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My grandmother was a prostitute-turned concubine, my mother a frustrated factory worker, and myself a rocket-factory-girl-turned-international-writer. The stories of three generations of women in my family illustrate the changing role of women in contemporary Chinese society.
My Grandma's Story -- A Working Girl Turned Concubine
At birth my grandma was named Yang Huizhen, but for many years she was known as Huang-Yang Shi -- meaning the woman who was married to a man surnamed Huang and middle-named, Yang. The very name she was given showed how women had no identity of their own just a few generations ago.

Yang Huizhen suffered war, famine and other terrible hardships during her 83 years of life. Born in 1915 in a town outside Nanjing, on the banks of Yangtze River, she was an orphan at a young age, and then was sold into prostitution. In those days, women were a common commodity. She met my grandfather, a married small time grain dealer, on the job. He took her to Nanjing where they set up a home. In 1949, after the Chinese Communists victory, men were ordered to keep one wife. Grandpa decided to keep my grandma, his concubine, as his wife.

Illiterate, grandma never worked outside the house. And like many women of her generation, she lived her life for others.
My Mother's Story -- A Low Factory Hand
My mother Huang Yunfang was 12 years old when the People's Republic of China was established. She was happy to witness a series of progressive policies introduced by the new government: abolishing feudal tradition of foot-binding, concubine-taking, and arranged marriages -- as well as granting women the equal rights to education and employment.

Upon completing middle school, my mother was assigned a job at a state-owned military factory. Jobs were assigned by the government in those days. She considered herself very lucky to have obtained an 'iron rice bowl' -- referring to a job with a state-owned enterprise, as it meant a job for life. The factory was also prestigious. Among other things, it produced inter-continental missiles that were capable of reaching North America.

My mother was a smart woman and better educated than many of her fellow workers, but she never got anywhere professionally. For nearly 30 years, she did one type of job: "acid-pickling." It involved lifting machine parts into a tank filled with poisonous chemicals. Chairman Mao's idea of gender equality was to deny the physical differences between men and women.

My mother, despite her frustrations, fared much better than her mother. Financial independence inevitably meant improved position and power at home. She was always the one who controlled the family purse.
My Story -- A Rocket Factory Girl Turned International Writer
I grew up in the residential compound that belonged to the factory my mother worked for all her life. I excelled in school, and had always harbored an ambition of going to university and then becoming a writer and a journalist.

At 16, however, my dream was shattered as mother dragged me out of the school and put me to work at the same factory. The reason was simple: we were poor. My assigned job was to test pressure gauges, simple and repetitive. A mini Communist empire, not only did the factory provide the workers with accommodation, dining halls and hospitals, it also controlled all aspects of our lives, including our hairstyle, our outfits or even our love life -- dating wasn't allowed within three years of entering the factory.

As an escape route, I decided to teach myself English, in the hope of obtaining a job as an interpreter with one of the foreign companies that were slowly setting up shops in Nanjing.

Looking back, learning English effectively changed my life as it has broadened my horizons. What I learnt wasn't just the ABCs but the whole cultural package.

Of course, my journey from a rocket factory girl to an international writer has been a long and winding one. Having worked at the factory for 10 years, I left China for England. Once over there, a childhood dream stirred. I studied journalism. After I returned to China three years later, I started my career by assisting western journalists before becoming a journalist of my own right.

Now, based in Beijing, I work as a writer, social commentator and public speaker. I feel extremely lucky as I was born in the right time -- Deng Xiaoping opened China's door and introduced the economic reforms which have transformed China. Otherwise, I couldn't possibly have achieved what I've achieved.
Setbacks And The Future
Although Deng's reforms have brought along plenty of opportunities to both men and women, they've also caused setbacks in terms of gender equality.

The income gap between men and women has been widening in the past three decades.

Prostitution has made a spectacular return and the rich and powerful men once again boast to have ernai -- the modern version of concubines. And female graduates have a much harder time in finding employment.

The government has retreated some of its responsibilities to the market. Yet the market doesn't always treat women kindly.

Despite all the problems, I feel hopeful because Chinese women have started to take the matters into their own hands. They've set up NGOs, fighting for women's rights in different ways. In recent years, I've noticed increased feminist activism. Women have bravely dressed up in bloodied wedding gowns to protest against domestic violence, shaving off their hair, silently voicing their anger against the discrimination in university admission standards, or filing lawsuits against discriminatory employers. Early this year, I marched for a week in central China with a young feminist friend. She walked all the way from Beijing to Guangzhou, in protest against child sex abuse.

