User:AbRoseD98/Evaluate an Article

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 * Name of article: New Woman
 * I chose this article because it shows the transition of woman's rights and status in China beginning around the early twentieth century. I think this topic is interesting beacuse it has to do with woman taking control of their lives and advocating for better treatment and equal opportunities along with their male counterparts. This was an important movement and idea that emerged as it contradicted the established Confucian view of women in Chinese society and instead advocated for the equality and freedom of women from men.

"The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence on feminism well into the 20th century. In 1894, Irish writer Sarah Grand used the term "new woman" in an influential article, to refer to independent women seeking radical change, and in response the English writer 'Ouida' (Maria Louisa Rame) used the term as the title of a follow-up article. The term was further popularized by British-American writer Henry James, who used it to describe the growth in the number of feminist, educated, independent career women in Europe and the United States. Independence was not simply a matter of the mind: it also involved physical changes in activity and dress, as activities such as bicycling expanded women's ability to engage with a broader more active world.
 * Guiding questions

The New Woman pushed the limits set by a male-dominated society, especially as modeled in the plays of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)."


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Yes. This article will be about a new feminist idea which emerged in the 19th and 20th century which came to affect women and their relationship with men and fight for equality.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * To some extent yes. While it lacks the mention of other parts of the world i.e. Asia, Africa, this was clearly a movement which emerged from Irish and English woman. Thus, the focus of the article seems like it will mostly be on party of Europe and maybe the United States. I do think however, that a mention of how it affected women in other parts of the world would be important along with its affect on popular culture, art, literature, etc. I think to even just briefly note how it affected other parts of pop culture would be important to note.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * No, it does not appear so. The only thing I think it could add is how there was a push back from certain groups of male scholars, churches, etc.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * I think it presents a good amount of information. It is concise. I think it lacks some information about the larger context of a movement like this and how it spread, due to travel and foreigners being in other parts of the world, to other continents and countries. I also think it could have mentioned how this movement had an influence on art and literature. But maybe the fact that this movement stemmed from literature is enough to connect the two.

Content

 * Guiding questions

"China[edit]
Literary figures from western texts, like Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879), became examples of New Women and female revolutionary figures well known to Chinese urban intellectuals at the time. These figures were highly educated and self-absorbed. Nora, the heroine of Doll House, leaves her patriarchal marriage. An important lecture, "What Happens After Nora Leaves Home", was given at Beijing Women's Normal College in 1923.

The emergence of the New Culture movement in the early 1900s in China condemned “slavish Confucian tradition” which sacrificed the individual to conformity and rigid notions of subservience, loyalty, and female chastity.

Unable to follow the constructs of patriarchal culture, some new women resorted to suicide. According to Margery Wolf, "if a virtuous act of self-destruction could reveal the moral agency of the suicide, then suicide could also provide evidence of external, criminal agency." She postulated further that suicide was the most powerful accusation that a woman could make. The social and legal response was not so much “Why?” (a question of individual psychology) but, rather, “Who drove her to this?” (a question of social responsibility)"."


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes, but I feel as though it lacks a lot of information and seems to have a clear bias towards the Chinese women and away from the Confucian men (not that I can blame them). But I think it lacks a look at the broader story of what was occurring in China at this time. It seems to be rather accusatory rather than fact based. I also think there is too much information on suicide and not enough information on how this movement changed Chinese woman's status/did not change their status/lives, etc.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * The most recent article used for the section on China is from 2016 and the book used is one I own and have used multiple times for courses as it is FANTASTIC (Molony, Barbara, Janet M. Theiss, and Hyaeweol Choi. Gender in Modern East Asia First Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2016). However, they are using a small portion of the book which discusses the New Woman movement and ignoring a huge chunk of information which better outlines the movement in China. The article itself was last updated on August 14, 2020.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * As I said, I think it lacks a lot of information. I think it needs more information on how this movement emerged in China and how it affected women, how they reacted to it, how not all women subscribed to these ideas. Plus which women were affected by it? Was this for all women or just elite? Was it introduced along side more radical ideas of the time or was it taught in schools? How did other groups of men in China react to it? And even if these questions cannot be answered I think that in itself should be acknowledged that this area of studies lacks information.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?
 * It does discuss woman which I think is a group in history which deals with moments of underrepresentation. However, and maybe because there is no known scholarship or courses on it, it lacks (as in the main article) information on how this movement would have affected women of lower status. It is clear that for the educated and elite women there could have been more social movement. However, the women of lower classes, which were the majority of women in society, would probably not had the luxury of emancipation like other wealthier and high status women did. So while it may be hard to find information on that, I think the lack of information is a sign of the lack of voice lower class women had and how a movement like this probably would not have had much change on their lives and social status.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

"China[edit]
Literary figures from western texts, like Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879), became examples of New Women and female revolutionary figures well known to Chinese urban intellectuals at the time. These figures were highly educated and self-absorbed. Nora, the heroine of Doll House, leaves her patriarchal marriage. An important lecture, "What Happens After Nora Leaves Home", was given at Beijing Women's Normal College in 1923.

