China college goes the 'sanskari' way! In a course launched in March, Zhenjiang College and the All-China Women’s Federation have been teaching female students how to dress, pour tea and sit – all in the name of how to be a woman in the time of President Xi Jinping. The class offered, only to female students, aims to develop ‘wise’, ‘sunny’ and ‘perfect’ woman, where wisdom comes from studying Chinese history and culture, sunniness from oil painting and etiquette classes and perfection from the application of ‘not too much’ makeup.

Duan Fengyan, 21, studying to be an accountant, demonstrates and says, “You must sit on the front two-thirds of the chair – you cannot occupy the whole chair. Now, hold in your belly, relax your shoulders, legs together, shoulders up.” The college launched the New Era Women’s School to heed Xi’s call for education in traditional Chinese culture, to help women compete in the job market, said Sheng Jie, who runs the program – but also to prepare them for domestic roles. “Women’s family role is more important now,” she said.

The Communist Party wants women educated, yes, but with economic growth slowing and the population shrinking, it is bringing back the idea that men are breadwinners and women are, first and foremost, wives and mothers. The party is also worried that educated women will decide not to marry men and have kids, compounding the surplus of males caused by the one-child policy and potentially destabilising the country. It is teaching young women that this is the norm.

“According to traditional culture, women should be modest and tender, and men’s role is working outside and providing for the family,” said Duan, 21, before a class on tea ceremonies. “I want to be a role model for my children.” Both teachers and students said that young women should constantly seek to improve their ‘quality’ to stay competitive. Success requires constant ‘self-cultivation’ – not a bad thing when it applies to all genders. The course is overseen by women and the students are also women, there is no equivalent course for men.

Sheng, the program director, declined to talk much about women’s rights – she is a teacher, not a feminist, she said. Her goal is to teach young women what they need to know and in so doing, help the nation. “The country is emphasising traditional culture, so we are providing courses,” she said.

In his first five years in power, Xi cast himself as a champion of women’s rights, declaring, in a speech at a United Nations summit on women equality is a ‘great cause’. Although his tenure has been less about pushing for equality than promoting a vision of ‘harmonious’ male-female households with a working father and a virtuous mother who cares for children and the elderly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 12:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).