Embodying Middle Class Gender Aspirations: Perspectives from China’s Privileged Young Women (Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia)

"Xie's book is a must read for anyone who still imagines that improved education and wealth lead inexorably to liberal values of gender equality. It adds our understanding of how engagement with global capitalism can both promote the fulfilment of individual middle-class aspirations while reinforcing conservative family and gender values. " -- Harriet Evans, Professor Emerita, Chinese Cultural Studies, University of Westminster, UK "Xie's incisive scholarly analysis of the pressures faced by her generation is necessary reading for anyone interested in the far-reaching consequences of the one-child policy, one of the most radical social experiments in modern history." -- Mei Fong, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author of One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment This book takes a feminist approach to analyse the lives of well-educated urban Chinese women, who were raised to embody the ideals of a modern Chinese nation and are largely the beneficiaries of the policy changes of the post-Mao era. It explores young women's gendered attitudes to and experiences of marriage, reproductive choices, careers and aspirations for a good life. It sheds light on what keeps mainstream Chinese middle-class women conforming to the current gender regime. It illuminates the contradictory effects of neoliberal techniques deployed by a familial authoritarian regime on these women's striving for success in urban China, and argues that, paradoxically, women's individualistic determination to succeed has often led them onto the path of conformity by pursuing exemplary norms which fit into the party-state's agenda. Kailing Xie (PhD) is a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK. She gained her doctorate at the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York. She was awarded the 2017 Early Career Researcher Prize by the British Association for Chinese Studies for her article 'Premarital Abortion, What is the Harm? The Responsibilisation of Women's Pregnancy among China's "Privileged" Daughters'. Her broader research interests include gender, identity, and nationalism against the backdrop of China's rise on the global stage. 486769_1_En_OFC 486769_1_En_BookFrontmatter_OnlinePDF Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Researching China’s Lucky Generation: The Post 80s Why Privileged Women? Privileged Through Urban Birth Privileged Through Higher Education Privileged as the Rising Middle Class Researching in One’s Own Back Garden The Choice of Cities Positionality of the Researcher Power Dynamics Playing a Double-Edge Sword—Using ‘Guanxi’ in a Chinese Context Activism in the Field? Overview of the Book References 2 Women, Family and the Nation in Contemporary China Gendered Consequences of the Reform Gendered Consequences of the One-Child Policy ‘Well-Educated’ Daughters Neoliberal Governance and the Middle-Class Subject Depoliticising Class Under the Reform The Revitalisation of the Chinese Family Contextualising Well-Educated Chinese Women Gender in China References 3 Premarital Abortion, What Is the Harm? The Responsibilisation of Women’s Pregnancy Among China’s ‘Privileged’ Daughters The Silenced Lesson: Sex Education The Under-Discussed Reality: Premarital Sex Women as Tension Bearers Abortion in Contemporary China Damaging the Reproductive Body Women as ‘Devalued Property’ The Implications of Sexual Double Standards Abortion: A Responsible Choice Conclusion References 4 The Right Time for Childbirth: The Naturalisation of Motherhood Within Marriage Motherhood: A Choice or a Duty? Conjugal Family: The Site for Reproduction Timing Motherhood Under Intensified Pressure Tension in the Family Business: Who Decides What? Conclusion References 5 The Gendered Construction of Exemplary Middle-Class Identity: The Hegemony of Chenggong (Success) Embodying the High Suzhi Middle-Class Ideal Securing Her ‘Value’ Through Paid Work Displaying Her ‘Value’ Through Lifestyle Negotiating Love and Class The Masculine Ideal The Feminine Ideal She Is Too Materialistic and Superficial! She Is Too Kaifang Because of Her Job! Performing Her Gender for Love Performing Sajiao Romantic Love Localised Conclusion References 6 Reality Bites: Gendered Experiences of Marriage and Work The Making of a Good Wife and Daughter-in-Law Being a Successful Mother Being a Mother of Success Split Female Subjectivity The Gendered Reality in the Workplace The Weaker Sex The Cost of Maternity Consolidating Male-Centred Space Conclusion References 7 Concluding Discussion: Living with Contradictions References Correction to: Embodying Middle Class Gender Aspirations Correction to: K. Xie, Embodying Middle Class Gender Aspirations, Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1139-1 486769_1_En_BookBackmatter_OnlinePDF Appendix Summary of Participant Information Bibliography Index