The emergence of the New Culture movement in the early 1900s in China condemned “slavish Confucian tradition” which sacrificed the individual to conformity and rigid notions of subservience, loyalty, and female chastity.

Unable to follow the constructs of patriarchal culture, some new women resorted to suicide. According to Margery Wolf, "if a virtuous act of self-destruction could reveal the moral agency of the suicide, then suicide could also provide evidence of external, criminal agency." She postulated further that suicide was the most powerful accusation that a woman could make. The social and legal response was not so much “Why?” (a question of individual psychology) but, rather, “Who drove her to this?” (a question of social responsibility)"."


 * Is the article neutral?
 * No, I think it is very biased and while I can't blame them for their clear anger and frustration for the topic at hand, topics need to have a neutral voice to them to be taken seriously. If anger is projected or interpreted, it will seem unprofessional and biased leading to it loosing credibility. The line "these figures were highly educated and self-absorbed", while again probably not wrong, is unnessacary.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * I think the information on suicide is far too long. This concept of suicide in relation to concubinage, patriarchal society, etc, has been around far longer than just the New Culture movement. While interesting and a clear demonstration of the stress of the patriarchal society, the amount of information on it and the lack of information on how this New Woman's movement actually affected Chinese women is unacceptable to me. And while yes, the New Culture movement did advocate for the progression of China away from Confucian ways of life, I do not know if that necessarily applied to feminism, equality, women's right, etc. While I am sure some men were all for it, other for sure would not have been okay with equality.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Not particularly no, but the overall tone of the article is judgey and does not appear to have any information other than what is represented, which I think is just a drop in the bucket. To me they are presenting the information they want to present instead of the larger story.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * Yes. They clearly want us to feel sorry for Chinese women and the situation they were in. And while any rational human being who believes in equality would feel bad for any human being being oppressed by a social order, political body, or certain belief system, I think there are better ways to go about it than by making women out to be the victims of a system instead of the survivors and fighters of it.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

"China[edit]
Literary figures from western texts, like Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879), became examples of New Women and female revolutionary figures well known to Chinese urban intellectuals at the time. These figures were highly educated and self-absorbed. Nora, the heroine of Doll House, leaves her patriarchal marriage. An important lecture, "What Happens After Nora Leaves Home", was given at Beijing Women's Normal College in 1923.

The emergence of the New Culture movement in the early 1900s in China condemned “slavish Confucian tradition” which sacrificed the individual to conformity and rigid notions of subservience, loyalty, and female chastity.

Unable to follow the constructs of patriarchal culture, some new women resorted to suicide. According to Margery Wolf, "if a virtuous act of self-destruction could reveal the moral agency of the suicide, then suicide could also provide evidence of external, criminal agency." She postulated further that suicide was the most powerful accusation that a woman could make. The social and legal response was not so much “Why?” (a question of individual psychology) but, rather, “Who drove her to this?” (a question of social responsibility)"."


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * No. It appears that one quote in the second paragraph does not have a citation behind it. So if the quotations are being used for humour or irony, they are lacking. If they are being used to cite something, its plagiarism as it lacks a source. Furthermore, the book being used Gender in Modern East Asia, features far more information on Chinese women and their experiences in 1900's other than just suicide.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * No absolutely not. There are far better sources out there than just ones on Chinese women's suicide. Reading this article and looking at the sources makes me scared to even glance at the Korea and Japan sections. There are plenty of sources on the New Woman of China and the Modern Girl. It is clear to me that the author/authors did not want to do research beyond what would be intriguing for an uneducated audience on the topic of East Asian women and their history, to read.
 * Are the sources current?
 * The three sources used are form 1975, 2005, and 2016 respectively. I think that more sources were needed for this topic, but again, it lacks thorough information hence it lacks sources.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * All the people who are sourced are women. However, that does not mean they are well educated on the current information of today.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Yes, but it appears that one book/article is missing a link or ISBN.

Organization

 * Guiding questions

"China[edit]
Literary figures from western texts, like Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879), became examples of New Women and female revolutionary figures well known to Chinese urban intellectuals at the time. These figures were highly educated and self-absorbed. Nora, the heroine of Doll House, leaves her patriarchal marriage. An important lecture, "What Happens After Nora Leaves Home", was given at Beijing Women's Normal College in 1923.

The emergence of the New Culture movement in the early 1900s in China condemned “slavish Confucian tradition” which sacrificed the individual to conformity and rigid notions of subservience, loyalty, and female chastity.

