Translation For China’s Global Comminication: A Narrative Account

In August,1920, the19thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution grantingwomen the right to vote came into force. The winning of women suffrage is notonly a milestone of American feminist movements, but also constitutes a preludeof women’s participation in electoral politics. Viewed from gender perspective,this dissertation examines the developments and features of women’s politicalparticipation in post-suffrage America (1920-2000), with its main focus on theinteraction between women’s political participation and the evolution of genderroles. Based on the above analyses, the dissertation further explores thesignificant roles of political participation to promote the developments ofAmerican society and democracy. Besides Introduction and Conclusion, thedissertation can be divided into three parts:Chapter One focuses on women’s political behaviors in women organizations,major parties, and local and federal governments in early post-suffrage America.Such political activities break the traditional gender rule, according to which menbelong to the public sphere, and women should stay in the private sphere. But atthe same time, gender is still one of the major obstacles to elevate Americanwomen’s political status. Generally Speaking, women suffrage greatly challengesAmerican people’s traditional gender perception, and American women becomesan insider in electoral politics. Therefore, early post suffrage era can be regardedas the initial stage of American women’s political participation.Chapter Two explores the features and social effects of American women’spolitical participation between the1950s and the1970s. After World War Two,stimulated by employments outside home and the second wave feministmovement, women greatly enhance their political consciousness and capacities.Although the proportion of women working in governments, federal governmentin particular, is still pretty low, they can substantively influence the making andimplementation of laws and policies about women’s rights. Meanwhile, feministsput all their efforts to eradicate the influences of traditional gender, but they meet strong resistance from the anti-feminists, especially conservative women. It is inthe process of dissolution of traditional gender notion that American women’sabilities to obtain political rights are improved step by step. Correspondingly,women’s political role in electoral politics moves from margin to mainstream, andthis period can be called the development stage of American women’s politicalparticipation.Chapter Three systematically analyzes challenges, developments, andsublimation in the process of American women’s political participation at the endof20thcentury. In the1980s, the Reagan administration can’t reverse the upwardtrend of women’s political participation, but challenges and advancementsco-existing is the distinctive feature in this period. In the1990s, as typicalexpression of women’s political status, their role in federal government has beensublimated, and political women are able to partly change forms of powercharacterized by patriarchy. Meanwhile, the idea that man and woman are equal toeach other has been established by and large, and women have come to playcertain leading roles in electoral politics. Therefore, it is the sublimation stage ofAmerican women’s political participation.In conclusion, American women’s status in political sphere has been elevatedstep by step, and gender plays a significant role in this process. Under theCommon Law, women’s gender roles are just housewife and mother. From theexperiences of American women’s political participation in post suffrage America,it is clear that gender and women’s political participation closely interact witheach other, and they are in direct proportional relation. In American electoralpolitics, if more people are convinced that men and women are equal to each other,more women are likely to be elected to top positions in local and federalgovernments. Similarly, if women equally share the power of governments, andmake indispensable contributions to U.S., it will be much easier for the public togive up their traditional gender perception.The progress of American women’s political participation is affected byvarious elements, such as religion, race, class, and region, and gender is just one of them. The evolution of gender notion is the result of numerous factors, andwomen’s political participation is one of them as well. Limited by the length andmain research purpose, this dissertation only focuses on the interaction betweengender and women’s political participation, without having detail analyses ofother factors.Since the founding of the PRC, the CCP and our government have taken aseries of measures to ensure women’s effective political participation. AlthoughChina and the U.S. have different political and electoral systems, we can stilldraw lessons and inspirations from the experiences of American women’s politicalparticipation. For instance, if women aim at obtaining equal political status to men,they have to eradicate the gender biases in people’s minds through actual deeds.So the research hopes to provide some instructive hints or suggestions for Chinesepolitical women, scholars and policy makers related to women’s politicalparticipation.