Women Hold Up Half the Sky: The Political-economic And Socioeconomic Narratives of Women in China 9789811226182, 9789811226199

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WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY

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Other World Scientific Titles by the Author

Destructive Creativity of Wall Street and the East Asian Response ISBN: 978-981-4273-78-7 Oil in China: From Self-Reliance to Internationalization ISBN: 978-981-4273-76-3 The Rise of China and India: A New Asian Drama ISBN: 978-981-4280-33-4 Oil and Gas in China: The New Energy Superpower’s Relations with its Region ISBN: 978-981-4277-94-5 Contextualizing Occupy Central in Contemporary Hong Kong ISBN: 978-1-78326-756-9 Globalization, Consumption and Popular Culture in East Asia ISBN: 978-981-4678-19-3 China’s One Belt One Road Initiative ISBN: 978-1-78326-929-7 Tycoons in Hong Kong: Between Occupy Central and Beijing ISBN: 978-1-78326-979-2 Studying Hong Kong: 20 Years of Political, Economic and Social Developments ISBN: 978-981-3223-54-7 The Merlion and Mt. Fuji: 50 Years of Singapore–Japan Relations ISBN: 978-981-3145-69-6 ISBN: 978-981-3145-70-2 (pbk) Politics, Culture and Identities in East Asia: Integration and Division ISBN: 978-981-3226-22-7 ISBN: 978-0-00-098723-5 (pbk) Leadership: Political-economic, Regional Business and Socio-Community Contexts ISBN: 978-981-121-322-9

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WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY THE POLITICAL -ECONOMIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC NARRATIVES OF WOMEN IN CHINA

Tai Wei Lim Soka University, Japan & National University of Singapore, Singapore

World Scientific NEW JERSEY

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LONDON

11989 9789811226182 tp.indd 2

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SINGAPORE

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BEIJING

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SHANGHAI

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HONG KONG

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TAIPEI

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CHENNAI

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TOKYO

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Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lim, Tai-Wei, author. Title: Women hold up half the sky : the political-economic and socioeconomic narratives of women in China / Tai Wei Lim, Soka University, Japan & National University of Singapore, Singapore. Description: Singapore ; Hackensack, NJ : World Scientific Co. Pte. Ltd., [2021] | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2020058478 | ISBN 9789811226182 (hardcover) | ISBN 9789811226199 (ebook) | ISBN 9789811226205 (ebook other) Subjects: LCSH: Women--China--Social conditions. | Women--China--Economic conditions. | Women’s rights--China. Classification: LCC HQ2010 .L56 2021 | DDC 305.40951--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058478 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright © 2021 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. For any available supplementary material, please visit https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11989#t=suppl Desk Editor: Lai Ann Typeset by Stallion Press Email: [email protected] Printed in Singapore

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Contents Chapter One  Introduction1 A Long March to Nationhood: Engineered Fertility and   its Gender Impacts  Gender Rights Chapter Two  Confucianism, Traditionalism,   and Patriarchy Productive Forces and Middle-Class Formation Gender Parity Chapter Three  The Chinese Narratives China’s Case Study 1: Lü Pin, Activist  China’s Case Study 2: Gu Qi and Li Xiang,   Childcare Providers China’s Case Study 3: Lyu Jiawei, Entrepreneur China’s Case Study 4: Zhao Yilin, 29, Job Seeker China’s Case Study 5: Zhang Nuannuan, Film Studies   Student, 20 Years Old  China Case Study 6: Alimra Jumadel, E. Teng,   Yong Ronglan, Naval Personnel Coders, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and Activists:   The Lives of Women Who Made Our Technological   World Possible 

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Chapter Four  A New Age of Chinese Women Professionals in Traditionally Male Dominated Arenas The Female Chinese Consumer

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Chapter Five  Conclusion

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Epilogue: Post COVID-19 Job Situation 

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Introduction 105 Green Transportation 106 Logistics 107 Manufacturing 107 Work from Home Jobs 108 Nursing and Healthcare  109 Remote Employment  110 Childcare and Education  111 Essential Services 112 Civil Service 112 Post-COVID Economic Climate and Job  Environment: Current and Future Directions for Employment and the Required Skills and Competencies113 Bibliography125

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Chapter One

Introduction China, ranked 106th on the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF)’s yearly ranking, is lagging behind the developed West in terms of female participation in politics and has a biased gender ratio for babies.1 While the rankings indicate quantitative statistical numbers, they do not fully reflect the ongoing social transformation in China. It does not capture the mindset changes of how Chinese women feel about themselves or the attitudinal changes that are transforming contemporary Chinese women. Most importantly, it misses the narratives that Chinese women have about their own lives. The ranking positions may indicate a big gap with the West, but, comparatively speaking, Chinese women have attained significant progress in contemporary China. (Though there is still some room for improvement as Western critics point out.) Any statistical lag is bucked by the trend that there are growing ranks of women who are aggressive go-getters in their educational achievements, career climbing, and even attaining physical strength. For example, there are growing legions of Chinese women who want to be stronger cognitively, mentally, career-wise, and even physically. Zhang Fu (a strength conditioning and rehabilitation expert at the Zhang, Phoebe, “China goes backwards on global gender equality list but does better on education” dated 18 December 2019 in South China Morning Post (SCMP) [downloaded on 18 December 2019], available at https://www.scmp.com/news/china/ society/article/3042650/china-goes-backwards-global-gender-equality-list-does-better 1 

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Peking University Gymnasium Training Center) tracked the ongoing transformation of female bodies from thin/fragile/gentle frames to strong and muscled beauty, organizing combat boot camps for high-powered professional women (lawyers, journalists, senior executives, engineers): I believe it has something to do with more Chinese women entering and succeeding in the workplace, so they need to be more independent and confident, and have more strength… It is unlike in ancient times, when women were dependent on men in the patriarchal society and women were just expected to be thin and gentle.2 In such narratives, it specifically mentions that Chinese women wanted to lessen dependence on men. Zhang also indicates a desire to be strong cognitively/mentally and physically. In the past, this would have been taken figuratively. But, in the current context applied to middle-class female urbanites, it refers to non-dependence even in the realm of physical strength, which points to an impending end to the traditional masculine role of the macho hunter-gatherer male in Chinese society. In fact, BBC News examined the hypothetical consequences of women becoming stronger than men in human societies. The physical gap between the sexes has been closing for some time, especially in the athletic world. Females are catching up with males in some athletic ventures (e.g. ultra-events) but, if women suddenly become physically stronger than men and natural laws of species/society apply, men may well transition to become primary caregivers for children as Professor Daphne Fairbairn (Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of California, Riverside) argues: We’d have a matriarchal society where females are in charge and males look after the kids.3 Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?” dated 5 May 2015 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/920206.shtml 3  Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?” dated 30 October 2017 in BBC News [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www. bbc.com/future/article/20171027-what-if-women-were-physically-stronger-than-men 2 

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The above conjecture is just a projection of a hypothetical scenario that is not expected to materialize for the moment. But it does point to the trend that there will be some behavioral changes if there are physical changes to the female human body in terms of strength, power, and aggression. Meanwhile, in the real world, China continues its quest to introduce more equality to women. The WEF annual report, which studies gender equality in health, education, political empowerment, and economic opportunities, indicated that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) succeeded in narrowing “two-thirds of its gender gap”; but the efforts and the gains have slowed down since 2006 despite China being marginally in front of the Asian pack with South Korea (108th) and Japan (121st).4 Chinese authorities are eager to close the gender gap and their actions are eminently important since China is a state-centered authoritarian political system (now also known as a strongman regime). In addressing the gender gap, the centralized and powerful Chinese state is also intervening in fostering notions of masculinity as well. In the area of state education, the Chinese state is also concerned about rising (perceived) ‘femininity’ of its young males. The state has approved a new 4th/5th grade mass education manual titled “Little Men” published by Shanghai Educational Publishing House in December 2016 to educate young males on being ‘masculine’ by emphasizing the dichotomy between boys and girls, the element of fatherson interactions, appreciation for nature, and financial accounting, and this book has completed its school trials since 2017.5 All these moves were meant to shore up traditional notions of masculinity amongst future generations of Chinese youths. For much of the post-war revolutionary years (1949–1978), the focus has been on empowering women so that they can become equal productive and revolutionary forces in society and the national economy. China has made great strides since its Communist revolution (the Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921) when the revolutionary leader Zhang, Phoebe, “China goes backwards on global gender equality list but does better on education”. 5  Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys” dated 9 January 2017 in NBC News [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/china-tackles-masculinity-crisistries-stop-effeminate-boys-n703461 4 

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Great Helmsman Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung in Wades Giles spelling) famously said that “women held up half the sky”. For some political observers and Sinologists, the current bottleneck in gender progress appears to be in the realm of politics. Chinese women are not being represented enough in China’s centralized political system. In a political system weighted towards males, women formed 25% of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in 2018, placing it 95th in the world on that criteria and females were appointed to two ministerial posts within the cabinet.6 Besides the legislature, the Chinese civil service is also another sector wherein women are making strides. One area of public service dominated by women is the teaching service. Here, the worries about gender inequality are reversed with Chinese parents criticizing the skewed ratio of male and female teachers. China’s education system has also been blamed for producing less masculine Chinese men, given that there is a shortfall in male teachers resulting in the lack of male role models (4/5 of educators in Chinese cities are females).7 In general, however, with the exception of the teaching service, government bureaucrats/technocrats are still mostly men. Currently, technocratic leadership and top business executive appointments have the statistical equivalent of one female for every five males.8 In other words, it is still male-dominated in numerical terms. However, the Chinese government begs to disagree with the West that female political leadership is low. The Chinese government white paper Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women’s Cause in 70 Years Since New China’s Founding released in September 2019 by China’s State Council Information Office listed out statistical information on women in political leadership positions. It indicated that, in 2017, 52.4% of civil servants freshly hired by the central government organs Zhang, Phoebe, “China goes backwards on global gender equality list but does better on education”. 7  Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 8  Zhang, Phoebe, “China goes backwards on global gender equality list but does better on education”. 6 

