1980년대 시장화개혁과 중국 여성 — ‘돌봄’과 ‘노동’ 담론을 중심으로 = Market Reform and Chinese Women in the 1980s: Focusing on Discourses of ‘Care’ and ‘Labor’

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The 1980s marked a significant turning point in China’s history with the onset of market reforms, leading to changes in family structure and women’s gender roles. This paper analyzes the process by which the public provision of childcare, a hallmark of Maoist socialism, was relegated to the private sphere, and how working women voiced their concerns during this transition. The analysis centers on articles from Chinese Women (Zhongguo Funü 中国妇女: 1978-1989). Care, defined as “something everyone needs at some point,” is examined not as a gendered role but as a result of socialization. The study reveals the dual difficulties women faced in balancing work and family life. The demand for public childcare, which gained temporary traction after the Cultural Revolution, was rapidly weakened under eugenic guidelines aimed at producing high-quality offspring and economic strategies emphasizing production efficiency. Consequently, women encountered significant gender discrimination in resource distribution, along with an increased burden of care responsibilities. Despite their calls for gender equality, women’s demands were not realized. Instead, the discourse shifted to support ‘gendered labor,’ reflecting women’s rejection of the gender-mixed heavy labor of the socialist period. From the mid-1980s, officials and men increasingly emphasized ‘motherhood,’ propagating the ideal of the ‘wise mother and good wife (xianqiliangmu 贤妻良母).’ Technological advancement was seen as a market-driven solution to reduce care labor, encapsulated in the concept of ‘socialization of housework.’ The gendered nature of care labor showed no change before and after the Cultural Revolution, and the spread of the contract labor system further exacerbated the labor environment and care burden for women as the 1980s progressed.