1949年以后，一个真正的妇女解放过程开始了。男女平等被定为国策，所有妇女都参加生产劳动。这件事太伟大了，因为就算是在西方，妇女对工作权、选举权的争取也要经过100多年，但是中国女性直接就获得了这些权利。而且女性参加社会生产劳动的比例一下就超过了很多西方国家，几乎是100%的适龄并适合劳动的妇女都出来工作，这应该说是一个非常关键的进步。
　　 然而，那个年代有时是比较极端的。过于强调男女都一样，男性能做到的，女性也能做到，男女之间没什么区别，大家穿同样的衣服，女孩儿也都不化妆，好像没有性别的区分了。但造成这种现象的原因是过去女性的地位太低，转到这个阶段，女性被压抑的各种方面爆发了。此时，女性的地位也得到极大提高，但性别差异也被忽略。（307字）
　　 The year 1949 witnessed the veritable inception of women's liberation in China. Back then, ensuring equal rights for both men and women was made a national policy, enabling women to engage themselves in working and production. It was a remarkable move in that it has granted Chinese women, at one single stroke the rights to work and vote which took their western counterparts over a century to come by. As a result, the proportion of working women in China had surpassed that in many western countries, with almost all the able and working-age women stepping out of the kitchen and into the workplace, representing a critical step forward, so to speak.
　　 However, that age was punctuated with extremes in seeing things. An overemphasis on gender equality had obscured the distinction between men and women by arguing that what can be done by men can well be done by women. Both genders dressed in the same way and girls didn't wear make-ups any more. The line between the two sexes had seemingly dissolved. This, however, was attributable to the fact that women, who enjoyed very low status down in the pecking order in the past, finally saw their pent-up possibilities in various fields being given a free rein. As a result, they found themselves on a much higher rung up the social ladder,but at the cost of their uniqueness from men.