People don't listen to Mao for his views on women's rights

i mean we do, and when he wasn't making 'my wife' jokes his writings & actions were very progressive. the establishment of the PRC is one of the great strides in women's liberation, and was done in no small part by the women of china, with guns, not handed down. full legal equality was instituted in the constitution (and was the practice of the party before that), though bringing that into force took a long time, in such a poor war torn country. patriarchy still remains in the attitudes and actions of the older generations (and i'll lay some shade on Deng for his reforms slowing down and leaving incomplete the work of women's liberation) but China is and has been a better place for women than the west for decades. sorry to pounce on you but the feminist character of the communists is very important and has been so thoroughly slandered by the west, it's important to push back