Gender Roles in China (Oct. 1 Class)

While watching the documentary over the weekend, I found the women’s viewpoints on gender roles interesting. I already knew that culturally, Chinese parents preferred to have a son, because that way the family name could be carried on and any possessions, such as land, could be passed on to the son once the father got too old or died. Before watching this documentary, I never really considered how the women felt about this, so when they talked about how they were often seen as a “small happiness” when they were born compared to when their brothers were born. They also talked about how they were under so much pressure to get married, and that some marriages were arranged or some couples were put together by a matchmaker. I found it funny and very relatable when one of the women said that she was not interested in finding a man at the time because she would rather be hanging out with her friends instead. I found it funny because I feel the same way. There are multiple couples I went to high school with who are already married or at least engaged, which is great for them and I am glad that they are happy, but that kind of thing is not on my mind at the moment. I liked that despite the cultural differences and the situations, I was still able to find some way to relate with the women that were shown in the documentary.