Mao Zedong: How are women’s rights in Yugoslavia? Šentjurc [1]: The Yugoslav Constitution stipulates that women and men enjoy equal rights.


Mao: The Constitution is still just something written on paper; there remains a gap between its provisions and their actual implementation.
I wonder, in capitalist countries such as the United States and Britain, are women’s rights truly equal to those of men? Popović [2]: In the United States and Britain, women do indeed enjoy the same rights as men—they have both the right to vote and the right to stand for election.
However, in some countries, like Switzerland, women do not have the right to be elected.


Mao: In China, women who participate in government or in the work of the National People’s Congress are still a minority.
Although women’s rights are enshrined in the Constitution, much effort is needed to ensure their full realization through effective implementation.


Š.: Chairman Mao speaks with great insight.
For example, in the early days following Yugoslavia’s liberation, half of the candidates on the joint lists for the National Assembly were women. This was because these lists were proposed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia [3], and the women listed generally secured election. Later, when individual nominations were introduced, the number of women elected declined. This was due to the fact that in certain politically backward regions—areas where the political consciousness of the people was low—voters were reluctant to nominate women as candidates.
At present, women in Yugoslavia continue to hold a substantial proportion of seats in people’s committees, workers’ councils, the Socialist Alliance of Working People, trade unions, and organs of workers’ self-management.


Mao: Among the deputies to our National People’s Congress, 12 percent are women; in the grassroots people’s congresses, female deputies account for 17 percent. In the people’s congresses of the three centrally administered municipalities—Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin—the proportion of female deputies reaches 20 percent.


Š.: In the Federal National Assembly of Yugoslavia [4], female deputies make up 6 percent. In the parliaments of the constituent republics, their share ranges from 10 to 25 percent. For instance, in the Slovenian parliament, women constitute 25 percent of the membership. In some lower-level legislative bodies, the proportion of female deputies even reaches 30 percent.


Mao: In the future, the proportion of female comrades should at least match that of male comrades, each accounting for 50 percent. Should women come to outnumber men, there would be no harm in that either. This goal can only be fully achieved when war has ceased throughout the world and all societies have entered socialism—when production has reached a high level of development and the cultural and educational standards of the people have been greatly raised. Disrespect for women’s rights began only after the emergence of class society. Before the advent of class society, there existed a matriarchal era in which women held dominant positions. It is said that during that time women did not need to adorn themselves, whereas men, conversely, went to great lengths to win their favor.
Only when class society has vanished, heavy labor has been fully automated, and agriculture has been thoroughly mechanized, can true gender equality be realized. Following the collectivization of agriculture, women became involved in production and demonstrated their capabilities in economic life. Previously they had devoted most of their time to household chores and relatively little to agricultural work; now, as they participate in farming, their rights have likewise expanded. Nevertheless, post-collectivization agriculture remained largely dependent on manual labor, and women continued to bear the dual burden of domestic duties. Therefore, it is only with the mechanization of agriculture that this situation can be fundamentally transformed.
Currently, in the heavy industry sector, male workers still predominate, while women are more numerous in light industry. Š.: Yugoslavia faces similar challenges. In regions concentrated with heavy industry, male workers constitute the majority, which often makes it difficult for them to marry. To address this, we have begun establishing light-industry enterprises in such areas, thereby increasing the number of female workers.


Mao: China encounters the same problem. Does Yugoslavia practice family planning? Pop.: Yugoslavia is a small country with a modest population, so its government has long attached great importance to population growth.


Š.: We have established children’s welfare committees whose primary function is to care for children while their mothers are at work. Initially, these organizations were set up only in factories or large industrial zones, but we are now striving to extend them to ordinary residential areas as well. In addition, we operate service stations primarily to assist mothers who are overburdened with both work and household responsibilities. Thanks to the services provided by these stations, housewives have been relieved of many domestic chores, enabling them to engage more actively in political and cultural activities. Some female political and social activists lead extremely busy lives yet must also manage household affairs, leading to excessive fatigue that impairs their ability to perform their duties. The service stations help alleviate this burden.