There's still a long way to go before women can truly hold up half of the sky. The good thing is that we are not sitting here, waiting for the miracle to happen. We are putting on a fight.

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How Far Women in China Have Come -- And How Far They Still Have to Go

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My grandmother was a prostitute-turned concubine, my mother a frustrated factory worker, and myself a rocket-factory-girl-turned-international-writer. The stories of three generations of women in my family illustrate the changing role of women in contemporary Chinese society.

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Read about seven ways to promote empowerment and equality for women and girls around the globe and close to home.

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Su-Mei Thompson, CEO of The Women's Foundation, has been working to improve gender equality in Hong Kong for the past six years. TWF focuses on several key areas, including challenging stereotypes, empowering women in poverty and advancing women leaders.

Su-Mei Thompson has a wealth of experience: She worked in London as a corporate finance lawyer, moved to Hong Kong to work in the TV division of The Walt Disney Company, helmed the Financial Times as the regional managing director, co-led Christie's Asian operations and also served on the board of Save The Children Hong Kong.

After taking a year off when she had her second daughter, Thompson realized how hard it is for women to go back to work after a career break and overcome workplace biases. She joined The Women's Foundation as CEO six years ago to help pioneer new programs and support women's empowerment.

5 things you should know, according to Thompson
1. Asia's lagging behind in the push for equality
Well, let's start with how women are doing globally. According to the World Economic Forum's 2015 Global Gender Gap Report, we are 118 years away from gender equality in terms of labor market opportunity, education, health, and political clout.

Meanwhile, when you talk about Asia and women and business, according to Mercer's latest When Women Thrive, Businesses Thrive report, Asia is projected to have the lowest representation of women in top executive and professional roles in 2025 versus other parts of the world.

Mercer discovered women make up 35 percent of the average company's workforce at the professional level and above worldwide. In Asia, that number is 25 percent. If current hiring, promotion and retention rates stay constant, female representation will reach only 28 percent at both the top executive and professional level and above by 2025, lagging behind all the regions of the world.

2. And Hong Kong's not exactly leading the way...

People assume Hong Kong is a very gender-equal society until you confront them with the data. Not one of the 21 judges in our Court of Final Appeal is a woman. Not a single president or vice-chancellor of a university in Hong Kong is a woman. Nearly 40 percent of the companies listed on the HK Stock Exchange have all-male boards.

One of the major contributors to the problem is Hong Kong's Employment Ordinance, which provides for just 10 weeks of statutory maternity leave - well behind the 14-week minimum proposed by the International Labour Organization based on considerations of maternal health and infant wellbeing.

China is at 14 weeks, Singapore is at 16 weeks, so Hong Kong should really step up to the plate. Hong Kong also provides only three days of statutory paternity leave. The big disparity between the length of maternity and paternity leave continues to straitjacket men and women into traditional gendered roles.
3. Involving men is half the equation
Gender equality isn't just a women's issue - it's a men's issue too and it's also an important business issue!

The business case aside, nowhere is the fact that gender equality is good for men clearer than in our personal lives. Research shows that the greater men's share of housework and childcare, the happier the marriage - and children are happier, healthier and do better in school.

They are less likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to be put on prescription medication, and to be referred for behavioral problems. They have lower rates of absenteeism and higher school achievement scores. Because fewer men do housework than women, when they share the work, it has more impact on children.

According to a survey by the Women's Commission in Hong Kong, 30.7 percent of women cited caring for family members as the primary reason they dropped out of the workforce.
4. Sexual harassment in Hong Kong is more common than you might think
In Hong Kong, a survey by the Hong Kong Women's Coalition on Equal Opportunities in 2013 found that one in two respondents had experienced sexual harassment; one in four, domestic violence; and one in seven, sexual abuse.

Even more concerning, in line with the global statistics, only 8 percent of sexual violence survivors in Hong Kong report to the police and only 5.5 percent of sexual harassment victims seek help.

Embarrassment, fear of reprisals, a belief that disclosure is pointless, and the belief that women must endure violence because it is a normal part of life, were among the reasons the authors found for women's decision not to report.
5. It's not all bad news...
It is encouraging to see that over the last five to 10 years, many stakeholders have taken steps to advance gender equality in Hong Kong. The government has mandated that all government departments have to apply a gender mainstreaming checklist when it comes to policymaking, and it also introduced statutory paternity leave in 2015.

