Chinese elite politics: It's still a man's world

[homasse]

Chinese elite politics: It's still a man's world

A glance at history suggests it's easier for a Chinese woman to orbit Earth than to land a spot on the highest rung of Chinese politics.In June, a 33-year-old air force major marked a major feminist milestone by becoming the first Chinese woman to travel in space. With a once-a-decade leadership

Comments

[creature_of_ian]

"To become a mayor of a big city or a governor of a province you have to be sort of one of the boys, you have to drink a lot and maybe womanize a bit and also be reasonably corrupt,"

THIS. I was working in China awhile back, and 2 of the company's directors (a man and a woman) talked about how it can be difficult for a woman to negotiate business b/c a lot of the good-old boys like to do the negotiating in "massage parlors" (euphemism for brothel).

This also reminds me of the reporting on the large percentage of female entrepreneurs in China. Some of the western outlets interpreted that as a sign of greater gender equality in the workplace, but I suspect it's really the opposite. Chinese women were hitting the glass ceiling in established companies, so we just decided it would be better to try and make it on our own.

[pleasure_past]

"To become a mayor of a big city or a governor of a province you have to be sort of one of the boys, you have to drink a lot and maybe womanize a bit and also be reasonably corrupt," Lam said. "There's no lack of corrupt women in China, but this to-be-one-of-the-boys phenomenon, I think, is holding some promising female cadres back."

This quote is so sad in so many different ways.