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were women and 44% for local governments; and, in 2018, women made up 22% of leadership positions in national public organizations (1.6% higher than 2015) while female representatives made up 39.7% and 41.6% of boards of directors and regulatory committees, respectively, in 2017.9 Indeed, some argue that the problem of female representation in elite political leadership is not as important as the political priority of projecting masculine strength of a strongman regime in order to aggressively push China’s leadership imagery and robust foreign policy overseas. The Chinese strongman regime under Xi Jinping has created this shift to masculinity, confidence, and strength, in line with the political imagery generated for the President.10 Another long-time challenge that China grapples with is a biased gender ratio at birth that makes China’s ranking lowest on the health and survival sub-index, even though it did well in some other categories like education, pushing it down to 104th on the list with Asia-Pacific countries like New Zealand (6th), the Philippines (16th), Singapore (53rd), and Malaysia (103rd) ahead of it.11 The skewed ratio is a consequence of the mandatory One Child Policy put in place in 1980 to mitigate the excessive expending of resources due to population explosion. However, the overwhelming success is now creating new challenges like aging population and excessive numbers of males in the population. The Chinese government is now trying to reverse the negative impact of the One Child Policy by encouraging procreation while fostering family values and lauding women as unique nurturers in the family. Indeed, the state is worried about the excesses of the One Child Policy, in particular, the impact of an aging, graying population. The One Child Policy has created a tendency for parents to dote on their single offspring and Xinhua, “White paper notes significant growth of women’s political status in China” dated 19 September 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 19 September 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-09/19/c_138404842. htm 10  Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 11  Zhang, Phoebe, “China goes backwards on global gender equality list but does better on education”. 9 

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overcompensate in protecting them and giving them anything they want, eventually creating physically and emotionally delicate males, leading to what is being known as a “crisis of masculinity”.12 Planners worry that this could lead to gender ambiguity that can create social crises and threaten national security.13 The popular nickname for self-entitled single male children due to pandering by doting parents is “Little Emperors”. This volume will examine some macro factors that have an impact on gender conceptualizations in China. First, China is a highly-centralized state with a one-party political system that is also an authoritarian strongman regime. Thus, policies (including those related to gender) from the center are promulgated centripetally to provinces, cities, towns, villages, and local areas effectively. Second, while China recognizes over 50 minority groups officially, it is still considered quite homogenous with a Han majority or a majority that recognizes itself as Han, with similar customs, traditional practices, and linguistic expressions. There is therefore a centripetal tendency towards more homogenous behavior and collective societal units and values underpinned by the socialist values of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Moreover, despite the imposition of communism/socialism as a political ideology, traditionalism and culture (especially Confucianism) still form a strong base for understanding and interpreting secondary sources. During the approximate 10-year tenure of Chinese President Hu Jintao, there were efforts to revive certain aspects of Confucianism that was complementary with the values of the CCP elites. Even in the arena of political ideology, the PRC aspires to develop “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. In the contemporary period, President Xi Jinping changed Deng Xiaoping’s political doctrine of pragmatically biding one’s time. Instead of lying low and practicing collective leadership while tolerating nomenklatura-like political culture, he adopted a robust and aggressive foreign policy combined with re-centralization of power under a Lennin-ist-like political structure Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 13  Ibid. 12 

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(alternatively described as a ‘strongman regime’) while wiping out endemic corruption and political rivals through a proactive anti-corruption campaign. Critics charged that it was targeted at his political rivals while supporters argued it cleansed the party from the rampant corruption of previous administrations. The end products of all these modifications to Marxism, Stalinism, and Soviet communism is an indigenous branch of “communism/socialism with Chinese characteristics” whereby authoritarian political structure is combined with market-like economy. All these factors invariably affect gender policies as well, conceptualizing them as productive units of a growing economy, units of consumption, socially engineered reduction (subsequently reversed due to the aging population challenge) of fertility, and now seeking the actualization of Maoist ideals of women holding up half the sky as contemporary highly-educated individuals with good careers. As mentioned, women are also increasingly exhibiting greater autonomy from dependence on men.

A Long March to Nationhood: Engineered Fertility and its Gender Impacts China’s modification of the One Child Policy is a milestone in gender social engineering in China. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen welcomes the lifting of limitations on human freedoms and individual rights and the penetration of the state into this private space of an individual but wants more recognition for reasoning and prudent family decision as factors that led to smaller nuclear families and fertility decline rather than authoritarian policies that interfered with human rights like the One Child Policy.14 It also led to other unintended side effects. The One Child policy (1979–2015) is now blamed for spoiling kids in China. Hotel worker and parent of a Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy” dated 2 November 2015 in New York Times (NYT) [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/opinion/amartya-sen-womens-progress-outdid-chinas-one-child-policy.html 14 

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primary one student Sheng pointed out, “The problem is that the family spoils the kid with love and care”, resulting in the “Little Emperor Syndrome” or “Prince Syndrome”, where overprotection, pandering, and overcompensation with praise have resulted in the only children’s laggard social skills, self-centeredness, and overdependence on parents.15 But the One Child Policy also has its advantages, including the proliferation of highly-educated women who received parental resources for education which otherwise might not have been given to them if they had competing male siblings. The new normal of a level playing field in Sen’s view was brought about by the growing emancipation of Chinese women through a rapid increase in education and career opportunities for them.16 In his view, the next prescriptive step is to re-conceptualize the preference for a male child in China in view of the achievements of Chinese women in all fields.17 There are, of course, extreme cases of emancipation in the 21st century. In 2007, Chinese tourism authorities searched for investors to construct a unique concept tourism attraction to build China’s inaugural “women’s town” where males are punished for disobedience (“women rule and men obey”) in the 2.3-square-kilometer Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, as explained by a tourism official: “Traditional[ly] women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism.”18 Interestingly, after 2010, the Chinese state believes it is now confronted with the crisis of managing the male child product of the One Child Policy. The male, in addition to or instead of the female, is now a vulnerable Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 16  Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 17  Ibid. 18  Reuters, “‘Women’s town’ to put men in their place” dated 26 April 2007 in Reuters [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.reuters.com/ article/us-china-womentown-odd/womens-town-to-put-men-in-their-placeidUSKUA64707120070426 15 

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gender in China. The male child in China needs a lot of help, according to some parents in support of state emphasis on masculinity. Chinese parents appear to be confused by gender fluidity emerging in China. This is a global trend that is beginning to make itself felt in China. Hotel worker Huang noted, “Nowadays, girls are becoming more like boys while the boys are becoming more like girls, introvert and shy,” retiree and grandfather Tian noted, “The boys are now less masculine than when I was of their age”, while another fellow retiree Huang felt they are now “more fragile emotionally and physically due to too much homework”.19 There appears to be a crisis in masculinity, quite different from the toxic masculinity popular in Western gender discourses where masculine values create difficulties for boys to be accepted into a new societal structure where more women are in charge and not afraid to make their views heard. Indeed, while the state feels that young boys need to be reoriented to be stronger individuals, simultaneously increasing educational opportunities for women in an ongoing process of emancipation has meant that Chinese women can now shine in all fields, including prestigious occupations like physicians. Some of these successful professionals have even attained iconic status in popular culture, giving them a new shine in the eyes of the masses. They have become the new folk heroes in gender conceptualization that dispel any traditional biasness or/and stereotype against women and may even be the unintentional moral suasion poster children in evangelizing the achievements of women’s liberation in China, particularly in popular cultural and social media trends. One example is social media celebrity, cosplayer, and full-time medical doctor Yuan Herong. She posted artistic photos of her athletic body structure (gaining for herself the nickname “angel with body of a devil”), winning a large online following due to her physical semblance with a popular video-game Street Fighter character named “Chun Li”.20 Chun Li is iconic Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 20  RT News, “‘Just a hobby’: Chinese female bodybuilder speaks on viral fame after naked snaps cause internet stir (VIDEO)” dated 11 November 2019 in RT News website [downloaded on 11 November 2019], available at https://www. rt.com/sport/473172-chinese-viral-bodybuilder-hobby/ 19 

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amongst video game players for her muscular thunder thighs in the game which allow her to kick and destroy much larger male opponents into submission during street fighting. Chun Li’s powerful thighs allow her to defeat macho masculine opponents (strongest masculine characters gathered from all over the world) knocking them out cold or crushing them with her kicks. She is the embodiment par excellence of powerful and aggressive female strength. Interestingly, as Chinese women like Yuan become physically stronger and even admired for their amazing physical strength, China is also ramping up its masculinity education for young boys to empower them by making them more physically active. The Chinese State’s efforts to reeducate young males to be masculine appear to resonate with some parents and has gained their support. 36-year-old entrepreneur Miao Li argued, “This course is necessary for boys…They are so over-protected by the family they don’t do physical activities anymore”.21 Parents appear increasingly concerned that their male children are weaker, effeminate, timid, and withdrawn. Such trends amongst males are not unique to China. In Japan, there is the rise of self-conscious men who are absorbed in looking good, wearing skinny jeans, paying attention to skincare, reading comic books, and engaging in other perceived meek activities while shunning relationships with women or preferring women who make all the decisions for them. They are associated with the meeker herbivorous species of animals, thus nicknamed “grass-eating”. The aggressive, career-minded, and powerful female counterparts who make all the decisions for them are known as “meat-eating carnivorous women”. There is also another species of men known as bishonen in Japan which refers to the beautiful effeminate/feminine young men in popular Japanese culture. Japan also has a thriving industry of male hosts who look after the needs of their generous-paying female clients. Another male trend is otaku-ism in Japan (later proliferating to the rest of the world) which refers to withdrawn (mainly male) geeks who are selfabsorbed, playing video games, reading comic books, and idolizing girl bands on their walls. South Korean popular culture is also celebrated for Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 21 

