Invisible Gender Inequality in Rural China: Exploring the Reasons for Son Preference and Daughter  Preference

Huimin Zhang

doi:10.34257/GJHSSCVOL22IS5PG29

Authors

Huimin Zhang

Keywords:

son preference, patriarchal system, gender reproductive selection, marital stress, gender expectations

Abstract

Son preference seems to be disappearing in the current discursive environment, replaced by the emergence of daughter preference in social communication. Different from previous studies of son preference in China that focus on quantitative data, this paper is based on an ethnographic study of a remote rural village in Shanxi Province, China. Through the use of participant observation, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews, the paper concludes that patriarchal systems persist, and son preference develops dynamically. Among others, the author concludes that (1) the patriarchal system is a necessary foundation for the existence of son preference, (2) the concealment of son preference is an aftereffect of gender reproductive selection and a major variable of marital stress, and (3) daughter preference is a variant of traditional gender expectations.

Downloads

How to Cite

Invisible Gender Inequality in Rural China: Exploring the Reasons for Son Preference and Daughter Preference. (2022). Global Journal of Human-Social Science, 22(C5), 29-35. https://doi.org/10.34257/GJHSSCVOL22IS5PG29

Download Citation

References

J Blomberg, J Giacomi, A Mosher, P Swenton-Wall (2017) Ethnographic field methods and their relation to design. 123-155.

(2016) Unknown Title.

Woojin Chung, Monica Gupta (2007) The Decline of Son Preference in South Korea: The Roles of Development and Public Policy. 33(4), 757-783.

M Das Gupta, J Zhenghua, L Bohua, X Zhenming, W Chung, B Hwa-Ok (2003) Why is son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? A cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea. 40(2), 153-187.

Norman Denzin (1997) Interpretive Ethnography: Ethnographic Practices for the 21st Century.

N Edley (2001) Analysing masculinity: Interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. 189, 228.

Ann Ferguson (1997) Two Women's Studies Conferences in China: Report by an American Feminist Philosopher. 3(1), 161-184.

David Gadd (2003) Reading Between the Lines. 5(4), 333-354.

Susan Greenhalgh (1993) 9. The Peasantization of the One-Child Policy in Shaanxi. 17, 219-252.

T Hesketh, L Lu, Z Xing (2011) The consequences of son preference and sex-selective abortion in China and other Asian countries. 183(12), 1374-1377.

Seema Jayachandran (2015) The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries. 7(1), 63-88.

S Jayachandran, I Kuziemko (2011) Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India. 126(3), 1485-1538.

Carl Lin, Yan Sun, Chunbing Xing (2021) Son Preference and Human Capital Investment among China's Rural-urban Migrant Households. 57(12), 2077-2094.

John Lofland (1995) ANALYTIC ETHNOGRAPHY. 24(1), 30-67.

Rachel Murphy, Ran Tao, Xi Lu (2011) Son Preference in Rural China: Patrilineal Families and Socioeconomic Change. 37(4), 665-690.

I Parker (2004) EBOOK: Qualitative Psychology.

Nelly Stromquist (1990) Gender Inequality in Education: accounting for women's subordination. 11(2), 137-153.

(2021) China, Taiwan Province of China. 201-204.

Wendy Wang (2005) Son preference and educational opportunities of children in China- "I wish you were a boy!". 22(2), 3-30.

M Wong (2016) Performing masculinity in periurban China: Duty, family, society.

Vesselina Ratcheva (2019) Conclusions, insight and recommendations from the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2016. 1(1), 603-647.

Yunxiang Yan (2003) Private Life under Socialism.

Q Zhou, Y Yuan (2014) Theoretical and empirical study of gender inequality in the family's compulsory educational investment. 36(4), 14-24.

Jiping Zuo, Yanjie Bian (2001) Gendered Resources, Division of Housework, and Perceived Fairness-A Case in Urban China. 63(4), 1122-1133.