Preface, Translator’s Note, and Introduction

Preface

Han Suyin

It makes me very happy to write a preface for this book, which I consider to be an excellent, thoughtful, and necessary work in order to clear up the very confused thinking of many women, all over the western world, as regards themselves.

The Chinese experience, or rather the massive revolutionary experiment, in the continuing revolution of China, has indubitably and from the very beginning been linked with woman’s true liberation, in every sense of the word. In fact, it is impossible to conceive of a socialist revolution in China which would have taken in only “half the population,” and left the other half in the condition of servitude and exploitation which is still massively the lot of women all over the world. But the Chinese in this, as in so many other spheres of action, do not proceed with a priori ideas, with opportunism, or with any idea that woman’s liberation goes through the gestures of merely “giving them” legal equality, economic equality, and then not doing any more. It is the profound transformation of woman herself, in her own evaluation of self and the group, the revalorization of every so-called “value” ascribed to woman’s relations with society, with the family, with men, with their own function as mothers and wives as well as workers, which is described in detail, and which will be a revelation to many women who want their condition to change, but often get hold of the wrong way of doing it.

Far be it from me to look down on or to denigrate the women’s liberation movements now occurring in many countries in the West; as Premier Zhou Enlai said of the young, there are all manners of seeking a way, for the truth, and all genuine movements begin with these gropings. But it is also necessary for all women who truly want liberation to study this book, because here, the struggle of women in China on the ideological and material planes, not only to transform society and “make the revolution” but also to transform themselves, is expressed with great clarity. Everywhere there are anecdotes, vivid life stories, to illustrate the points made. And the great leap forward of Chinese women is best seen in the fact that they are not liberating themselves only in order to attain equality with men and economic benefits, but in order to “make the revolution,” to contribute to the consolidation of socialism, for only in this consolidation can they also consolidate their own liberation and truly become “half of the sky.”

I confess that in reading this book I found that I myself was deficient in a good many ways in my understanding of women, that I too still harbored some “feudal” and “retrograde” ideas on women’s condition. This is due to the fact that I am limited by my own experience. Mine has been an individual experience of struggle to attain the right to expression, and because of this very experience, I have tended to ignore many details of woman’s servitude, having escaped them myself, and even forgotten how very eroding they are. This book has therefore taught me a good many things, and I congratulate the author with all my heart on having produced this work, which relates practice to theory, which gets away from paternalism, the self-satisfaction of thinking that “the fight was won” and that once women were enjoying improved status there was nothing more to ask for.

Very often in my speeches in many western countries, I encounter men and women who seem convinced that “sexual relations” and “liberation of sex,” which means sex for women and young girls without the bond of marriage, is the absolute liberation. At any rate, this is the impression they give, because they seem to rest all their hopes on this one aspect, thinking that once this is attained, everything else is of secondary interest. I have fought against this notion, for relations with men are a function of the social aspect. But I see now that I did not have enough understanding of how truly pernicious this “sex theory” is. The chapter “A Contribution to the Debate on Sexuality in China” is a piece of work that I found of great importance to illuminate this subject.

I hope that all women, and many men too, will read this book. Perhaps in some cases (with reference to domestic work, for instance, where the authors seem to feel that men as well as women must participate fully) the point made may shock some men. But it is good to remind them to what extent women’s energy goes into the daily chores of housework, which even the best of men considers to be the province of women. It is good to rethink this problem too, although the tendency to think in terms of “family” (and inevitably, once one thinks of the “aptitude” of women to be housewives and mothers, the tendency to divide housework arbitrarily so that finally the whole burden of it falls on them) is very strong and will probably make this point very difficult to absorb. There will certainly always be a difference: for instance, men cannot go through the sufferings of childbirth. But surely the thing to do, as the author suggests, is to revalorize the importance and preciousness of woman’s production—including the all-important one of giving birth—by placing it on the plane of socialist and proletarian values; and the same goes for housework. I am very grateful to the authors for their courage and the penetrating clarity with which they have dissected all these problems. Their excellent work will, I hope, make many more ideas germinate in all those women who are truly concerned with changing themselves and their social condition, and thereby the world.

Translators’ Note

There is one thing which no translator can do without. That is the sympathy, knowledge and help of others more expert in particular areas. Our thanks must be given here to Noelle Gray, librarian at the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, and Elisabeth Croll, of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Finally, our thanks go to our editor, to our longsuffering friends and, of course, to Claudie Broyelle.

Michele Cohen and Gary Herman,

London 1975

Introduction

We visited China in November 1971. When I say we, I refer to twelve women from Paris and the French provinces. We were students and office workers, one farmer, and a working-class grandmother. We included single women and mothers with anything from one to six children. But one thing we all had in common was that we were activists in the struggle for women’s liberation.

However, this book should not be considered to be the unified view of our group; nor is it the product of a collective effort. I alone bear the responsibility for the opinions expressed herein, which may differ from those of my comrades.

I should like to thank Françoise Chomienne for her help in writing the book.

Claudie Broyelle