Win or lose, Taiwan's women get a victory

If, as many expect, the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-Wen is elected as Taiwan’s next president this weekend, she’ll become the island’s first female leader. Given that Taiwan granted suffrage to women less than a decade before the 59-year-old Tsai was born, that in itself would be a remarkable achievement. What’s equally striking is the contrast to mainland China, which regards the island as a renegade province. Not only has modern China never had a female leader, but unless deeply ingrained cultural and bureaucratic barriers are lifted, it’s also unlikely ever to do so.
That picture would seem to contradict early Communist ideals, which embraced a shared revolutionary burden in which women, in Mao Zedong’s words, held up “half the sky.” Like so much else in contemporary China, old ideals have diverged from reality. Not only has no woman ever served in China’s top job, but no woman has ever sat on the Politburo Standing Committee, the seven-member organization that serves as China’s top authority. One step below, two women currently serve in the 25-member Politburo (akin to a U.S. presidential cabinet), a necessary stepping stone to China’s top job. That brings to seven the number of women who have served in the body since 1949.
Like other East Asian societies, including Taiwan, China continues to be influenced by hierarchical Confucian values. Those values, in turn, “are linked to societal lack of support and even disapproval of women’s leadership,” according to a 2013 joint study by the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the New York-based Asia Society. For example, during a 2013 panel on women’s leadership at the summer World Economic Forum, a well-known male CEO told the audience: “There must still be division of labor, with men working outside and women at home supporting the family.”
Though few public figures would dare speak so bluntly, the sentiment is far from rare in contemporary China, where single women over the age of 25 are widely known as “leftover,” and highly educated and independently successful women are considered undesirable for marriage. In the corporate world, stereotyping also plays a damaging role, with women held back from promotion because of fears that they’ll stall their careers to have children. To make matters worse, Chinese law gives white-collar women the right to retire at 55 -- a full 10 years before men. Thus, even the most talented often fail to get promotions since employers assume that they’re leaving.
    Bloomberg

Win or lose, Taiwans women get a victory

If, as many expect, the Democratic Progressive Partys Tsai Ing-Wen is elected as Taiwans next president this weekend, shell become the islands first female leader. Given that Taiwan granted suffrage to women less than a decade before the 59-year-old Tsai was born, that in itself would be a remarkable achievement. Whats equally striking is the contrast to mainland China, which regards the island as a renegade province. Not only has modern China never had a female leader, but unless deeply ingrained cultural and bureaucratic barriers are lifted, its also unlikely ever to do so. That picture would seem to contradict early Communist ideals, which embraced a shared revolutionary burden in which women, in Mao Zedongs words, held up half the sky. Like so much else in contemporary China, old ideals have diverged from reality. Not only has no woman ever served in Chinas top job, but no woman has ever sat on the Politburo Standing Committee, the seven-member organization that serves as Chinas top authority. One step below, two women currently serve in the 25-member Politburo (akin to a U.S. presidential cabinet), a necessary stepping stone to Chinas top job. That brings to seven the number of women who have served in the body since 1949. Like other East Asian societies, including Taiwan, China continues to be influenced by hierarchical Confucian values. Those values, in turn, are linked to societal lack of support and even disapproval of womens leadership, according to a 2013 joint study by the National University of Singapores Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the New York-based Asia Society. For example, during a 2013 panel on womens leadership at the summer World Economic Forum, a well-known male CEO told the audience: There must still be division of labor, with men working outside and women at home supporting the family. Though few public figures would dare speak so bluntly, the sentiment is far from rare in contemporary China, where single women over the age of 25 are widely known as leftover, and highly educated and independently successful women are considered undesirable for marriage. In the corporate world, stereotyping also plays a damaging role, with women held back from promotion because of fears that theyll stall their careers to have children. To make matters worse, Chinese law gives white-collar women the right to retire at 55 -- a full 10 years before men. Thus, even the most talented often fail to get promotions since employers assume that theyre leaving. Bloomberg