Mao: That is indeed an excellent approach. May I ask what specific services are offered at these stations?

Š.: The services vary depending on local conditions. They include laundry and ironing, room cleaning, childcare, sewing, meal preparation, delivery of milk, bread, and fruit, and so forth. These service stations were mainly founded jointly by Yugoslav couples. As for political education of women, that task is primarily undertaken by trade unions and the Socialist Alliance.


Mao: In Yugoslavia, are there cases where parents’ income is insufficient to support their families due to having too many children?

Š.: Such difficulties do not arise, because the state provides a subsidy for each child born. However, some parents fail to use the subsidy for their children’s welfare. In such instances, women’s organizations, trade unions, and party bodies step in to advise these parents on how best to utilize the funds. Furthermore, we facilitate family planning in Yugoslavia by operating guidance centers where individuals can seek advice on any questions they may have regarding contraception.


Mao: In the past, some criticized our advocacy of family planning, but nowadays more people are in favor of it. Couples ought to draw up a family plan specifying how many children they intend to have over their lifetime. Such plans should be coordinated with the state’s five-year plans. At present, China’s population increases by between 12 and 15 million persons annually. While social production is already subject to planning, human reproduction remains in a state of anarchy and lack of planning. Why should we not subject human reproduction to planning as well? I believe we can. There was a democratic figure named Shao Lizi [5] who actively promoted family planning.


Pop.: May I ask, in China, do workers or intellectuals tend to be more supportive of family planning?

Mao: Whether workers or intellectuals, anyone with a large family and heavy burdens naturally supports family planning.


Š.: In Yugoslavia, we also disseminate knowledge about contraception, primarily through the Women’s Union, and we research and produce contraceptive drugs. Moreover, we employ another method to limit fertility: charging higher daycare fees from parents with many children. Might China adopt a similar measure?

Mao: Such a measure would likely prove impractical here. Parents with numerous children already face economic hardship; imposing additional daycare charges upon them would only exacerbate their financial difficulties.
Our cadres formerly enjoyed a rationing system under which all expenses were borne by the state. Now that we have switched to a salary-based system, daycare costs must be covered by the cadres themselves, which in itself serves as a restraint on having many children.


Š.: Thank you, Chairman Mao, for tonight’s audience. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to speak with you. During our stay in China, we witnessed much. We observed the development of productive forces and the remarkable enthusiasm of the workers. Your concern for workers’ welfare, as well as your care for mothers and children, left a particularly deep impression on us. We arrived in a friendly, comradely nation and received a warm welcome from the Chinese people—especially from Chinese women—everywhere we went, as if among old comrades and fellow revolutionaries. We held discussions with colleagues from the All-China Women’s Federation and exchanged experiences. We also met several veteran female revolutionaries and shared our mutual experiences in the revolutionary struggle. These strong ties will help us successfully advance socialist construction. We wish to express our gratitude to the leaders of the All-China Women’s Federation, who made this visit possible and arranged the itinerary so skillfully that we were able to see everything we hoped to see.


Pop.: I, too, would like to thank Chairman Mao and the other comrades present. Whenever a Yugoslav delegation visits Beijing, Chairman Mao always grants us an audience. The leadership of the Yugoslav government and the Yugoslav people are deeply grateful for this gracious gesture, fully appreciating its profound significance.


Mao: Today’s conversation was very fruitful, especially in touching upon certain fundamental aspects of human life.


Printed based on the transcript of the talk preserved in the Central Archives. Notes [1] Šentjurc, head of the Yugoslav Women’s Delegation, then a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and Vice-President of the Federal National Assembly of Yugoslavia. [2] Popović, then Yugoslav Ambassador to China. [3] The Communist Party of Yugoslavia was founded in 1919 and, at its Sixth Congress held in November 1952, was renamed the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. [4] The Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, adopted on April 7, 1963, reorganized the Federal National Assembly into the Federal Parliament. [5] Shao Lizi (1882–1967), from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang.