Abstract
Chinese society remains fundamentally rooted in highly gendered social and family roles. From a demographic point of view, discrimination against girls and women is therefore part of a system of norms and values, both family and social, that traditionally favours males. While this discrimination is just one aspect of the gender inequalities that persist today, to some extent it is a self-perpetuating process. Indeed, because Chinese women do not have the same opportunities for social achievement as men, and because they are still largely vested in roles that are not much valued socially, many families still consider girls to be less important than boys.
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Notes
- 1.
We refer here to the dominant traditional culture perpetuated by the ethnic Han majority, who represent more than 90 % of the Chinese population. While some ethnic minorities, such as the Manchus, have largely adopted Han culture, others such as the Tibetans and the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang province, have kept their traditional culture, which has little in common with that of the Han.
- 2.
Buddha lived in the sixth century AD.
- 3.
In Chinese philosophy, the yin and the yang are two symbiotic and complementary principles found in all aspects of life and the universe. Their complementarity differs from the pairs of opposites that are more common in Western philosophy, such as the concept of Good and Evil. In Chinese cosmology, these are two entities that follow the original “breath” of creation present in all things. For instance, the yin is associated with the moon that represents the female aspect of nature, whereas the yang is associated with the sun, and represents its masculine aspect.
- 4.
The practice of binding girls’ feet began at the end of the Tang dynasty (618–906) and gradually developed among the wealthier classes during the Song dynasty (960–1297). Under the Ming (1368–1644) and later the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, it spread to almost the entire female population, across all social classes.
- 5.
Quoted from Attané and Rohrbasser (2000).
- 6.
China Daily, 11 Apr 2000.
- 7.
Guaimai renkou xin dongxiang, jing ba nuying maizuo ‘tongyangxi’. 9 Aug 2002. Available on the cctv.com website.
- 8.
Clans are now mainly to be found in southern China and a few central provinces, such as Henan, Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian.
- 9.
Concubines were traditionally only found in wealthy families, whose master was rich enough to support several wives.
- 10.
Driven from her home for giving birth to a girl. Renmin ribao (People’s Daily) 19 June 2001.
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Attané, I. (2013). The Status of Women in Traditional Chinese Society. In: The Demographic Masculinization of China. INED Population Studies, vol 1. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00236-1_7
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