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feminine men and Chinese parents/the state believe(s) that these strains of Northeast Asian popular culture have influenced their young boys and is one of the contributing reasons behind the rise of effeminate/feminine young men in China. Interestingly, the importation of foreign ideas sometimes result in indigenization/localization by Chinese youths for Chinese consumption. For example, the term moe (no exact translation in English comes close, meaning ‘fresh-looking’, ‘young/budding’, ‘fresh-faced’, ‘youngish’) is usually applied to women in Japan but has been used on males in China. Some of these moe men are admired by mature Chinese women as “little fresh meat” (xiaoxianrou). Some Chinese women, it seems, are also keen on a more masculine approach to their physicality, especially through an interest in physical sports. Despite her professional-looking online persona and portfolio, Chinese doctor/cosplayer/bodybuilder Yuan mentioned that she was only a hobbyist in the area of bodybuilding who works out regularly with a professional trainer and has no plans to become a professional sports star.22 Yuan is the literal embodiment of the successes in China’s provision of education opportunities for women. She is seen as having it all: a successful medical career, social status as a professional in a prestigious job, fame as a popular cultural icon, a perfect-looking physique and appearance, an enviable healthy lifestyle, and humility in not touting her success unnecessarily. She is the quintessential showcase new-age Chinese woman, taking up the mantle of female power and self-driven achievements without any hard-selling promotion from state propaganda and/or heavy-handed socialist prescriptions. In analyzing the unintended achievements of state provision of educational opportunities for women, Sen argues that a self-reflection of the One Child Policy is needed and due credit has to be given to the Chinese government for turning around the challenge of high fertility23 at a time when there was widespread poverty immense social challenges. The One Child Policy was announced in the late 1970s. After two major wars RT News, “‘Just a hobby’: Chinese female bodybuilder speaks on viral fame after naked snaps cause internet stir (VIDEO)”. 23  Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 22 

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against the Japanese (Manchurian Annexation and Shanghai Invasion), two Cold War battles fought against the Americans (Koreans and Vietnam Wars), and one brief war with the Soviet Union (1969), China’s resources were exhausted. Not forgetting also the years of civil war that ended in 1949 and two failed major Communist ideological campaigns (Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution). China was thus experiencing great poverty, disorder, disorientation, backwardness, economic damage, and military fatigue. It was in this context that paramount leader Deng Xiaoping launched his economic reforms in 1978. In 1980, to concentrate limited Chinese economic resources on its population per person, the Chinese government decided to slow down population growth.

Gender Rights It was in this context that China launched its One Child Policy to socially engineer China via government policy for the purpose of economic recovery and development. China was in fact not the only East Asian country to have birth control policies. For instance, Japan encouraged its young couples to have fewer kids in the 1960s and Singapore had its ‘Stop at Two’ policy, all deemed necessary in the prevailing economic context of that era. However, China probably went the furthest by instituting a legal restriction of only one child (with allowance for more children for farmers/peasants in the countryside who needed more manpower). Population growth needed to be controlled in the interest of conserving limited resources for the population. The belief was that greater economic growth for a smaller population would lead to a higher quality of life for everyone. The One Child Policy had an immediate effect on girls born in the 1980s after it was implemented in 1980. Women enjoyed more educational opportunities and emancipation. It produced new-age women who could follow their dreams, strive for equality, and even surpass men in power and strength. Born in 1985 and a Xuzhou Jiangsu native, Mou Cong is representative of this new powerful breed of women with her beauty: shiny tanned skin, alluring smile, long black hair, jacked body, and an overall glowing

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fitness model appearance (granting her the moniker of “prettiest bodybuilder” by Chinese state media) but she also has “Hulk-like” strength and power.24 She is the embodiment of the One Child Policy’s outcome, a woman with a beautiful physique, admired by men and women, and successful in sports, business, and social life because of opportunities she enjoyed as an only child and recipient of resources from her parents and other members of the extended family. China was not the only East Asian country that implemented pronatalist policies. Other state-driven East Asian economies were keen to experience accelerated growth while restricting population growth so that more economic resources could be allocated to every individual participating in nation building. Consequently, when such policies were implemented in these East Asian countries, they had the dramatic effect of slowing down population growth. The One Child Policy was introduced in 1980 in China, one year before the economic reforms initiated by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Sen noted the Chinese fertility rate was already declining quickly from 1968 to 1978 from an average of 5.87 births per female Chinese in 1968 to 2.98 in 1978 so the strongly enforced One Child Policy accelerated that process without a cliff-like drop in the curve, only a continuity of the declining trend from 2.98 in 1978 to 1.67 in 2015.25 The One Child Policy also had an unintended consequence, it emancipated women, giving more of them educational opportunities since families which did not have a male child concentrated all their resources on helping their only daughter succeed. Because Chinese women are now more highly educated and accomplished, some career women who have climbed to the top of the academic, social, and career ladders have had to downplay their achievements in order not to intimidate men in the dating game. The One Child Policy has created a new breed of superwomen who You, Tracy, “Face of an angel, body of the Hulk: Meet the fitness champion who’s dubbed ‘the prettiest bodybuilder’” dated 13 March 2017 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-4309176/Meet-fitness-guru-dubbed-prettiest-bodybuilder.html 25  Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 24 

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are not yet accommodated within conservative male-oriented Chinese society. June Ding is a good example. A valedictorian from Yale university who trained at a Manhattan law firm, she is sociable, well-spoken, and honed in social skills; whilst dating Chinese men, she cultivates the image of a virgin, wearing conventional sweaters and scarfs instead of her usual cleavage-revealing low cut tops and is happy to let her male date talk to his delight while pretending to be consumed with what he says in order to massage his ego.26 Greater education opportunities in China and jobs for young females progressed through years of change without interruptions as the lives of childbearing women untangled themselves from domestic duties. Sen argues that Chinese mass education and health policies should be given more credit and be learning references for other countries, rather than the tough policy of one child alone, especially since the policy upset the lives of many young couples and has had ambiguous impact on population growth in Sen’s view.27 Indeed, the One Child Policy was eventually abolished in 2015. With the end of the One Child Policy, the Chinese state had begun to focus on how to increase fertility rates in its population. This time, young males have been the targets of re-education to nudge them toward dating, relationships, marriage, and procreation once more. Education that empowers and emancipates women is now being tweaked to empower male masculinity as well. Professor of Anthropology Tiantian Zheng at State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland argued that the Chinese state is now making “masculinity” an important issue in the national educational policy and may institute policies of establishing allboys middle schools, manuals for masculinizing male children, specialist psychology clinics, and shaping mass media narratives.28

Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands” dated 20 April 2020 in Financial Review [downloaded on 20 April 2020], available at https://www.afr.com/world/asia/why-chinas-women-are-feigningsubservience-to-win-husbands-20180418-h0ywtf 27  Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 28  Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 26 

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Therefore, given the social engineering efforts for empowering both boys and girls, it can be argued that reasoning, moral suasion, state agendas, and coercion have been important in steering the state’s gender policies. These policies were not cast in stone but were adaptive and malleable to external factors and global trends consistently in the state’s interests. Sen argues the idea of “reasoning” in birth control and family size decisions is more important than coercive policies which resulted in one of the world’s worst record in selective abortion of female fetuses (85 girls born per 100 male births compared to 95 in other countries); in addition, laws to control gender-selection abortions were not also useful in other countries.29 Indeed, in accordance with Sen’s view, a gender revolution had already been taking place in China with higher educational standards for women and socialist emancipation (intentionally or unintended). There is also another powerful force of Westernization on the horizon. Westerneducated Chinese women like June Ding desire more than a life of wifely devotion baby-making and child care. Rejecting pragmatic notions of intercourse and marriage, Ding wants to avoid a relationship with a “shake-and-bake” spouse where a social contract is fulfilled through marriage and, using a stereotypical analogy, the wife starts baking for their kids in accordance with conventional notions of the social ritual of marriage.30 This was the kind of logical natural reasoning that women who were exposed to Western ideas and concepts about gender had acquired in not wanting to be boxed into a pre-determined social mold. In Sen’s view, “active public reasoning”, understanding of gender equity, and sustained women empowerment can avoid dehumanizing treatment of women and reverse traditionally male-centered Confucian societies like South Korea (also known as the Republic of Korea, ROK) that used to have a low ratio of girls to boys at the time of birth.31 But, there is also growing criticisms of Korean influence on normative Chinese Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 30  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 31  Sen, Amartya, “Amartya Sen: Women’s Progress Outdid China’s One-Child Policy”. 29 

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gender behavior. Critics of the perceived ‘feminine’ male symptoms also blamed foreign influence on their children. They are unhappy with Chinese youths’ infatuation with feminine Korean and Japanese pop idols.32 These critics include the flower boys and minams of South Korea and the bishonen and grass-eating men of Japan in their line of criticism. Conventional notions of gender, however, still prefer to focus on inequalities faced by women rather than the Chinese state’s anxieties of the feminization of men. In addition to patriarchy and power structures, some analysts and observers like Associate Professor Eileen Otis (University of Oregon) see the general concept of societal inequality as the cause of women’s gender inequality. China’s landmark recognition of women’s rights took place in 1995 when China hosted the 4th World Conference on Women and came up with the Beijing Platform for Action that prescribes policies to reach gender parity globally. The momentum for such declaration of women’s rights was sustained right through 2015 when the former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon pointed out that women are not just victims but are agents of progress and change at the 59th meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.33 Certainly, no other countries have experienced the severe degree of social changes like in China. But within the dislocations and changes, some argue there are high degrees of continuity as well. In feudal China, the family was the basic unit of society and each atomized individual had a space in the pecking order and acted out their functional role. The role of traditional marriage had first and foremost been the pragmatic production of an offspring for the continuity of family fortune and name and some argued that, even in the Mao’s socialist China, work unit (danwei) supervisors took over the role of matchmakers.34 Thus, the danwei simply took over the role from the parental matchmaking in socialist China.

Baculinao, Eric, “China tackles ‘masculinity crisis,’ tries to stop ‘effeminate’ boys”. 33  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights” dated 19 March 2015 in The Conversation [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https:// theconversation.com/inequality-in-china-and-the-impact-on-womens-rights-38744 34  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 32 

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Some argue, however, that the growing income gap in China is making the authorities cautious about any form of activism even in the name of gender rights. On 8 March 2015, International Women’s Day, law enforcement officers in China arrested five gender rights advocates who wanted to increase public awareness of sexual harassment on public trains and buses.35 Another example is reporter Chai Jing’s documentary about the environment damage of China’s first-tier cities which reflected Chinese mothers’ concerns but was censored by the authorities.36 Parents and authorities alike are worried about the possibility of “leftover women” (shengnu) in China, if aggressive feminism, “Western” liberation ideas and female activism continues unabated. For example, June Ding’s parents tutored their Yale-educated daughter on how to appear more attractive to Chinese men in accordance with traditional Chinese customs, and gave her tips on dating Chinese men. Ding’s mother exhorted, “Pay attention to your laugh!” and told her to withhold outbursts of amusement in the presence of Chinese men.37 Her father (a highly-educated varsity scholar) instructed his daughter to stay silent during the date and “smile like the Mona Lisa” while avoiding spirited expressions to prevent initial impressions of perceived negative qualities of female assertiveness, worldliness, and charisma.38 There is fear that the ways of female liberation, Western cultivation of gender equality, encouragement of female assertiveness, and political activism may prove to be too dangerous a cocktail of social disruption for the authorities. The state-led Women’s Federation pushed back with the reminder for Chinese women that if successful, professional, and/or career women were not careful, they could be “leftover women” (shengnu) who cannot get married and miss out on having children if they do not try to do so by their mid-20s.39 The social ritual of dating appears to be influenced by the ticking biological clock for baby-making as well. The concept and idea of Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. Ibid. 37  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 38  Ibid. 39  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. 35  36 

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romance and sexual attraction still appears to be rather novel in Chinese society. Some observers opine that self-selection of a lifetime partnership is a fresh concept and the social ritual of dating is still somewhat novel.40 Younger Chinese women have discovered that the male dates they meet do not seem to be interested in relationship-building but treat dating as targeted hunts for marriage material, with women who are shy, delicate, and mother-material being most popular.41 The official Chinese narrative/discourse of suzhi (“quality”) highlights an ideal mother prioritizing the household duties like childrearing over career (the role of men is absent in the narrative) while regulations made it difficult for city-dwelling women to get claims to property value in divorce (according to Leta Hong Fincher’s Leftover Women) and rural women lack access to land rights.42 Yet at the same time, there is a growing crop of women who are choosing to hit pause on a high-powered career in order to get married and settle down. Some have even resigned from their high-powered jobs in the West and returned home for family reasons like parent or child care. Interestingly, even career women like Yale-trained June Ding eventually feel the pull of home and return to China. Despite having a successful career and education in the United States of America, Ding left her jobs, and the primary reason for many female Chinese returnees like June Ding is the desire to look after their elderly parents (incidentally a traditional Confucian quality of filial piety) which thereby triggers another homebound mission — marriage to settle down in China.43 Most Chinese women work in jobs that still pay women unequally to men. Associate Professor Eileen Otis argues, in addition to the wage gap between men and women, women are funneled into low-paying, lowsocial class consumer service-oriented occupations in which they are required to exhibit the fragile femininity that gave them these positions in Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 41  Ibid. 42  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. 43  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 40 

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the first place.44 Women have to legally retire between ages 50 and 55, whereas men’s retirement age is 60.45 The socialist revolution with its centralized government and power is often well-known for building utopian mega-projects. One can expect them to do the same for managing a graying society but, in most parts of China, the other issue that Chinese women are still confronting is the need for equal access to careers, resources, education, and social standing. This unequal status is not universally perceived in the same way all across China. As briefly mentioned earlier, in Chongqing, it appears women traditionally play a dominant role in the marriage and so a “woman’s town” in that city (with the slogan “women never make mistakes and men can never refuse women’s requests”) had opened up for property investments and female tourism.46 The town’s regulations allows all women visitors/ tourists/investors to make decisions in shopping and buying properties, and to punish any disobedient man through “kneeling on an uneven board”, or washing dishes in a restaurant.47 For most of the country, however, Professor Otis argues that all the above mentioned restrictions on the role of women represents a backlash on the original equalizing power of socialism. In the past, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s revolution brought about an agenda of equality between the genders and, in the 1950s, the system introduced females into the workforce, got rid of foot-binding traditions, elevated female literacy, and the One Child Policy released more resources for families to bring up their only children which included daughters.48 In other words, it made great advancements for women’s rights. Twenty-first century “socialism with Chinese characteristics” also allowed influential Western media imagery to enter China when it did not threaten the state’s hold on power. Western images of women have indeed influenced Chinese women. Yang Ling, a Chinese woman who is a fan of the annual Victoria’s Secret runway program and Gigi Hadid (she converted after watching Hadid walk on the runway in 2015), says, “She is

Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. Ibid. 46  Reuters, ““Women’s town” to put men in their place”. 47  Ibid. 48  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. 44  45 

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labeled as a curvy model, but I don’t think so…Gigi has the perfect body shape. The plain and skinny physique does not fit today’s new aesthetics. I like her sculpted body shape with beautiful muscles — a reflection of a healthier lifestyle”.49 Hadid has motivated Yang to exercise to feel good by following Victorian Secret’s “Devil’s Training” method so she can be runway-fit.50 Yang’s story was featured in the Chinese Communist Party’s nationalistic state media, the Global Times, which has become China’s de facto conservative propaganda defender of Chinese values and state ideologies. Nevertheless, to reverse growing trends of Westernization and facilitate masculinization of Chinese young men, the CCP started to implement conservative pushbacks starting from 2015. They reversed eagerness for the 1950 Marriage Law offering the right to divorce after wives were perceived to have excessively attempted to divorce their husbands; men continued to lead their households, and Confucianism (including their institutes) has been re-utilized for social-engineering a harmonious society.51 There appears to be a realization that Chinese traditions, urbanization, and modernization are causing social disruptions in Chinese society. The Confucian village and rural social order and organizations have been disrupted by numerous external socio-political events. Social dislocations in China have disrupted traditional modes of social relations between men and women. In the past, marriages took place between colleagues, peasants, and rural folks in the same village, district, towns, and neighborhoods.52 But, the dislocations of war and the revolutions in the 20th century have scattered this social sedimentation and also created a large roving population of migrant workers. Thus, hometown ties that bind, including those essential for social and

Li, Ying, “Chinese women share their journey of training like VS angel Gigi Hadid and other famous lingerie models” dated 6 December 2016 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/1022184.shtml 50  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. 51  Li, Ying, “Chinese women share their journey of training like VS angel Gigi Hadid and other famous lingerie models”. 52  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 49 

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gender relationships, were dismantled and disrupted.53 The authorities also trained their sights on what they may perceived as unconventional, radical, or extremist ideas. In dealing with social activism from vocal feminists in academic and government positions like Li Yinhe (from the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, CASS) who disclosed that she has a transsexual partner, the state taps into a complex grassroots network to dissipate social discontent or/and negotiate them away (“bargained authoritarianism”) before they break out into the open.54 Aside from state mechanisms for fostering social harmony, there are other social forces that can construct and keep gender rights in check. The authorities also seem to fear that Chinese mothers’ focus on a clean environment may combine with anti-sexual harassment advocacy, thus becoming a powerful force of political solidarity to challenge the CCP. The Chinese government is thus promoting its own brand of female advocacy cum model feminism through state-led women’s groups. In September 2019, the All-China Women’s Federation praised Ma Xu. She was commended as having a “most beautiful families”, underlining the virtues of Ma as China’s pioneering female paratrooper who helped construct China’s airborne troops, participated in medical research related to paratroopers in her post-retirement days, and accumulated savings through frugality to donate a princely amount of 10 million yuan (US$1.41 million) to her hometown.55 Thereafter, Ma’s family became an exemplary model for others to emulate. For the research on Chinese women’s narratives on the subject matter, this volume relied on interpretive work on state-owned media secondary sources due to practical difficulties in getting informants (especially those from the civil service and the military) and lockdown on travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Western sources and Chinese state-owned media were consulted to introduce some objectivity in informant materials from secondary sources. Chinese state-owned media was consulted to get Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 54  Otis, Eileen, “Inequality in China and the impact on women’s rights”. 55  Xinhua, “China honors two “most beautiful families” dated 9 September 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 9 September 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-09/09/c_138378392.htm 53 

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an idea of official narratives presented in information dissemination and propaganda from the authorities. I studied a number of secondary sources to examine views on women’s economic status and social construction and contextualize them in the discussions found in the literature review. Quantitative figures on China’s progress in women’s rights and employment situation were provided in the earlier sections of this volume. There are also sensitivities in the subject matter pertaining to civil society, women’s rights, feminism, and protests/resistance that make it practically difficult to access relevant data and/or pose certain questions to informants. Thus, this research focuses on secondary literature from a variety of sources including those of the liberal Western media as well as Chinese state media sources towards the aim of providing a multi-perspective overview of women’s economic status and social construction in China. However, there are limitations. As China is a sub-continental country, there is a great diversity in the women drawn from different regions. The informants chosen from secondary literature represent some aspects of this diversity (e.g., minorities, Muslim, middle class, first-tier city, provincial, lower-tier city, working, and entrepreneurial women) but this section on informants does not pretend to be comprehensive and/or representative of all women in China. It is a qualitative selection of anecdotes from a wide spectrum of Chinese women to reflect the diversity of ideas by women with regards to their lifestyles, careers, and future/current aspirations. Male voices are also not included, other than the featured women’s narratives of their male relatives, friends, siblings, or spouses. There is no lack of material on female voices and opinions coming out of China and the volume includes women’s opinions stated in both Western liberal media as well as Chinese state-owned media for some measure of objectivity.

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Chapter Two

Confucianism, Traditionalism, and Patriarchy Patriarchy in China was constructed and systematically theorized into a philosophy, canon, and religion through Confucianism. Confucianism provided for a harmonious social order and legitimized the rule of the sovereign and his control over society. In terms of patriarchy in Chinese society, the works of Maria Cheung, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen is instructive. They zoomed in on the superlatives, looking at the most marginalized and poorest gender class or group in Chinese society. Maria Cheung and her co-authors argue that, between rural and urban China, rural females have had the lowest social/financial status in society since an early stage in the People’s Republic — late 1950s and 1960s when men in the communes earned more than rural women despite theoretical equality in the revolution and doing the same amount of work.1 This abovementioned economic marginalization was reinforced by traditionalism in Confucian Chinese society. Confucianism constructed a male patriarchy using many forms of ideological and Cheung, Maria, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen, “Women and Patriarchy in Rural China” in Women in Patriarchal Society in the University of Manitoba website [downloaded on 8 May 2020], available at https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/social_ work/media/Sarkar_--_Women_in_Patriarchal_Society.pdf, p. 254. 1 

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social controls. Subordination was not only found in the gender sphere but could be found in all aspects of life and civilization in order to bring about a harmonious society. In terms of gender relations, the Confucian ideology constructed a patriarchy and economically defined business succession as mostly along a patriarchal line. This allowed economic power to be retained by the eldest son in the household and solely along the male lineage (economic patriarchy). Women were expected to behave as xianqi liangmu (virtuous wife and wise mother) which was also the prevalent thinking in pre-war Japan (a concept known as ryosai kenbo in Japanese). For the Chinese authorities, the family clan is the most important unit in Chinese society. The patriarchal order is an integral part of that family unit system. However, with greater emancipation, Chinese women are breaking this Confucian order with tremendous achievements. The pioneering Chinese female world champion in Arnold Amateur bodybuilding competition (figure D class/Amateur Overall Figure competition) is Mou Cong. Her fans (male and female) worship her for her “doll face”, social media-based fitness modelling, and successful management of her own fitness studio in cosmopolitan Shanghai.2 She has a mission to change the Asian stereotype that women are “delicate and are not good at growing muscles”.3 Mou is a new breed of Chinese superwomen who are smashing the barriers of male patriarchy in China. Her life quest is far from the traditional ‘virtuous wife and wise mother’ role expected of Chinese women. Chinese women’s march towards auto­nomy, independence from men, and self-centric pursuit of dreams and life goals is in direct contradiction with Confucianism. Many self-driven Chinese women show fiercely individualistic You, Tracy, “Face of an angel, body of the Hulk: Meet the fitness champion who’s dubbed ‘the prettiest bodybuilder’’dated 13 March 2017 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-4309176/Meet-fitness-guru-dubbed-prettiest-bodybuilder.html 3  Ibid. 2 

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behavior, an antithesis to the collectivism of Confucianism. Champion of the 2016 International Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo (IWF) bikini division 34-year-old Jennifer Zhang explained how training to develop muscles and fitness and eventually becoming a champion was entirely a self-actualization process (by herself and for herself, interest-driven and self-motivated): “I started at a gym…I trained every day and started to get the benefits from the training. I built up my body, felt good and had a good shape. Last year my trainer asked me if I was interested in joining this competition and I thought ‘why not?’”4 She is living for her own passion and not in the name of Confucian familial collectivist consciousness. For these women, in order to look beautiful and become physically fit (both individualistic goals), great sacrifices have to be made. These include months of intense training, dehydration and removal of body moisture days before a competition to achieve taut skin and popped veins, and fasting during festive seasons like the Chinese New Year, when everyone else is enjoying delicious food and alcohol.5 Such self-determined lives are a far cry from the lives of women in traditional feudal Chinese society. Traditionally, families without sons died out economically and daughters/wives were dependents of the husbands or/and considered as family chattel rather than autonomous legal entities.6 Women were also required to observe piety to their fathers before marriage, loyalty to their husbands after marriage, and deference to their sons if/when they became widowed.7 It is worthwhile to note that such traditional notions of an Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China” dated 23 April 2016 in Thatsmag [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www. thatsmags.com/china/post/13273/bikinis-bronzer-and-bodybuilding-in-china 5  Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. 6  Cheung, Maria, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen, “Women and Patriarchy in Rural China”, p. 236. 7  Ibid. 4 

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obedient woman is changing in China as more and more make strides in their quest to seek equality and break the gender ceiling. In fact, there are stories of role reversal in terms of who runs the household as the dominant entity in the Chinese family. There are unusual and quirky stories in the Chinese press of women who are the more aggressive and stronger half of a married couple. There are even bizarre stories of women beating up their husbands. For example, Chongqing Evening News reported a Chinese husband who signed a contract in front of his in-laws that obliges his gongfutrained (Chinese martial arts) wife to stay with her own parents for three days if she attacks him and for the in-laws to protect his safety and rights, although he remained attracted to her “strong and independent temperament”.8 BBC News ran an article that studied the hypothetical scenario of women becoming stronger than men. The studies in that article quoted Jackson Katz, a writer, academic, and president of MVP Strategies who designs lessons on gender violence prevention. He noted that if women were physically stronger, they would immediately be less subjected to male harassment, violence, and rape, but they would also be more violent: 17–45% of lesbians cited physical abuse by a female partner and 19% of heterosexual men were assaulted by their female partners at least once.9 While the gongfu wife-meek husband pair-up in Chongqing may be an exceptional case, Chinese society is now gradually getting used to having physically strong women, not just amongst the professional Moore, Malcolm, “Chinese husband allows wife to attack him once a week” dated 2 December 2009 in The Telegraph [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6703629/ Chinese-husband-allows-wife-to-attack-him-once-a-week.html 9  Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?” dated 30 October 2017 in BBC News [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https:// www.bbc.com/future/article/20171027-what-if-women-were-physicallystronger-than-men 8 

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Confucianism, Traditionalism, and Patriarchy

sportswomen but regular gym rats and fitness buffs amongst ordinary young Chinese women (especially in urban areas). Bloggers like Cass Lin who operates the WeChat public space Fitnessforu is part of a growing army of fitness lovers who volunteered to translate United States-United Kingdom fitness programs for sharing on Chinese social media, including Victoria’s Secret routines and ballet physical training info on zhihu.com (Chinese version of Quora), encouraged by “likes” public support in her social media account: I enjoy it [ballet] because I feel I am beautiful while practicing it… Ballet is elegant, and a lot of the movements are helpful in adjusting one’s balance, body sculpting, and improving one’s temperament.10

Some Chinese men have difficulties accepting a muscular female body shape. Tu Mengli’s record-breaking feat as the youngest female bodybuilding champion in China sparked off a major debate on Weibo (Chinese social media). Users were split on their views of Tu’s muscular physique, but there was universal appreciation for her strenuous training regime and her dedication and consistency in training to sculpt her body (optimally proportioned and symmetrical).11 As one user quipped on Weibo, “As a man I can’t appreciate her beauty, but I respect her pride, and she is indeed amazing”.12 The emergence of physically stronger women mean Chinese men may also have to adapt to new ways of communication and treating Chinese women with the due respect Li, Ying, “Chinese women share their journey of training like VS angel Gigi Hadid and other famous lingerie models” dated 6 December 2016 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/1022184.shtml 11  Li, Yezi, “20-year-old becomes youngest Chinese bodybuilding champion” dated 25 May 2017 in CGTN [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d4d6a4d7841444e/share_p.html 12  Ibid. 10 

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they deserve. In the most extreme cases, the physically weaker husband featured in Chongqing Evening News tolerated the physical blows from his wife by keeping mum during arguments her, but sometimes even he wanted to stand his ground, suffering “bruises and scars all over” and a black eye as a consequence of his courage.13 Thus, he had to resort to legal means to protect his rights in the marriage. This Chongqing man was fighting back in his own way. Traditionally, the female role in Confucian societies was restricted domestically to that of an heir provider and nurturer of children, particularly the male child. Socialism could not completely eliminate all traces of Confucianism although revolutionary fervor substantially and systematically eliminated what it called ‘feudalism’ and women’s statuses were uplifted by socialism/communist revolution. Females enjoyed a far higher status in socialist China than at any time in its past (from feudalism to early modernity). Nevertheless, remnants of Confucian influence remained as many family businesses (both mainland and overseas Chinese) continue to be succeeded by male heirs in accordance with traditional practices. This tradition holds even though contemporary Chinese women are just as educated as their male counterparts. There are no categories left in which men can still prove that they are superior to women in order to justify the tradition/custom of male inheritance. Even in the traditional category of physical strength, some Chinese women have proven stronger than most men. This is certainly the case in the most Westernized region of China: Hong Kong. The territory’s strong women, known as gangnü, are quintessential examples of powerful and tough Chinese women. It is therefore not surprising that the Hong Kongers have a female Chief Executive Carrie Lam (nicknamed ‘laima’ in Cantonese or ‘nanny’). For example, Kay Kay Keung, a founder of Trybe Studio in Hong Kong’s Wong Chuk Hang district, was inspired to start lifting weights by following her Moore, Malcolm, “Chinese husband allows wife to attack him once a week”.

