Structural Transformation Enables Women to Rewrite the Script!

Humans are storytellers. From Homer to Aparna Sen, we craft narratives that praise great heroes, vilify demons, and ultimately shape visions of the world. Our stories, whether centring male voices or flipping the script to expose how society produces rapists, send powerful messages about how the world is, can be, and should be.

From kings to clerics, village gossips to Twitter trolls, all seek to convince and cajole, propagating their versions of history. Whether worshipping at temples, teaching children, or applauding queer theatre, we’re constantly policing the boundaries of permissibility. If all our neighbours repeat the same line, we may take it for granted. Seeking inclusion and approval, others comply - even piling on with the bullies. While some are privately critical, most stay quiet, afraid to stand alone and risk ostracism.

But who gets to tell these stories?

For centuries, the answer was overwhelmingly men. Patriarchal religions, propped up by states, reified men as higher status, knowledgeable authorities, deserving of deference. Now, that’s changing. Structural transformation - the shift from agrarian to industrial and post-industrial societies - has radically altered the playing field.

This essay is about how economic development, technological change and growing demand for creative industries has enabled women to tell their own stories. We’ll explore:

1. The emergence of female writers in the West

2. The East Asian miracle (for women)

3. China’s online literary revolution

4. Authoritarian crackdowns on free expression

5. The peril of male bias

Let’s saddle up!

Chinese language editions of books by Chizuko Ueno, Japanese women's studies pioneer at the University of Tokyo, are sold at a Beijing bookstore, 2024. (Kyodo)

The feminism section of a bookstore in Beijing (photography by Furuichi Masako)