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Family, Kinship, Marriage, Sexuality - Family Relations

9 important questions on Family, Kinship, Marriage, Sexuality - Family Relations

What do the Confucian Three Obediences stand for?

These are the three obediences by which women were to be governed:

As an unmarried women she must obey her father.
As a married women she must obey her husband
As a widow she must obey her adult sons

Give two examples that show the low status of women in the traditional Chinese family.

For example:

Among poor families female babies were sometimes killed at birth before 1949
Poor parents might sell their daughter into slavery at three or four years old or as prostitues or concubines at twelve or fourteen.
If a wife displeased her husband or mother-in-law she could be returned to her parents
In times of economic stress she might be rented, leased or sold to a more prosperous man.

In which situations did the status of women improve in the traditional Chinese families?

After the passage of years
When she bore a son
When a daughter-in-law would come under her direction
Entering advanced age; authority began to approximate that of her husband.
The death of her husband in some cases provided her with full power within the family

From what did the oppression of women result?

From Confucian patriarchal ideology and from women's economic dependence on men.

How was women subordination undermined?

By the communist revolution of 1949 and subsequent economic and social changes.

Why does selective abortion (due to the one-child-policy) occur less often in urban areas than in rural areas?

Because in urban areas there is a social security system. This is not the case in rural areas; peasants rely on their sons for old age support.

How did the communist regime improve the status of women?

Since 1949 women have worked together win men in state- or collective-run organizations and so have achieved a degree of economic independence. In urban China it is now even unusual for women not to work outside the home.

What is family collectivism?

Since 1949, women's labor-force participation and income-leveling programs have shifted the wive's dependence on husbands to mutual financial interdependence and equal share of household decisionmaking power.

Describe the role of the mother in the 'new' Chinese families.

They are considered the center of the family's communication network; they are the glue that binds families together. They also function as intermediary between the husband and children. The children confide in their mothers, but do not challenge order from their fathers (who however seldomly issue direct order to their children). The children and father try to avoid direct confrontation. The status of the mother is thus evolving.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Understanding contemporary China | 9781588268440 | Robert E Gamer

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Family, Kinship, Marriage, Sexuality - Family Relations

9 important questions on Family, Kinship, Marriage, Sexuality - Family Relations

What do the Confucian Three Obediences stand for?

Give two examples that show the low status of women in the traditional Chinese family.

In which situations did the status of women improve in the traditional Chinese families?

From what did the oppression of women result?

How was women subordination undermined?

Why does selective abortion (due to the one-child-policy) occur less often in urban areas than in rural areas?

How did the communist regime improve the status of women?

What is family collectivism?

Describe the role of the mother in the 'new' Chinese families.

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