Unable to follow the constructs of patriarchal culture, some new women resorted to suicide. According to Margery Wolf, "if a virtuous act of self-destruction could reveal the moral agency of the suicide, then suicide could also provide evidence of external, criminal agency." She postulated further that suicide was the most powerful accusation that a woman could make. The social and legal response was not so much “Why?” (a question of individual psychology) but, rather, “Who drove her to this?” (a question of social responsibility)"."


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * It is easy to read, clear, and concise, but that does not make it correct or right.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * No, it appears to be alright.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * Again yes, but it lacks substantial information on the topic that is important for fully understanding how this movement affected Chinese women.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * The overall article images. The smaller articles on Chinese, Korea, Japanese, and German women do not, but I wonder if this is due to a lack of images, or a lack of effort.
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Yes.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * I think so.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * Yes. They are distributed throughout the text and near the end of the main article, there are serval images together.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * There are only two other conversations started, other than my own. However neither of them feature any feedback/conversation on them other than the original person. They discuss how the term "New Woman" was re-coined in the 1990's as a term for the LGBTQ+ community and thus could lead to some confusion from those on the page thinking it was a page on that new version of the word. The other one brings up the conversation of translation of certain works and the confusion which arises from it.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * It is part of WikiProjects and seems to be between a low-importance to mid-importance. It does not appear to have a clear rating, but as is noted on the page which allows us to choose articles, it was at a Start class rating, meaning there is lots of room for improvements.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * I don't wish to say the views are similar because in class I was provided with far more information, and well rounded information at that on the topic. I think the Wiki article has lots of room for improvement to allow it to be well rounded and less biased. I think the importance of Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879) is vital to the story of the New Woman movement in China, but I that is not the whole story. Furthermore, the article does not address which women this story reverberated with the most (upper class), and instead seems to just use "women" to refer to all women when in reality, the social hierarchy of China at the time would mean that only certain social status would have really been able to benefit (if at all of course) from this movement.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions

"China[edit]
Literary figures from western texts, like Henrik Ibsen's Doll House (1879), became examples of New Women and female revolutionary figures well known to Chinese urban intellectuals at the time. These figures were highly educated and self-absorbed. Nora, the heroine of Doll House, leaves her patriarchal marriage. An important lecture, "What Happens After Nora Leaves Home", was given at Beijing Women's Normal College in 1923.

The emergence of the New Culture movement in the early 1900s in China condemned “slavish Confucian tradition” which sacrificed the individual to conformity and rigid notions of subservience, loyalty, and female chastity.

Unable to follow the constructs of patriarchal culture, some new women resorted to suicide. According to Margery Wolf, "if a virtuous act of self-destruction could reveal the moral agency of the suicide, then suicide could also provide evidence of external, criminal agency." She postulated further that suicide was the most powerful accusation that a woman could make. The social and legal response was not so much “Why?” (a question of individual psychology) but, rather, “Who drove her to this?” (a question of social responsibility)"."


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * Overall I think the article is mediocre at best. Is it the worse? No. Is it the best? Absolutely not. It has lots of room for improvement. While the points the author brings up are okay, they seem to want to focus the story on one narrative instead of looking at the larger picture. I am excited to see what other information can be added.
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * .The article is concise and clear. It highlights the inequality that women faced under the patriarchal Confucian society and how the movement did not mean that a woman was free from her constraints as a woman.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * The article leaves out important names related to that 1923 lecture which took place (Lu Xun). Furth more, it does not give any examples of woman who were able to benefit from this movement nor does it discuss the women who gained nothing from it. It is clearly biased and thus comes across as angry. I also think the among of information of women's suicides is unnecessary. I also want to know more about how the New Culture movement helped women as I was under the impression it was a mixed back of men who were either against feminism or for it. I think in general there is too little information on how the movement affect Chines women, who benefited from it, who didn't, who was for it, who was against it, etc. I think far more information could have been added to the narrative.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * I think it is under developed. There is a lot of room for improvement on this topic. Lots more information that needs to be researched and added in. I think right now the narrative does not actually encapsulate the whole story that was occurring and developing in early 1900's China. I think it sticks with one narrative but fails to acknowledge the broader history of the time and the other events which were occurring. While the New Woman movement in some ways seems like it made no progress at all, I would argue, that for a country which had 1 view point on what women were capable of and could be, to have this new and rather for the time radical view point on gender equality come in, was something that in on itself should be acknowledged. Even though women were not liberated from the Confucian system and as their role as mother, wives, and daughters, this new way of thinking that emerged slowly began to penetrate peoples thoughts and slowly brought about change to a system which had been in place for 2000 plus years. But I think the article fails to recognize even that aspect of change and progress.

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