned the economic affairs to Deng and had full faith in his abilities. Deng in return felt obliged to return the favor of faith in his abilities and thus, was a great supporter of Mao’s principles. The political system during the Great Leap Forward era was that of totalitarianism which was evident from diverting the agrarian workers towards production of steel and iron. Though the political officials were aware that majority of the framed policies were leading to starvation and finally death but, still no action was taken to bring any modifications. The humanity was dead in the mindset of the political officials. They intentionally let the people die due to starvation so that the food is saved. And, the survived can get to eat. As the main motive was to export the grains by depriving the common masses. Also, the peasants were confined to their villages only. They were not allowed to leave their starving villages as the households were registered. Also, the reluctance of government to take the international aid, strained international relations and discrepancies in the internal records were other major flaws of the government that resulted in disaster. Being a tremendously huge country, the fallacies had a greater impact with greater horrified implications at a vast scale. Shameless flattery of the government officials was another survival tip that was a known fact amongst the common masses.

Economic Organization – Introduction of Collectivization

Mao’s overly ambitious attitude was primarily the cause behind the total failure of his Great Leap Forward program. He forced collectivization which showed an astonishing effect. The peasants showed a great enthusiasm and at a very fast pace the majority of the agricultural households took the form of collectives. Collectivization is defined as forced merging of sole households into collective farms or in simple words, co-operative run farms. Mao’s aggressiveness to launch the great leap forward program was very strong. He introduced two major campaigns, namely ‘Anti-Rightist Campaign’ and ‘Socialist Education Campaign’, to suppress the ones who opposed (Zhou, 2012). As the collectivization was forced hastily, it turned to be total failure. Long – term implications of the forced changes were ignored. There was improper planning and mismanagement along with the rigidity of the imposed collectivization (Diamond, 1985).

Industrialization

In an attempt to speed up the growth the agrarian economy was compelled to get converted in industrial economy. To support the Great Leap Forward program the monumental and gigantic statues were built in Beijing around the Tiananmen Square. The process of building the same was unbelievably very fast. The massive projects like constructing people’s hall, railway station was erected with the blink of an eye. The Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1961 intended to transform the agrarian economy into an industrialization (Wang et. al., 2013). Millions of the peasants became the state workers and were added to state payrolls. It showed the swelled wage bill with loss in co-ordination and material shortages. Thus, in reality it turned out to be total failure resulting in mass starvation and devastation. Lack of skilled labor and inability to see the harsh consequences of indulging in the unknown fields of production like iron and steel also left the country in reckless state.

Commune System

Mao was a strong believer of commune system and initiated taking away the private ownership from the individuals and creating a practice to altruism and selflessness. He was overly ambitious to prove the skills of the Chinese community to the whole world. As a result, the private ownership was taken away from more than one billion of small peasants to organize new social system, the commune (Chang, 2019). The peasant’s life was ruined at a basic level as they were not able to secure food due to their inability to rent, sell or keep their lean as collateral for loans. This was due the after effects of the commune system. Eventually, the improvised state of the peasants was beyond control leading to other multiple issues like famine and malnutrition.

Over Production and Poor Quality

To compete with the developed nations in a very short span of time Mao got overly pushy to make things happen overnight. The peasants were instructed to plough the land four feet deeper and plant three times more seedlings over the same area of land to get higher production. Similarly, all the common masses were asked to join hands together to form the production teams to produce iron and steel with an emphasis of increasing the production by 300 times (Chong, 2019). The masses were highly motivated to work over the clock so as to prove their mettle of progressing ahead of the Soviet Union. The end results were devastating as due to deep plowing and inaccurate irrigation methods, the farmland production was ruined. Additionally, the quality of the iron produced was of very low quality. Thought the quality was production was poorly managed but it did not stop due to the false pride to keep the high production. The commune officials inflated the production statistics which stimulated setting higher production quotas and false playing of statistics. The communist party officials considered the leadership of their party for the crisis and emphasized the role of education and acquiring technical expertise to attain the heights in development of the country as a whole.

Treatment of Villagers

It was also confirmed that as the villagers were forced in to the commune system and the ones who opposed were violently beaten to death. Thus, starvation was not only the reason for the deaths. Millions of the villagers were tortured and forced to commit the suicide. The military tortured the people were beaten if they rebelled against the guidelines of the government like, reporting the incorrect number of the harvest, begging food, or if they tried to go away from a famine-stricken area. The brutality of the government on the common masses brought sadness and pain. Compulsive collectivization and political indoctrination taught various survival techniques amongst the common masses. Various beliefs and practices including the institution of religion was a source of hope and healing by majority of the grief- and poverty-stricken peasants (Xun, 2012).

Conclusion

Overall, the Great Leap Forward was a huge disaster. It had massive repercussions as discussed in this essay and took five years for the China’s economy to restore back. In strive to excel in less time with impractical vision to compete with the developed nations like Soviet Union and United States, blindfolded the leaders who could not visualize the worst that was being followed. He (2014) in his research concluded that the Great Leap Forward (1958–61) program was conducted on experimental mode to that aimed at altruism by removing the private property rights and achieve faster industrial growth with central planning under the abled leadership of Mao, Deng and their associates. But it resulted in famine, starvation, widespread of diseases, death and total disaster impacting the masses countrywide. The common masses were forced, suppressed and deprived of their basic necessities of living. In nutshell, it is saddening to see that how the wrong policies under the supervision of highly motivated leaders like Mao and Deng could not bring the change as desired. But the world witnessed that after the lessons were learned and reforms were made thereafter to bring China back to the path of development.