13 

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elder brother to the gym at age 12.14 She subsequently blossomed into a competitive sportswoman who swims, runs, and plays lacrosse and American football, making her physically stronger than many males, competing with boys in running and football.15 Keung has her counterparts on the mainland. As previously mentioned, Mou Cong is a fitness expert, studio owner, model, bodybuilding champion, social media sensation, and boxing professional. She is well-known for her boxing and fighting techniques with three years of mixed martial arts (MMA) training.16 She livestreams her awe-inspiring boxing techniques, frequently uploads her lifestyle updates on Chinese social media platforms, and is keen to send the message to other women: “Asian women don’t have any disadvantages in terms of physique. What lag behind are our ideas in bodybuilding and our training methods.”17 Two-time IWF national champion Lulu Zhu is another mainland Chinese example of female athletes who want to pass on their knowledge to other women. Even when she is not competing, she attends bodybuilding events as a spectator and to meet up with friends. Zhu is so absorbed with her strength-training that she gave up her deskbound occupation at a jewelry firm before becoming a full-time personal trainer to help women achieve their fitness goals: I was going to the gym quite regularly, and I had some friends who said, ‘come and try a competition…I started to like fitness more than luxury things — it’s more valuable. So, I quit, and now Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles” dated 14 October 2017 in South China Morning Post (SCMP) [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.scmp.com/ lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2115080/three-hong-kong-women-weightlifterswho-arent-shy-about 15  Ibid. 16  You, Tracy, “Face of an angel, body of the Hulk: Meet the fitness champion who’s dubbed ‘the prettiest bodybuilder’”. 17  Ibid. 14 

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I work in fitness full time…I do personal training at the same time. I have some female clients whom I help to achieve their goals and I’m also a master trainer, which means I give classes to personal trainers to help them get certified.18

Like Keung, Mou and Zhu are pushing the envelope of developing powerful muscular physique, displaying power and aggression, and breaking any stereotypical mold of living just to produce male heir. They are both physically stronger than many men and are founders of successful businesses, breaking any ideas that businesses are sustained only through male inheritance. Socialism with “Chinese characteristics”, along with opening up and the influx of Western influences of female emancipation and women’s rights, as well as free market capitalism, has forged a new corps of women who are fiercely independent and live for themselves. They are free from the shackles of feudalistic conceptions of a rigid social hierarchy and fully embrace the self-centered pursuit of capitalistic successes and self-actualization for urbanite Chinese women. Productive Forces and Middle-Class Formation With economic reforms starting from 1978, there was de-collectivization. Agricultural output went back to the family unit, the labor of women became less visible as they could not be tracked directly by the state as it had been in a collective farm, and the more recent migration of rural men to urban cities for work changed gender relations in the family.19 When the husbands were away from the family, the wives assumed control of household finances, funded by the Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. Cheung, Maria, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen, “Women and Patriarchy in Rural China”, p. 237. 18  19 

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husbands’ remittances.20 Some of them also tended the fields, resulting in the feminization of Chinese agricultural industry, thus there has been a shift of power to women in the rural community in these aspects.21 The prospects of marrying up socially (including marriage with women from cities) for these rural men were low. 30–40 million men nicknamed guanggun or “bare branches” continue to live in poor villages, taking care of inherited farmlands, and unable to afford urban apartments/automobiles and meet women’s expectations for marriage and reproduction (known in China as “offshoots”) while the smaller number of women roamed the lands for better prospects.22 Marrying rural women is probably the best option for many of these “bare branches” men. While the economic power and productive contributions of rural women has increased over the years, their legal status still lag behind their urban sisters as rural women’s rights are hampered by patriarchal norms over land contracting. They possess only rights of maintenance (as daughters in their natal home and wives considered as their husbands’ property, without rights to claim land assets).23 Village authorities are slow to transfer land rights to divorced women or women who married into other villages (their parents’ properties were taken away from them).24 These inequities may all change in the future as the status of women rises in China. Chinese state information sources deny any injustice against women’s rights. Instead, in September 2019, there was a Cheung, Maria, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen, “Women and Patriarchy in Rural China”, p. 237. 21  Ibid. 22  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands” dated 20 April 2020 in Financial Review [downloaded on 20 April 2020], available at https://www.afr.com/world/asia/why-chinas-women-are-feigningsubservience-to-win-husbands-20180418-h0ywtf 23  Cheung, Maria, Meng Liu, and Toula Henonen, “Women and Patriarchy in Rural China”, p. 239. 24  Ibid. 20 

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major attempt to explain the government’s achievements in gender rights for women. In terms of policymaking, the Chinese government noted that they have strengthened the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) guide for women’s work, enacted/upgraded rights protection law in the National People’s Congress (NPC), actualized mechanisms for the cause of women in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, streamlined work systems for effective implementation of national gender equality policies, and augmented Women’s Federation as an intermediary between the CPC, the state, and all Chinese women.25 Socially, the situation for women appears to lag behind that of legislative protection. The social expectations for middle-class women to get married remains prevalent in China. To get a firsthand account of the association of middle-class women with the idea of marriage, researchers can visit People’s Park, a public park located centrally in Shanghai where, since June 2005, a section of the park becomes a bazaar and location for middle-aged parentalinitiated matchmaking activities on weekends and public holidays.26 Besides public park matchmaking, there are other options and sources of external pressures for motivating marriages. There is tremendous peer pressure to get married. They come from nosey relatives/neighbors, parental nagging, and repeated presentation by parents with lists of prospective mates.27 In the most extreme cases, Xinhua, “Women’s cause remains high priority, actively promoted in China: white paper” dated 19 September 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 19 September 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/201909/19/c_138404634.htm 26  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class families in Contemporary China” dated 23 June 2016 in University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute/ The Asia Dialogue website [downloaded on 8 May 2020], available at https:// theasiadialogue.com/2016/06/23/when-are-you-going-to-get-marriedparental-matchmaking-and-middle-class-families-in-contemporary-china/ 27  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 25 

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some families use disinheritance and parentally-rushed marriages (with the idea that, even if it ends in divorce it is still better than staying single) as tools to pressurize women to get married, leading to equally extreme countermeasures on the part of single women like hiring rental boyfriends to mitigate these pressures.28 All of this socially engineered mating activity initiated by parents is observed with great interest by sociologists, anthropologists, and other researchers. One such academic observer is Zhang Jun, Research Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong (also known as Hong Kong University or HKU). In People’s Park, parents write down their university-educated children’s biodata like age, height, and salary on paper and then clip them with their offspring’s photographs to strings hanging from branches of trees, other plants in that space, or spread them out on the floor.29 Then they wait for other park visitors to walk past and ask about the individuals in the photos.30 Due to the only child syndrome, parental expectations on their children, whether male or female, is extraordinary.31 Many of these grown-up children thus forgo aspirations to fulfil those expectations, especially when it comes to procreation, since they represent the ‘only hope’ for their parents in perpetuation of family name and parental elderly care.32 Like in Shanghai, these matchmaking activity corners (xiangqinjiao) have sprouted up in other cities; parents all over China with daughters of marriageable age are worrying about helping their

Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 29  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 30  Ibid. 31  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 32  Ibid. 28 

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daughters (less so for sons) get married.33 Despite the fact that there are more men than women in the country, men in every demographic segment are more likely to remain single.34 At the same time, less women are getting married. Approximately 7% of women between 30 and 35 years old in China are single in 2019, more than 10 times the case in 1990.35 In addition, Chinese women are a lot more independent and less reliant on Chinese men/boyfriends/husbands, possessing far more economic power and higher educational qualifications than before. There is certainly a desire amongst Chinese women to depend less on men. Thus, Chinese women’s standards for a marriageable man are pegged very high. Even in terms of physical strength, Chinese women want to depend more on themselves. Chinese women’s fascination with sports has an element of female emancipation, driving them to set targets to be stronger and more muscular. Encouraged by popular culture and social media trends, Hong Kong powerlifter Stephanie Tsui wants to be stronger (rather than lighter), buffer, and less dependent on men, regardless of outgrowing normal female sizes in clothing (i.e., aesthetics is not a concern at all): “It’s very empowering. You do not have to rely on men to help you carry things”.36 The graduate women who are marketed in the corners of Shanghai’s People’s Park are usually between their mid-20s to late 30s, and work as executives, public officials or professionals, and researchers.37 As Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 34  Ibid. 35  People’s Daily Online, “Marriage rate in China hits record low as more people get married later” dated 15 July 2019 in People’s Daily Online [downloaded on 15 July 2019], available at http://en.people.cn/n3/2019/0715/c90000-9597341. html 36  Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles”. 37  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 33 

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established members of China’s new middle class, they are products of the One Child Policy who have received tremendous amounts of resources from their parents and parental attention when they were growing up.38 Chinese women may be considered “leftover sheng nu ( 剩女)” beyond a certain age. In rural areas, the ‘expiry age’ is 25 while in metropolitan cities, it is 30 years old; so parents track their children’s marriage prospects closely (even if arranged marriages are no longer normative), conceptualizing marriage as a rite of adulthood, (irrespective of academic/career achievements) and a route to procreation (since extramarital pregnancies are illegal in most provincial systems).39 The economic reforms that started in 1978 also exerted influences on women, relieving them of the pressure to get married. Market reforms under Deng Xiaoping and the socialist revolution in introducing mass education for young Chinese women allowed them to pursue career advancement and adopt lifestyles adjusted to their preferences, talents, and economic status. At the same time, they tend to marry later or not get married at all.40 Approximately 6% of women between 30 and 34 years old in China were unmarried in 2015, 10 times higher than in 1990.41 The pressure to get married may translate to women making extreme arrangements to stay married. For example, financial accommodations when acquiring a home for her family or tolerating abuses in order to keep the marriage going. Regardless, there is a growing number of 30–34-yearold unmarried urban women (from below 2% in 1995 to 10% in 2015), particularly in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 39  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 40  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class families in Contemporary China”. 41  China Daily, “Marriage rate in China hits lowest on record” dated 21 March 2019 [downloaded on 21 March 2019], available at https://www.chinadaily.com. cn/a/201903/21/WS5c92ee53a3104842260b1c11.html 38 