Businesses have ramped up their talent and diversity programs to attract, retain and promote more women and a number of organizations have set targets for women in management positions.

Universities are also developing a talent pool of experts who understand gender issues and are conducting gender research. For instance, last year CUHK launched the first undergraduate gender studies program in Hong Kong.

And looking toward the future?

Many challenges remain for women: We're still seeing wage gap disparities, a startling lack of women in decision-making positions, and continued workplace gender bias and discrimination, to name a few.

With the number of male feminists who are speaking up and signing up to drive greater gender equality, I think Mars and Venus are moving closer together!

I hope when my daughters grow up, they will live in a world where men and women are equally present in the workplace and in the home, because I really believe we'll only get gender equality in the workplace once we get gender equality at home. We have some way to go to get there but I am optimistic that we will!

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Su-Mei Thompson, CEO of The Women's Foundation, has been working to improve gender equality in Hong Kong for the past six years. TWF focuses on several key areas, including challenging stereotypes, empowering women in poverty and advancing women leaders.

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Gender pay gap widens among Hong Kong's poorest workers, with women pulling in only 60 per cent of amount men earn

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The gender pay gap among those living below the poverty line has widened in the past 15 years, with women on average now earning only 60 per cent of the amount men do, according to an Oxfam report....

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united nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women

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We all have the right to attend school and receive a quality education. Take action at #HeForShe.

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Feminism is a social and political movement. Feminism is about changing the way that people see male and female rights, and campaigning for equal ones. Somebody who follows feminism is called a feminist.

There are many different types of feminism:

Some feminists believe that all genders should always be treated in exactly the same way. They think that people should not think that a person's gender is important. Often these feminists believe that the traditional idea that women stay at home and look after children is wrong and that men and women should share this job equally.

Some feminists believe that there are important differences between men and women. However, they believe that these differences should not lead to any unfair treatment of women by men. For example, they might say that some women do want to stay at home and look after children; however, they must not be forced to do this and must be paid to do this, either by a husband or by the government, as child caring is a full time job.

There are also many other types of feminism.

History of feminism

Women in politics

There have been women who have been involved in politics throughout history.

Historical

Esther, Lady Godiva, Queen Elizabeth, Catherine the Great, and Joan of Arc.

Modern times

Starting in 1960, there have been many women elected to high positions of power, such as prime minister. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first, followed by Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Elisabeth Domitien and Margaret Thatcher. Dame Eugenia Charles lasted nearly 15 years in the post, a record.

General history

Feminism started with the idea that human rights should be given to women. This idea was put forward by some philosophers in the 18th and 19th centuries such as Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill. Later feminists in the early 20th century also said that women should be allowed to vote in a democracy. Many women felt very strongly that they should be allowed to vote and there were many protests. These women were called Suffragettes. This is because they were fighting for Universal suffrage which means everybody is able to vote. The Suffragettes staged many protests for their rights. After women received the vote, feminism worked to make all of society more equal for women.

Not all female politicians have been welcomed by feminists, with Margaret Thatcher, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann being clear examples.

There are reasons why some people do not like feminism:

Some people do not like feminism because they think that women are already equal or more important in the law. Anti-feminists often say that society is also not equal for men and that women have more rights in child custody and divorce.

Some say that feminism wants women to be more important than men.

Some argue that women and men have simple biological differences, and thus cannot be treated in the same way. Some examples are: the treatment and role of women in the military and pregnancy only happens to women.

Some people do not like feminism because it wants to change society and it could make men have less power.

Feminism could give women special rights that would then hurt other groups and their rights. An example would be a fear that women would take away jobs normally done by men.

Images for kids

International Women's Strike, Paraná, Argentina, 2019

Octavia Butler, award-winning feminist science fiction author

Cmdr. Adrienne Simmons speaking at the 2008 ceremony for the only women's mosque in Khost City, a symbol of progress for growing women's rights in the Pashtun belt

Feminist suffrage parade, New York City, 1912

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Feminism is a social and political movement. Feminism is about changing the way that people see male and female rights, and campaigning for equal ones. Somebody who follows feminism is called a feminist. There are many different types of feminism: Some feminists believe that all genders should always be treated in exactly the same way.

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The Women's Foundation exists to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in all aspects of Hong Kong society, by engaging in research, programmes, education and advocacy to drive measurable change - See more at: http://local.twf.com/about-us#sthash.bBq1c5Vt.dpuf

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Women's Commission : Non-governmental Organisations with Women's Interests