| Since the collapse of the Qing dynasty, women's roles in both the family and in society have undergone earth-shaking changes in Shanghai, China. The two middle-aged women explored in this thesis and documentary film are not unique cases. They originally had their work and contributed to society. Even though they had careers, they had no choice but to give up their professional pursuits to return to their family where their focus once again would be on their children. This modern pattern of transitioning from business to family in mid-life marks a sharp distinction from previous generations when women remained at home.;The documentary "Aging" focuses on two women between 50 and 60 years old, living in Shanghai, China. They have already retired or resigned from their work. They each have only one child, a daughter, but now their only child does not live with them because of school or work. My documentary uses their lives as the basic narrative core and focuses on why they retired early more than ten years ago. When the only child in the family has left home, how will these mothers continue their lives? What will their roles be in both society and their families?;One hundred years ago, very few children left home while their parents were still alive. This value was born out of Confucius' thought that said, "You should not go on a long journey when your parents are still alive;if you have to do so, you must have reasonable reasons. " In this dynamic, women were the center of her family, and thereby had a functional role to fulfill. Now, women are encouraged to pursue their own careers, and their children often leave home to develop careers independently. To these middle-aged women, the situation in their family affairs are resolved at the expense of their careers. Even though they are not poor, illiterate and/or in the bottom class of society they do not have a clear role or function in either business or family. This is the situation of both subjects of this documentary.;One subject, Lingjuan Lu, left her career urgently due to family issues concerning her father and her father-in-law's health problems. Upon resolving these unanticipated issues, her daughter quickly received her admission to a Master's Degree in United States in the following year. After her only daughter left to pursue her Master's Degree in the summer of 2014, the mother felt abandoned at home alone. The other subject, Wen Chen, retired from work early because she moved her home from Hunan to Shanghai for her daughter's education. She often, drove her daughter to and from school including cooking and delivering lunch for her daughter every day until she graduated from high school. After college, her only daughter started working in Beijing where resources for her film career are most concentrated.;Directors Zhangke Jia, Lixin Fan and Yung Chang, who cared about Chinese social problems, influenced this documentary. Lixin Fan's "Last Train Home" was especially influential. He used one moment in time to reveal a migrant community's hard life. I'd like to use my documentary to draw attention to this group of middle-aged women. Key Words: Aging, Asian, Middle-aged women, Sandwich Generation, Single-child policy, Family obligation, Personal values. |