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Shenzhen.42 Because they are considered past their expiry dates, they are consequently known as shengnü (surplus or leftover women) in Chinese media and popular culture. This reinforces the stereotypes that women who are accomplished are less preferred by men, too picky to settle down, even a threat to men by taking away professional and white collared positions traditionally reserved for males — all of which make such women a danger to social order.43 These perceptions and stereotypes induce great anxiety in Chinese parents worried about the future of their educated daughters, especially their marriage prospects. The new urban middle-class females have an enviable lifestyle. Many of them focus on self-fulfillment, place a premium on looking good, and care about their own individual well-being. Driven by vanity and also the desire to have a healthy lifestyle, in 2018, a majiaxian (six pack abdominal muscles) movement started taking shape just before the summer of that year. The purpose of this movement was to train and acquire toned abdominal muscles just in time for thin summer clothing fashion (e.g., crop tops), it was also in essence a movement to develop muscles and replace fats, influenced in part by Western fashion fads that consider ‘muscularity’ the new ‘skinny’.44 This kind of consumer fad became possible with the relative freedom of women to pursue their own individualism and happiness without being boxed into a conformist Confucian traditional mold prescribed for the generations before them. While women enjoyed their materialism, lifestyle choices, and freedom, the new-age Chinese men had their own preferences. It partly Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 43  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class families in Contemporary China”. 44  Fang, Nanlin, “Chinese women’s newest accessory: six-pack abs” dated 30 May 2018 in CNN Health [downloaded on 30 May 2018], available at https://edition. cnn.com/2018/05/29/health/china-majiaxian-gym-abs-trend-weibo-intl/index. html 42 

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explains why new-age highly-educated women are considered “leftovers”. Besides the mismatched gender ratio in China, there is also a mismatch in expectations and educational qualifications. Even though there are more men than women, highly-educated women have not been able to find their ideal spouses. There is simply not enough men with equivalent or higher qualifications to meet their needs. Furthermore, educated men do not always select similarly well-educated counterparts as their mates, as a 35-year-old Chinese male investment banker explained: “We like our wives to be yoghurts…Plain yoghurts, so that we can flavor them as we’d like”.45 Chinese male and female perceptions on many issues cannot be further apart. Chinese males fail to understand contemporary Chinese women’s fascination with power and strength. Meng Dawei (not his real name, 30 years old, Beijing lottery industry worker) believes the main reason Chinese women go to the gym is to satisfy the male preference for curvaceous (and not skinny) figures, rather than to develop muscles: I think it’s because of men’s basic instincts…I believe part of the reason why women go to the gym to get a tight waist and bottom is to attract men’s attention, so to have a better spouse…Also, the dresses nowadays could show their sexy figure[s] better.46

It seems clear that Chinese men and women have different perceptions when it comes to Chinese women’s recent contemporary obsession with building muscles and a powerful physique. The parents of these new generations of Chinese youths are worried that materialism and hedonism, as well as self-centeredness, Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 46  Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?” dated 5 May 2015 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/920206.shtml 45 

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have affected their children’s desire to get married and bear kids. These parents are typically long-time city dwellers, either city-born or those who followed their kids/spouses to cities; they enjoyed stable careers or managed successful businesses and are usually already retired.47 During the Maoist years, they were persecuted and sent to the countryside, but they deliberately avoided marriage in the rural areas in the fear that it would stop them from relocating to the cities if the rural marriage led to a permanent rural household registration.48 Thus they married relatively late (only in their thirties) when they were allowed back to their hometown cities.49 At the time, these now anxious parents were considered over-aged youngsters with marriage challenges that were seen as socially destabilizing.50 The days of the Cultural Revolution saw the implementation of a number of restrictions on individual freedoms. Even bodybuilding activities for men and women were banned. It was originally viewed as an unacceptably Western and bourgeois hobby and banned during the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution (1966– 1976), thus individuals had to train in underground gyms until the economic reform era from 1978 when it enjoyed accelerated popularity after China established its inaugural Hercules Cup in 1982 and joined the International Federation of Bodybuilding in 1986.51 Instead of post-reform activities, the Cultural Revolution-era Chinese had their schedules designed by the state. In those days of central planning, the state was proactive. The state organized dancing events and outdoor trips for unmarried youths (in the pre-Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution and also the early reform eras), thus

Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 48  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 49  Ibid. 50  Ibid. 51  Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. 47 

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the generation of youth then (anxious parents today) were used to the state’s lifetime presence in their lives.52 With the state’s retreat from private lives after China’s successful economic reforms, these anxious parents have stepped in as replacement matchmakers.53 These kinds of Cultural Revolution-era activities and thinking are alien to both Chinese women on the mainland and in Hong Kong who did not experience the Cultural Revolution. Chinese women in firsttier mainland cities and Hong Kong are equally intent on following their own interests and leading their own lives instead of having their lives managed by the state or anyone else. They want to live for their own enjoyment, personal well-being, and enjoy the seductive feeling of muscularity, power, and strength, de-necessitating any (over) dependence on men. The feeling of strength is liberating for these women. Just as having muscular abs is now a fad amongst Shanghainese women, powerlifting is popular amongst women in Hong Kong. They consider a muscular physique to be inspiring, feminine, and confidence-boosting, a far cry from Chinese women’s traditional fear of bulking up, and show a willingness to venture beyond traditional ideas of beauty like slimness and petiteness. Social media is certainly helping to promote (and curate images of) women decked out in workout gear, flexing biceps and pumping iron.54 In other words, much of the social influence over the obsessive need for marriage comes from parents who were born in another era. Cultural Revolution-era parents are projecting their own life experiences and disappointments as well as their sense of crisis onto their children (especially those born in the 1980s and 1990s).55 These

Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 53  Ibid. 54  Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles”. 55  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 52 

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parents grew up in the immediate post-Cultural Revolution era and were brought up in families that wanted to protect their children from the deprivations they had been forced to endure in the Revolution). Strict, utilitarian, and materialistic in their criteria, many parents require good statistical readings in height, jobs/salaries, urban household registration, apartment, and overall ability to protect their daughters’ welfare, all of which are pre-requisites to pass the initial parental elimination round before presentation to their children — all these are done in the name of love and responsibility for their daughters.56 Under strong societal pressure and the prevalence of traditional stereotypical ideas about feminine behavior, highly-educated Chinese women are advised by their parents and even their contemporaries/peers to sajiao (exhibit strategic coquettish behavior) to men to stroke their egos. The Chinese language version of Psychologies magazine in 2012 explained, “A woman who knows how to sajiao knows how to make a man happy”; this can be executed through the techniques of “pouting, mewling and the stomping of feet” in order to create the atmosphere where a Chinese male date feels “loved, honored, chivalrous and manly”.57 The daughters of parents dispensing such advice seem to understand this and try their best to do so during the dating ritual.58 The whole process reflects the enduring significance of the institution of marriage, parental bonds with their children, and pragmatism to shore up financial stability for their children.59 On the other hand, BBC News featured studies to indicate how female pandering may change if women became physically Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 57  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 58  Zhang, Jun, “Parental Matchmaking and Middle-class Families in Contemporary China”. 59  Ibid. 56 

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stronger. Studies it quoted opined that if women suddenly acquire more physical strength than men, they would develop ‘male traits’.60 These may include aggression, violence, and show of power with an impact on “self-entitlement, proneness to anger and bargaining confidence” being based on strength rather than physical attractiveness; and so heterosexual women who previously “dumb[ed] themselves down” to attract insecure men will stop doing that.61 Along this line of argument, the 2016 Chinese national team coach Ji Kaili advocates the promotion of more muscular physiques for women’s bodybuilding competitions in order for the sport to take off in China: Chinese people still don’t like women with muscle…It should be considered healthy and beautiful. That’s why we need more media attention for girls working out. But it’s going to be quite hard — not just in China, but worldwide.62

She prefers that women are not judged based on feminine slim muscles but through traditional female bodybuilding principles based on strong muscle symmetry. In other words, there is no need to conform to male judges’ (or male fans’) preferences on how female bodybuilders should look like and instead follow judging criteria closer to those for male bodybuilders. In fact, one of the experts cited in the BBC News article, Daphne Fairbairn (Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of California, Riverside), thinks that the gradual reduction of women pandering to men is already happening.63 She gave the example of her own PhD-educated daughter — one who carries out home renovations, frequently runs 80 km, and refuses to dumb down her Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?”. Ibid. 62  Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. 63  Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?”. 60  61 

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achievements so that a male date thinks she’s sexy.64 In China, echoing Ji Kaili, fitness champion and bodybuilder Mou Cong sees absolutely no need to hide her physical strength and success from men. She has two titles at the 2012 Asian Bodybuilding Championships under her belt. On the contrary, she wants to show that a muscular body, when exhibited publicly, is beauty appreciated by ‘a combination of the Chinese and western culture[s]’: “When I displayed my muscles, I did it in an exquisite manner — like a posh Chinese lady. However, my physique fit the Western taste in beauty”.65 In the last sentence, she admits that Western concepts of beauty are powerful benchmarks and have influence on her physique, a strong indication of how Chinese gender conceptualization has been strongly influenced by Western ideas since opening up. It remains to be seen whether other Western ideas on gender — gender fluidity; ideas of toxic masculinity; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer (LBGTQ); metrosexuality; ubersexuality; and gender-neutrality, amongst others — will follow such paths to penetrate and be integrated into mainstream Chinese society. In China today, however, many Chinese women must still pretend to sajiao if they want to have a shot at marriage. Meanwhile, as young women re-learn how to project a non-threatening image to lure men into marriage through tutoring by their parents, actual practical considerations and barriers to marriage remain to deter young couples from getting married and having children. China’s childcare situation is increasingly in the spotlight, especially since couples are now legally allowed to have two children, beginning with the abolition of the One Child Policy in 2015, leading to sudden increases in the numbers of babies. The question of childcare (a leading factor for couples to have a second baby) became highly Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?”. You, Tracy, “Face of an angel, body of the Hulk: Meet the fitness champion who’s dubbed ‘the prettiest bodybuilder’”. 64  65 

