Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Ma Guihua
Here and elsewhere, China’s women are lining up for courses that in other countries – and in a bygone era — would be called “finishing school classes”.
In fact, even the advanced leadership courses for women that are offered by the respected Tsinghua University here in Beijing include such classes. An admissions official there says, “About 80 percent of the courses are on enterprise management and development. The rest (deal) with image, public communications, and family-career balance.”
Zhang Lehua, a sought-after speaker on women and etiquette, says of the women attracted to such courses: “They are quite successful in business. In the meantime, however, they realise that image and life’s other essentials are amiss, therefore constituting their own ‘glass ceiling’.”
Since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, its women have come a long way from their lowly standing in ancient Chinese society. The practice of binding women’s feet – a twisted aesthetic imposed by men of China’s once feudal society – for instance eventually disappeared after women began working side by side with the men.
Today Chinese women can be found in positions of influence in the government and private sector. Official statistics show that 41percent of private businesses in China are managed by women and that 28 percent of executives at state or collectively owned companies are female.
Competing toe to toe with men apparently also forced many to be as rough in language and manner as their male colleagues. Comments Zhang: “Chinese women used to be known for being temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. But now these qualities are in danger of slipping away.”
“It’s a shame that when our forefathers overthrew the last dynasty, the profound culture and graceful etiquette passed on for thousands of years were also cast away,” she says.
Indeed, it is not rare to see women dressed expensively, complete with designer handbags, speaking loudly in public or jumping a queue without a second thought.
According to Zhang, such manners can also be traced to a social and educational system that puts emphasis on women’s skills on the job and for independent survival, as well as professional training. While that in itself is laudable, concerns such as aesthetic education and cultural refinement were left at the wayside, she explains.
But after China’s economic reforms opened up the country to Western fashion trends and tastes, women began to rediscover their feminine side. And although they used to have no one to turn to for etiquette and grooming advice, classes that offer this and more are now popular.
Zhang herself has been coaching women on clothing, social etiquette, table manners, image and confidence building for the last seven years at the privately funded Youlan Women’s Institution, where she is a director.
The institution offers members salon activities on topics such as music or poetry appreciation, character analysis, and color combination. From time to time, a tea ceremony is held where members can participate.
“All our members have come of their (own) accord,” says the impeccably dressed Zhang, who is a medical doctor from Beijing’s Capital Medical University and holds a Ph D in pathology from the New Jersey Medical School in the United States. “We run no advertisements. It’s simply through word of mouth.”
To date, the institution’s membership – which Zhang says is made up mostly of entrepreneurs in their 30s — has swelled to 700. What may be holding other women back from signing up is the cost of the courses: 15,000 yuan or 2,200 U.S. dollars per person.
Then again, that seems to be a fair rate for such classes. At Tsinghua, the advanced leadership course is aimed at women executives with “annual disposable income of 500,000 yuan (73,500 dollars)”. And while the 35-day course costs 36,800 yuan (5,294 dollars), it remains in steady demand.
Some say these courses are merely cashing in on women’s wealth and serve no good use to society. But others beg to disagree. Says Lin Hua, an expert on women and family: “We should let our souls soar high while our wealth and confidence are set on a fast track (upward).”
China’s ‘Queen of Musicals’ and renowned feminist Zhang Aojia adds, “It’s high time (we) tend to our spiritual home and invest in cultural consumption, be it books, concert, or art collection before we turn vulgar and coarse.”
Zhang says they are focusing on women “not because men are any better or (are) immune from bad manners, but (because) their poor habits die hard”. Besides, she says, “changes among motivated women could work wonders and (have an) impact (on) generations”.
She adds, “Life’s essentials like manners and etiquette are critical to a nation’s overall quality, and therefore should be embedded in one’s early education and carried on at every stage of school education. But (since it has been) largely absent in the exam-driven education system, we’d better start (restoring it) now rather than later.”