Learn Chinese“妇女” “女性” “女人”

By Caren Zuo

“妇女” and “女人” are both translated into “women”. But they have different tones in specific sentences or contexts.

“妇女” is more formal in public contextes covering legal documents, national policy and the mass media. However, it has been some time since people noticed that the character “妇女” implies “poor-educated” , “older” and other characters about “the weak”. Let’s take a look at some common usages. “家庭妇女” is used to refer to those unkempt housewives who do not have a job and sacrifice everyting for the family they managed to build. “农村妇女” is not a good image either. Poor educated, they usually don't have any interesting to do expcept gossiping around the villages. “中年妇女” seems a netural one meaning “the middle-aged women”. Despite it does not mean “not attractive”, at least it implies “common”. There is nothing derogatory suggestion in the pharse of “保护妇女儿童”, but here “妇女” brings a clue of “the weak”.

 “妇女” may be an honarable title half a century ago, but the title seems no longer being favorable to “当代女性” of modern society. “女性” has more characters of “pursuing freedom, equality and independence” and “当代女性” know how to take good care of themselves and enjoy their lives.

The “International Women Day” is translated into “国际妇女节”. Earlier this year some suggested a better name “国际女人节” for the day. It is definitely a hard work to change the name of the day that lasted over half a centry in China, but it tells us that “女人” are more attractive than “妇女” when people talk about “women” in a business society. Every knows in China it is “男人” who control the society, but it is “女人” who control “男人”.

Vocabulary:

妇女 (fù nǚ) a woman or women 

家庭妇女 (jiā tíng fù nǚ) housewife 

农村妇女 (nóng cūn fù nǚ) women living in rural areas

中年妇女 (zhōng nián fù nǚ) the middle-aged women 

保护妇女儿童 (bǎo hù fù nǚ ér tóng) protect women and children 

女性 (nǚ xìng) the female 

当代女性 (dāng dài nǚ xìng ) modern female 

国际妇女节 (guó jì fù nǚ jiē) the International Womean Day 

国际女人节 (guó jì nǚ rén jiē)  

女人 (nǚ rén) women 

男人 (nán rén ) man