Female Virtue versus Female Rights: Feminism’s Challenge to Confucianism

• In Event: Poster Session: Gender and Comparative and International Politics & International Relations Theory
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Gender and Comparative and International Politics

Abstract

The popularity of feminism and the revival of Confucianism are two most interesting intellectual phenomena in contemporary China. While feminism advocates for female rights, Confucianism teaches female virtue. The conservative Confucian Jiang Qing’s argument that modern women can only settle down in Confucianism is criticized by Chinese feminists who seek to free women from Confucianism. I argue that the quarrel between feminism and Confucianism is a culture war between progress and tradition, between freedom and authority, as well as between democracy and authoritarianism in China. The portrait of “conservative male vs. progressive female” and “evil male vs. good female” reflects the emergence of gender politics in China. While both Confucianism and feminism are different from the orthodox ideology of Marxism, Chinese government supports Confucianism, which is pro-regime, while suppressing feminism, which is pro-liberal democracy. Although political power in China aligns with Confucianism, feminism’s challenge to Confucianism on issues of gender, marriage, family, and state persists. As Japanese feminist Chizuko Ueno is the most popular feminist philosopher in China, I will focus on her works to analyze her critique of Confucian societies in East Asia, whether they are democratic or authoritarian in regime type. I will also evaluate whether the feminist and progressive Confucianism is possible and whether Confucianism can be more appealing to modern women.

Author

• Tianhong Ying, Michigan State University