Communist movements and their impacts of women’s rights DBQ

Contextualization Communism was spreading rapidly in the 20th century due to wars, revolution, decolonization and efforts by the Soviet Union (first to become Communist) to spread the message of no classism, no racism and no patriarchy Traditional patriarchal standards were still entrenched in Russia(role of Orthodox church), China (role of Confucianism), Central Asia (traditional veiling of women in Islam), and Cuba( machismo)- women usually in domestic roles and were often dismissed economically and sometimes educationally. Revolutionary communism appealed to women because it promoted opportunities to take part in politics of the Communist party, were seen as equals in accordance with Marxist ideology and were often promoted by Communist governments to elevate women’s status in industry, science, education and end traditional discrimination. Some of these radical policies were part of the propaganda of the cold war (i.e. doc #5 cultural revolution advocating radical breaks from the old bourgeoisie norms). In effect one could argue that women did have opportunities in Communist societies based on a break from traditional patriarchy and the struggles compared to women in the “Western” world who still struggled with Patriarchy (although women attained the right to vote in the 20th century, the glass ceiling prevented further advancement in education, wage gap and the “cult of domesticity” encouraging them to stay in the home and out of the “Man’s world”. One could argue opposing that on the surface, communism promoted women’s rights far beyond their “Western” contemporaries, it only did so on the surface and the deep traditions of patriarchy were continued only ignored or denied by the Communist governments (fake news?)