European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 23, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday March 23, 1968 accent on brawn not Beauty makeup for Mao s gals by John Roderick ai1 staff writer the women of communist China have been de scribed As serious sexless and shapeless. All their energies Are channelled into Loving Mao tse Tung and stepping up production. Admittedly this appraisal by recent travellers is generalization. It could be influenced by the fact that chinese women no longer resemble those of the past. Dressed in baggy ill fitting tunics and pantaloons their hair Cut Short China s 350 million women Nowa Days often cannot be distinguished from men. No longer do they Wear the body clinging Cheong Sams of the past yith the slits High up the sides. Paint powder and lipstick work no miracles for the proletarian Plain or ugly. The few who held out for femininity and kept a occasional Beauty parlor in business have All but disappeared in the red guard surge. The Youthful reel guards made a prime target of women still clinging to such Western Beauty aids As lipstick per manent Waves and Spike heels. Emancipated Given the vote put beside their Hus bands in the factory or on the farm chinese women now play As Large a part in production As the men Folk. Sleeves roiled up their faces serious and in tent they run steam rollers operate bulldozers mine Coal drive automobiles deliver the mail on bicycle sit in Congress and the ruling communist party Central publications say women make up 30 or 40 per cent of those in the Rice and wheat Fields bring ing in the Harvest. In the Cotton Fields 70 per cent of the workers Are Are 542 women deputies in the National peo Ples Congress somewhat less than half of the total membership. And 1.43 million women serve As deputies in local people s Ying Chao wife of Premier Chou in Lai and Tsai Chang wife of vice Premier life Chun Are leaders of the All China federation of women sit on the communist Central committee. Another woman who has shot into prominence is Mao s wife pretty former movie Star Chiang Ching. She is the new Deputy to Chen Pota head of the cultural purge. Another woman Madame Sun Yat sen widow of the founder of Republican China is one of two vice presidents of China a largely honorary woman yet has reached the ratified Heights of the powerful party political today s China the accent is less on femininity and love More on production. Women Are expected to work As hard As men and in some cases work even harder. Theoretically they now Are free from Young women from All Over China Are sent to communes to work in the Fields. The old go Between marriages of the past May choose their own right was guaranteed by a 1950 marriage Law which swept away some other ancient customs Suchias concubinage betrothal of children polygamy bans against the re marriage of widows arranged marriages and unequal divorce Laws. Divorce now is Given without question on application from either party unless the wife is pregnant other husband is an old , on paper Are As simply arranged. How Ever the old go Between of the past have been re placed in Many instances by the party local com Mittee if either of the lovers is1 a communist. The committee frowns on a girl s Choice if to lacks enthusiasm in work or is politically crises and an already frightening birth rate have touched off a birth control Campaign i which Early marriages Are discouraged. Though the Legal age is 20 for boys and 18 for girls in practice marriage is put off to the mid or late twenties. Once married women get 56 Days off at full Payfor maternity leave their children Are looked alter in Community nurseries and kindergarten Sall this gives More time for More work More study of the thoughts of Mao. New emphasis put on fashion and diet soviet women Are encouraged to Spruce up in for some Reval the soviet idea of a Beautiful woman once appeared to a much the same As the soviet idea of a Beautiful building big and solid. Lint the Moscow girl now is becoming Slimmer an trimmer. This probably has a lot to do with the new attitude toward women in the soviet Union. At one time they were urged As they Are now inching to forget femininity and aim instead for Complete Equality with men. Pictures used to show them displaying jots of muscle and very Little Beauty cleaning up streets and working on construction projects. Evidently that look has conic action. Recently in fact the Young communist league daily Koni Sokolskaya pravda printed an article Oritsu i bag girls who never show Pride in their femininity but continue in the old nit by competing with men As bricklayers and at other similar jolts. Quite a switch and such a change of Pace Hows up in the proclamations of Alexei a. I Krov by an expert on diet and director of the Institute of nourishment of Hie soviet Academy of medical science. On radio in books and through lectures to factory school and other groups he preaches proper diet and Lor him Iii. Better Beauty com Edes that tiie soviet people pack u o much weight but he argues that americans Are even Les successful in keeping slim. At the same time however he is prepared to borrow american ideas to put his reducing program across such As mass advertising. But his Ace in the Hole Isan All purpose russian produced wonder food for dieters called is a Man of Strong opinions and his opinions on diet seem to carry some , on a radio program he urged people to drink Tomato juice. What happened All the Tomato juice in Moscow stores was snapped up. Perhaps the russian ladies want to look like the models at a recent Moscow fashion show. Moscow still in t 1 ans but there Lias been some improvement Over the drab garb of i he the show held in the House of fashions the band played let s twist attain As the Hist Model thin As a red army Rifle stepped out on the circular a to Ower u la ill runway in an of Art dress with inches above her angular Knees. The audience russians and foreigners was a breakthrough in color and fashion. This dress displays styles in optical Del the announcers in russian and French. The band played Alexander s ragtime another Skinny Model showed off a Black dress with Zig Zag designs from neckline creations were largely copies of � frenchwoman in the audience noted had a run in one of her stockings. Complained those shoes Are imported them 1u-\fashion shows Are staged with greater nol More and More Western clothes Are impii"1 prices Are still astronomical. I i a hut i Kwh distribution of consumer Oody 7 Tii and Lack of efficient service continue to i russian jetting one s hair done for example i in project. Beauty Parlours Are scarce and la found you May have to Wail for hours a newspaper complained that a mum waited six hours for a permanent. T l \ to in any Case it s no longer Tab y ii a 1 i a woman. Nuu at and hut a a 11russian of Iani i
