More Than Half the Sky

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Description

Mao's aphorism about the strength and ability of women may have helped to do away with foot-binding, child marriage, and other archaic traditions, but in 21st-century China gender equality is as illusory as ever. This film examines the challenges that Chinese women face, especially the obstacles to prosperity and security that the country's poor, rural women know all too well. Viewers meet Yu Xinpei, who migrated to Shangai from a remote southern village. At first apprenticed to a hairdresser, she's now starting a salon of her own. Meanwhile, sociologist Liu Bohong talks about the difficulties women encounter when they move to cities-although those who stay in the provinces "have it harder." Many become suicide statistics, which is why physician Xu Rong has founded a support group for wives and daughters who are struggling with rural life. On the other hand, the film also points out that 11 of the world's richest women are Chinese!