Study On Occupational Women Before The Anti-Japan War

In the end of 19th century and the early 20th century, occupational women gradually took their place and later developed in the course of the Chinese society transforming from the feudal society to the capital one. The early occupational women's fields mainly were in factories, educations and hospitals. Their number were small and their occupational scopes were very narrow. Up to the 20th years of the 20th century, after the baptism of the May 4th Movement and the New Culture Movement, the kinds of the occupational women increased greatly. Women appeared in the field of education , literary , medical science , business , government departments, financial and banking institutions, and so on.In the early times ruled by GMT Government built in Nanjing, the positive policies about women had been put into practice during the Great Revolution in China went on, and the women's rights getting occupation admitted by the Civil Law of the Republic of China promulgated in the 3Oth years. So, women occupation had a better development. Following the good situation, however, the national economies became serious and the rate of unemployment increased sharply as the results of the world economic crisis. It initiated the controversies over women going back home. All these had tremendous impacts on the development of women occupations.During the period that from the end of Qing Dynasty to the May 4th Movement,views on women had greatly changed along with the progress of the society, which switching to conditional support from absolutely excluding women from getting occupations. These women engaging in educations especially in elementary education obtained wide social approval. In addition, women engaging in educations received their great impetus with promotion and protection given by the government, women's sustained efforts, men's exclude teacher's low salary.Till before the Anti-Japanese War, in all occupations engaged by women intellectuals, education was one field which with largest number and proportion. Although women teachers had their own advantages, they yet faced such problems women engaging in other fields faced as discrimination against women, unequal employment opportunity, low salary, married women's difficult choice between family and occupation, etc. These negative impacts on women hold back the increase of women teachers number and further development. The practices have proved that the development of women occupations did not depend on the equality laws and women's efforts only, but were up to the comprehensive liberation of society and nation.