Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Obviously, there still is a lot of sexism in the Far East (eg. Attitudes about women and the workplace in Japan or Korea, sex-selective abortions in China) but it seems like it doesn't get as extreme a gender divide than further west in Asia like India or Iran. Also places like Thailand or the Philippines are noticeably more liberal on gender norms than places more West in Asia. It seems like if you look at "Eurasia", it is more gender-egalitarian in the western (western Europe, like the Netherlands, Scandinavia etc.) and eastern (places like Thailand, Taiwan etc.) edges and more conservative in between (Iran, Afghanistan, India etc.).
Is this due to western influence penetrating more strongly in East Asia, such as Japan and Korea's culture getting modernized/influenced by the US and others (even Communism forcing gender equality, as in Russia and China, is a post-European contact thing)?
It seems like historically, East Asia was more conservative on gender roles/sex/marriage, but became less so later on. For example, arranged marriages were once common in China and Japan, but are no longer common compared to further west in Asia. There is also some influence of westernization on India, such as the Brits abolishing bride-burning or sati. That's not to say that Asians couldn't have liberalized themselves without western contact or colonization/conquest.
Could you attribute East/Southeast Asia being more liberal on sex/gender due to modernization/industrialization/westernization? In some ways, it's hard to say. Afghanistan was supposedly more modern/liberal on gender in the 50s and 60s. Iran or Afghanistan could have had a chance to be much more liberal had not religious extremists took over in the latter parts of the 20th century and came into power to try to reverse modern "progress".
Before European contact, was East and Southeast Asia just as conservative as the rest of Asia on gender?
East Asia did adopt more western ideology than most other parts of Asia. People there are not religious, so they can "change their mind" faster. Some Muslims, for example, may want to follow their interpretation of Koran.
On the other hand, China had a female emperor before. From 1860 to 1908, the most power person in China was also a female (Empress Dowager Cixi).
Generally speaking, people who do not live in hardship tend to be nice to others, including the weak/minority. It is just human nature.
Before islam kingdoms of java have several powerful female ruler, the most famos are Nyi Roro Kidul who re also well known to be have powerful black magic.
East Asia did adopt more western ideology than most other parts of Asia. People there are not religious, so they can "change their mind" faster. Some Muslims, for example, may want to follow their interpretation of Koran.
On the other hand, China had a female emperor before. From 1860 to 1908, the most power person in China was also a female (Empress Dowager Cixi).
Generally speaking, people who do not live in hardship tend to be nice to others, including the weak/minority. It is just human nature.
Well before pervasive Western influence, say before 200 years ago, I'd say they were more religious, but Buddhism and Taoism aren't as strict on gender roles as Islam and Hinduism, not to say they can't be sexist, they definitely can be. I think I read it was seen as harder for women to attain Nirvana or something like that. Confucianism did have some rigid gender roles, and these have lingered a bit throughout Asia, less so, it seems, in the more Communist dominated China and to an extent Vietnam too. I feel aside from Islam Southeast Asian societies were a bit more matriarchal, but I can't be sure about that. I do think that yes, westernisation and liberalisation definitely did play a role, but that doesn't fully explain why Japan, despite being one of the first to modernise and adopt some western ideals, still seems to have one of the stronger gender divides in East Asia.
I would say the resurgence of Islam in the Middle East probably turned back gender equality. India is highly traditional in most respects including the roles of women and men.
According to the 2014 "International Business Report" by accounting firm Grant Thornton, countries like Russia, Indonesia, Latvia and the Philippines have 40% or more women in senior management, while industrialized countries have about 20%. The U.S. is among the bottom 10 countries in the report with just 22%, along with Spain (22%), the UK (20%), Denmark (14%) and Germany (14%).
For a Muslim country, women in Indonesia are definitely liberated.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
