What they say
Editor’s note: Women have played a significant role in China’s economic and social development. There are now more than 25 million female Party members — accounting for over 27 percent of its total membership. The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee invited five female Party members to share their stories on Tuesday.
About half the directors of the institute I serve in have been women, ever since its establishment decades ago. The research work we’ve endeavored to do is about rural energy sources, like crop straw and animal droppings, which may be boring to most people. However, generations of female directors of our institute led us to tackle technological problems, no matter how tough the research environment was in the old days. Now, half our workers are women and they are resilient and persistent in their desire to make contributions to the nation.
Shen Yujun, 37, institute director with the Academy of Agricultural Planning and Engineering
My decision to work in a community was strongly opposed by my family members as my child was just at the age for schooling (in 1997). But I didn’t compromise as I believed I could manage well. At that time, I worked hard in the community and took care of my kid and the old folk at night. For women, I think it is important we can use good performance at work to win trust from our family members, showing them we are confident and independent.
Liu Juan, 59, Party secretary of Lingxi community, Lishan district, Anshan, Liaoning province
More than half the medical workers I know are women who have their families, children and loved ones. We hope that we can give more love to them. However, we always choose to spend our time saving the patients whenever there are emergencies. It’s our efforts, efforts by female doctors and nurses, that secure the happiness of thousands of families.
Lu Shengmei, 77, former deputy head of Jiaxian People’s Hospital in Yulin, Shaanxi province
We hope that the children can use their knowledge in real life rather than just learning. As a mother, and also a female Party member, I am very grateful. What I want to say to my peers is that we should cherish ourselves when we make contributions to the family and society. Take good care of the body and the soul. We should tell the men that we deserve respect and show them our values.
Lu Yongli, 49, principal of Beijing No 2 Experimental Primary School
In the construction engineering industry that I work in, most workers are men — around 90 percent. Female workers like me, especially serving in grassroots posts, only number a handful. We always encounter different weather conditions on construction sites, such as high temperatures and freezing wind, which may sometimes even scare men off, let alone women. But I always tell myself to never hold back, we women can play key roles as long as we strive to do our best.
Guan Gaiyu, 33, nondestructive testing operator with China Railway 17th Bureau Group