In the 1950s, the communist state called on Chinese women to join the labor force, but as the retreating state plays a smaller role in enforcing female hiring, old gender stereotypes are returning. For educated and financially independent Chinese women, these biases present a unique challenge: fighting old traditions with newfound influence. "Modernity has come to China in many ways, and this is one of them," says Professor Frank Pieke at Leiden University.
The bottom line: Professor Jin Jiang, who studies gender in modern China, told Axios, "once [revolution] happens, it's really difficult to go back … before, women were liberated by the state … but now women have to liberate themselves."
