Gendered Denunciation, Sexual Misconduct, and the Regulation of the Maoist Cadres During the Socialist Education Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID5954592
AuthorsLong Yang (0000-0002-5615-8216, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume85
Issue1
Pages51-70
Publication date2025-11-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00219118-12040486
OpenAlexW4415816153
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

Why did village women who were victims of cadre sexual abuse refrain from making public denunciations of their abusers, while their husbands, fathers, and unrelated men did so? This article examines previously overlooked materials from the Socialist Education Movement (1962-66) to deepen our understanding of the gendered form of political participation that contributed to holding cadres more accountable. Although the extant scholarship has used the term "patriarchal socialism" to explain the lack of women's participation in politics in the Mao era, this article argues that certain gendered practices shaped villager participation. It proposes three characteristics involved in "gendered denunciation": First, gendered mobilization, the potential for domestic violence, and previous failures to bring down the accused cadres all kept the abused women from making public denunciations. Second, these women's husbands and fathers made public denunciations to regain their mianzi ("face") that they felt had been lost in the sexual abuse of their female family members. Third, unrelated men who themselves had suffered from the cadre violence and the lack of privileged access to scarce goods exposed the cadres' sexual misconduct at public meetings

Extant taxon · Misconduct · Politics · Scholarship · Sexual abuse · Sexual misconduct · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Communism, Protests, Social Movements

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