october 25 story correct change pronoun correct gender quote delegate final paragraph john ruwitch beijing every time china rule communist party convene major gather like congress end beijing list delegate hand-crafted part burnish party image representative mass include give prominence menial job ethnic minorities yet one group chronically under-represented among political elite women found father communist china mao zedong may say women hold half sky twice-a-decade party congress select new batch top leaders week females hold much women make onto elite politburo stand committee group seven men pinnacle party none ever new politburo one 25 members woman sun chunlan head party body charge outreach non-communists second term likely retire five years previous politburo two women sun vice premier liu yandong past retirement age step politburo one ring 4.9 percent new central committee mere 10 body 204 members women number unchanged outgo central committee preside five years low 2007-2012 13. state council information office double party propaganda department respond fax question comment women senior party position way comparison five members u.s. president donald trump 24-member cabinet women 20 percent u.s. congress female japan two 20 members cabinet women 10 percent low house lawmakers newly elect sunday chinese party congress overall number strong quarter 2,287 delegate women roughly commensurate proportion roughly 90 million-member party senior leadership post hand men activist xiong jing ngo project manager edit feminist social media site say many women delegate party congress merely decoration problem clich say political system think even women involve whether party congress delegate government may limit party take appearance representativeness seriously come group party congresses annual sessions parliament delegate china 56 different ethnic group every branch military police private businesses state sector course government party congress year feature delegate astronauts athletes actors judge farmers even delegate represent housekeepers show apron maid cap women general china political empowerment lack china rank 74th political empowerment women 144 countries world economic forum global gender gap report last year 2006 52 115. leta hong fincher new york-based sociologist author forthcoming book betray big brother rise china feminist resistance say women china lose grind amid resurgence traditional gender norms impression communist party fundamentally interest women senior level say china pre-reform command economy mao women draft workforce recruit nation-building powerful woman since communist takeover 1949 mao third wife jiang qing members gang four arrest mao death 1976 blame excesses chaotic cultural revolution recently hong fincher say party spook china demographic challenge age population shrink labor force fall birth rat aggressively promote idea women get marry baby sure chinese business prominent female chief executives zhang xin real estate developer soho china zhou qunfei billionaire founder lens technology party government pay lip service gender equality state constitution guarantee women right men government ... want appear take gender equality seriously reality actually full retreat regard gender equality hong fincher say election process party congress delegate tightly control candidates vet loyalty party leadership congress delegate tang jialing crew member deep-sea research submersible suggest lack women reflect people party people people vote men women people choice say women fail crack china 's glass ceiling party pick new leaders