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Civilizing unmarried urban women in China: Authentic or Not?

Li, Ting (2015) In Working papers in contemporary Asian studies
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this research was to explore and evaluate the new expected identities of unmarried urban women in China, by analyzing the changes in the marriage law in the last 60 years, particularly in property division in the case of divorce. Methodology: The paper proceeded under the qualitative method and designed a case study in Chengdu. The data from books, journals, policies, newspapers and the interview texts were analyzed under theoretical concepts and discourse analysis method.Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the complex “governmentality-identity-authenticity” was applied in the thesis, with the main focus on gender issues.

Conclusions: The self-reliance identity has been established among unmarried... (More)
Aim: The aim of this research was to explore and evaluate the new expected identities of unmarried urban women in China, by analyzing the changes in the marriage law in the last 60 years, particularly in property division in the case of divorce. Methodology: The paper proceeded under the qualitative method and designed a case study in Chengdu. The data from books, journals, policies, newspapers and the interview texts were analyzed under theoretical concepts and discourse analysis method.Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the complex “governmentality-identity-authenticity” was applied in the thesis, with the main focus on gender issues.

Conclusions: The self-reliance identity has been established among unmarried urban women in China, while the self-esteem identity failed. Interviews with unmarried urban women in Chengdu revealed the biggest

obstacle was the lack of protection and compensation for divorced women in China’s marriage law. The fear of a drop in their standard of living and suffering from poverty after divorce led to feelings of insecurity and negative emotions among the unmarried urban women, which hugely influenced their concepts of marriage and self-esteem identity building. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Marriages, Women, China, Law, Identity
in
Working papers in contemporary Asian studies
issue
46
pages
53 pages
publisher
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
ISSN
1652-4128
ISBN
978-91-980900-6-2
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5524c695-224c-4872-9978-61d1b159efb4 (old id 5050819)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:45:48
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:29:54
@misc{5524c695-224c-4872-9978-61d1b159efb4,
  abstract     = {{Aim: The aim of this research was to explore and evaluate the new expected identities of unmarried urban women in China, by analyzing the changes in the marriage law in the last 60 years, particularly in property division in the case of divorce. Methodology: The paper proceeded under the qualitative method and designed a case study in Chengdu. The data from books, journals, policies, newspapers and the interview texts were analyzed under theoretical concepts and discourse analysis method.Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the complex “governmentality-identity-authenticity” was applied in the thesis, with the main focus on gender issues.<br/><br>
Conclusions: The self-reliance identity has been established among unmarried urban women in China, while the self-esteem identity failed. Interviews with unmarried urban women in Chengdu revealed the biggest<br/><br>
obstacle was the lack of protection and compensation for divorced women in China’s marriage law. The fear of a drop in their standard of living and suffering from poverty after divorce led to feelings of insecurity and negative emotions among the unmarried urban women, which hugely influenced their concepts of marriage and self-esteem identity building.}},
  author       = {{Li, Ting}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-980900-6-2}},
  issn         = {{1652-4128}},
  keywords     = {{Marriages; Women; China; Law; Identity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{46}},
  publisher    = {{Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Working papers in contemporary Asian studies}},
  title        = {{Civilizing unmarried urban women in China: Authentic or Not?}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4150572/5050824.pdf}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}