"重男轻女" In Contemporary China:An Anthropological Analysis Of Middle Class Women Living In Fuzhou

This paper analyzes the traditional concept of "重男轻女" under a contemporary lens.Specifically,the paper attempts to demonstrate how son preference and preferential treatment for sons present in contemporary Fuzhou.The author uses data from anthropological fieldwork completed during the summer of 2017 in Fuzhou,the capital of Fujian province,to analyze "重男轻女" in contemporary Chinese society.During a period of two and a half months,the author interviewed and observed middle class women in Fuzhou.During her time in Fuzhou,the author completed 35 in depth interviews as well as conducted many hours of observation.The author uses this data to form the backbone of her analysis into how Chinese women in Fuzhou view,experience,and perpetuate cultural concepts relating to 重男轻女.Theoretically,this paper relics on theories of gender.Additionally,the paper utilizes historical research to ground the contemporary analysis into how the social status of women,as well as the conception of gender,has changed in China since the early twentieth century.The paper focuses on official discourse surrounding women and gender,paying a large amount of attention to the switch from "men and women are the same"(男女都一样)to "men and women are different"(男女有别)in 1979.The paper analyzes how a resurgent focus on perceived differences among genders has accompanied the resurgence of traditional Confucian concepts in Chinese society.In addition to "men and women are different",the paper also examines "virtuous wife and loving mother"(贤妻良母)as well as“men rule outside,women rule inside"(男主外女主内)as evidence of this resurgence of traditional Confucian values.The paper concludes that like "virtuous wife and loving mother" as well as "men are masters outside the home,women master the inside",重男轻女 has also reappeared in Chinese culture.Similar to the two above listed Confucian terms,重男轻女 has likewise evolved to fit modern life.On the one hand,son preference has transformed into a stated gender preference strongly linked to the different notions of what each gender represents,as promoted by the concept"men and women are different".On the other hand,preferential treatment for sons has continued,as parents give adult sons investments such as cars and houses,but do not give similar investments to adult daughters who have brothers.This paper links these behaviors directly to dating and marriage patterns,which reward husbands as providers and wives as caregivers,both related to the 1979 concept "men and women are different".Finally,the paper emphasizes that there is a gap in the literature which ignores the presence of contemporary 重男轻女 in urban centers.Given that in 2015 the Chinese government ended the one child policy,implementing instead a two child policy,more research should be directed towards urban families with regard to 重男轻女,as in the future more sisters will again be competing with their brothers for family wealth.