Can Common Views of Chinese Women be Changed?

Source: China Hush

Can Common Views of Chinese Women be Changed?

In recent years, Chinese women have been seen as very similar to one another.

Think about it for a moment, what do you think of when you think of Asian women
?  Like many people, you probably see a woman who is soft, submissive, respectful, compliant, etc.

It may come as a bit of a shock, but Chinese women are slowly gaining more and more freedom and education than they once did.

Traditional Social Roles for Chinese Women

Historically, Chinese women have displayed a feminine exterior that covers inner strength, persistence, and loyalty.

Traditional Chinese social structure has held women as second-class citizens.  If you doubt this, consider the overwhelming desire for sons, especially since China passed laws limiting most families to only one child, and the disappointment that often greets the birth of girls.

Little girls have been raised to be subservient and to fulfill their appointed roles as good mothers, good housekeepers, and good wives, often to men not of their choosing.  Historically, most marriages were arranged.  That custom, while not as common as it once was, is still widely practiced.  Males are the traditional heirs and girls, even if first-born, have often had to give up their inheritance.  Some women have even had to put up with their husbands having secondary wives and sometimes even concubines.

A married Chinese woman, whether the marriage was arranged or not, has traditionally had the never ending task of making her mother in law happy. Most foreign women don’t fully understand just how difficult this can be.

Chinese Women’s Views on Marriage and Careers

Successful marriages are vital to not only the couple, but also their families and communities.  Confucian teachings hold that marriage is essential to good character.

For this reason, Chinese girls are trained almost from birth that family loyalty is of utmost importance and that everything they do is a reflection of their family, and they should never bring shame to their families.

In the past, even when a marriage wasn’t arranged, a Chinese woman was expected to follow her family’s guidance in choosing a husband.  Foreign men and certain others were virtually forbidden.  She would be urged to choose a man from a family with a good reputation.  He should have a good job that paid well so he could support her.  Finally, she should get on well with her husband’s family, especially his mother.  Because such reputable and professional men are in the minority, Chinese women have traditionally been urged to be married by the time they reach their mid-twenties.

As one would guess, this often meant girls had to forego higher education and establishing a career.  For generations, many women have been unable to develop into ambitious business women.  As attitudes change, Chinese women have proved themselves to be quite capable in these new roles.

Chinese Women Seeking Higher Education and Marrying Later

As technology advances and travel visas become easier to acquire, Chinese women are increasingly choosing to study overseas.  Even for those who stay in China, the internet is showing Chinese woman how women in other countries live and are educated and Chinese women have begun pushing for the same opportunities.  As Chinese women win the right to attend school, they show themselves to be quite gifted and scholarly with a tremendous drive to achieve great things.

Even in more rural areas, Chinese women are putting off on getting into serious relationships or getting married until they are able to earn a degree, some working toward Masters and even PhDs.

Unfortunately, some Chinese women have encountered resistance, some from surprising directions.  One such organization that has pushed back against women seeking greater freedom is the All-China Women’s Federation.  This organization was founded in 1949 to protect Chinese women.  For the past few years, the same institution created to protect women has condemned women’s efforts to improve their lives, gain access to education, and establish careers of their own.  The group has published a number of articles referring to women who delay marriage in favor of education and career as “leftover women”.

The attitude from traditionalists is that a woman who postpones marriage for education or career is to blame if she is unable to find a suitable husband.  She is also to blame if her husband strays because she puts too much energy into her own goals.

Chinese Woman Stereotypes Gradually Shifting

Chinese people have emigrated to other parts of the world for many years. Chinese women who move to other countries, especially after a couple of generations, assimilate into the local culture easily.

Despite this, Chinese women living in Western countries are still underrepresented in leadership positions and popular culture. When they do appear, they tend to be characterized as either no nonsense business women, “dragon mothers”, or submissive and shy.

As Chinese women seek (and prove themselves in) higher education, they are gaining ground and crashing through the roadblocks to more senior positions.  The demure Chinese women is an idea that is becoming progressively more antiquated.

Increasing demand for Chinese women

As foreign men have more contact with Chinese women who have grown up in China, more of them become interested in marrying a wife from Asia. The ideal of the Chinese woman’s quiet strength and intense loyalty is now augmented by being well-educated and having successful careers.

With a newfound independence, Chinese woman often know exactly what they want and mixed race marriages become more common, in China and in other countries.  So much so that foreign men to seek to date and marry Asian women
are sometimes described as having “Yellow Fever”.  One only needs visit any large Chinese city to see a variety of mixed relationships between Asian women and non-Asian men .

Obviously such intermingling is not a new fad, but one that becomes more popular as Chinese women climb the academic and corporate ladders.