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salient because 80% of all childcare is by family members (especially parents and grandparents) who may not always be both willing and able, thus leaving the private sector to fill the large demand for such services.66 The Chinese state is reacting to such obstacles to second-time parenthood by accelerating the provision of infant and childcare services. It is incentivizing private companies to operate childcare and early childhood education centers and ensure children’s safety under their care.67 The State Council has also issued guidelines to encourage the development of infant and childcare services, upgrading of related policies, legislation, and motivation of private sector companies to fill in this demand.68 Perhaps one of the most progressive first-tier Chinese cities in this respect is Shanghai, which is a pioneer in this sector. Shanghai introduced policies from 16 departments (spanning education, civil affairs, industry and commerce, healthcare/family planning, and food/drug supervision) in April 2018 to upgrade childcare services for children under three years old, institutionalize the management of childcare services, encourage its development, and garner support from the public for the industry’s 170 new childcare agencies serving 6,400 children by May 2019.69 Such initiatives by Shanghai can be used as a learning reference by other cities and provinces. Heavilypopulated Henan Province is also starting to build/renovate in order to increase its number of nurseries to 1,000 so as to take in more kids; it has spent 1.5 billion yuan (US$218 million) to support these childcare projects by training certified personnel for childcare facilities and kindergartens with the aim of targeting children under three as

Xinhua, “China Focus: Childcare centers ease Chinese parents’ anxiety for having second child” dated 18 July 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 18 July 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/11/c_138218280. htm 67  Ibid. 68  Ibid. 69  Ibid. 66 

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part of the actualization of the Two Child Policy.70 The state will provide its mighty power and complete mobilization of resources to meet targets for its Two Child Policy to try to arrest aging and shrinking demographics. Gender Parity Unequal burden (e.g. childcare, elderly care, domestic duties, etc.), deep-seated patriarchy and the issue of disparity in human worth is a significant issue in China as well. As late as 2019, experts and journalists opined that China was lagging behind in gender equality. A major factor appeared to be calls by the state for women to get married and have children to reverse the impending aging population (amongst other social impacts of graying demographics) and the scrapping of the One Child Policy which led to male baby preference and illegal abortions, creating a disruptive gender ratio with approximately 30 million more males.71 One drawback of the medical revolution in the 1980s was that the newly developed ultrasound techniques allowed Chinese people to detect their babies’ sex, thereby resulting in massive culling, abandonment, or abortions (numbering millions) of baby girls, creating an artificially unbalanced ratio of 114 boys:100 girls (the most extreme in the world).72 Ironically, as earlier discussed, the unpopular One Child Policy ended up fostering gender parity as it forced families to provide resources to their only legally allowable child. Girls born between Xinhua, “China Focus: Childcare centers ease Chinese parents’ anxiety for having sec­ond child”. 71  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution” dated 30 September 2019 in AlJazeera [downloaded on 30 September 2019], available at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/china-women-battlingtradition-70-years-revolution-190927054320939.html 72  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 70 

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1990 and 1992 make up 50% of students in tertiary education (Chinese National Bureau of Statistics in 2017) compared to 30% before the One Child Policy, mainly due to absence of male siblings to compete for family resources to afford tuition classes, extra-curricular lessons, and university education (according to Jing Jiali, Professor of Sociology, Beijing Foreign Studies University).73 For some high-achieving Chinese men, however, highly driven women with degrees and strong careers, i.e., the indirect beneficiaries of the One Child Policy, are not the kind of life partners they are looking for.74 A 35-year-old Chinese investment banker explained that he enjoys being with such women, but would not want to marry one even though they may be well-matched in terms of education level, career trajectory, and able to communicate in both Mandarin and English.75 Instead, he prefers someone simple and compliant: My fiancée is a plain yoghurt…She’s low maintenance and doesn’t really have her own ideas. I like her because she’s easy to manage.76

Being plain and compliant is far from what highly driven young Chinese women want for their lives. They are willing to work hard to pursue a lifestyle that includes a career, as well as time and money to maintain an attractive physical appearance and keep fit, amongst other benefits that come with being a modern woman. There is thus a gap between what alpha male achievers and modern upwardly mobile (often also physically strong) young Chinese women want. Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 74  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 75  Ibid. 76  Ibid. 73 

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As also mentioned by Professor Jing Jiali, China is moving towards “middle-class female domesticity” with an increasing focus on women’s appearances, with terms such as “beautiful athlete” or “attractive official” used in reference to successful Chinese women.77 Nationalistic Chinese state media the Global Times ran a story on Yang Lin, a modern Beijing woman who developed a passion for daily boxing sessions after following supermodel Gigi Hadid’s exercise regime (especially for boxing and Pilates). To her, “[b] oxing is an aerobic exercise that is very effective in burning fat”.78 Beauty and athleticism appears to be a dynamic duo of constructed ideal qualities for Chinese women today. To some, Mao Zedong’s legacy on gender parity is ambiguous. He was a strong supporter of women’s rights and famously said they “[hold] up half the sky”. Mao introduced reforms that clearly helped women and lifted their status in Chinese society, such as the ban on foot-binding, a cruel practice imposed by the non-Han Manchurian rulers of China during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) and one that supposedly began during the Song dynasty.79 [Compare this to the situation in contemporary China: In 2017, 68 years after Mao founded the People’s Republic of China, China produced its youngest female bodybuilding champion. 20-year-old Tu Mengli is not only free to decide for herself how her body looks but also prove herself to be stronger than many men. A college student, Tu made the decision to develop a strong mind and physique, overturning traditional notions of female body shape and form to break into bodybuilding which is traditionally a male-dominated sport.80 Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 78  Li, Ying, “Chinese women share their journey of training like VS angel Gigi Hadid and other famous lingerie models”. 79  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 80  Li, Yezi, “20-year-old becomes youngest Chinese bodybuilding champion”. 77 

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Within a little more than half a century, Chinese women today have full control of their body with freedom to choose how they look like physically.] Feet binding caused many women to walk daintily but it also damaged their feet, making them unsuitable for manual tasks and restricting their mobility. Along with the socialist revolution, arranged marriage (usually with the bride being of a young age) and polygamy were systematically removed and education and job opportunities were opened up to women.81 It was a great revolutionary emancipation. This is a widely acknowledged impact of socialism in China. Interestingly, as women became emancipated, free from the shackles of conservative Confucian tradition, and moved up the educational ladder and eventually into good careers, Chinese men began to cherish women who were less educated than them. Ironically, for some Chinese men, it is now harder to find Chinese women who are less educated than them (unlike in the olden days when most young women stopped schooling in their early teenage years). This is because 90% of high-school students now go to college (50% are women).82 Those with graduate degrees had the highest unmarried rate (18% for women aged 30–34 with masters degrees compared to 7% for high school leavers in 2010); while the female PhD holders are simply known as di san xing [the (unmarried) third sex].83 Today, in China, another cosmetic expectation of fair skin for women has also been removed. With the increasing popularity of fitness and bodybuilding amongst metropolitan Chinese women, bronzed skin is now considered a benchmark for beauty, so much so that fake tan (sprayed on, smeared, or baked) is a popular fashion treatment. In the past, bronzed skin was associated with rural Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 82  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 83  Ibid. 81 

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agrarian labor in China but jianmei yundong (‘healthy and beautiful exercising’) has put an end to the complete domination of fair skin as a standard of beauty since jianmei celebrates bronzed, fit, and beautiful women retaining only bare soles and unfinished legs showing fair skin paleness underneath.84 Women are taking control of their bodies back from male gazes and patriarchy. Regardless of Chinese men’s preferences, Chinese women’s march towards parity and strength have continued unabated. By the 21st century, the results of Chinese women’s economic progress are self-evident. Chinese women make up 41% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP data in 2017 by Deloitte China).85 Still, Mao’s reforms were up against Chinese traditionalism, Confucianism, and embedded customs, and state-supported attempts at achieving socialist gender parity received pushbacks by these millennia-old philosophies/ideologies. The One Child Policy in particular was blamed for de-masculinizing Chinese boys, a feature reinforced by media influence. Chinese media has blamed the state for the “lack of manhood not only as a public menace and a threat to the family, but also as a metaphor for passive masculinity and national crisis… [and strong masculine qualities are] crucial in safeguarding the security of the nation”.86 The overall impact of the One Child Policy on households cannot be conclusive. In some households, girls benefitted from more parental resources and support. But there were also many others that contributed to the hundreds of thousands of female babies abandoned to die because of the One Child Policy.87 In fact, the World Economic Forum global gender gap index registered an Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 86  Baculinao, Eric, “China Tackles ‘Masculinity Crisis,’ Tries to Stop ‘Effeminate’ Boys” dated 9 January 2017 in NBC News [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/china-tackles-masculinity-crisistries-stop-effeminate-boys-n703461 87  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 84 

85 

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increasing gender gap for China (it dropped from 57th ranking amongst 139 countries in 2008 to 103rd out of 149 countries in 2019 and came in last in the category of “health and survival”).88 Hong Kong is perhaps a shining example of the progress made by female civil servants in China. Carrie Lam rose through the ranks of the prestigious Hong Kong civil service’s elite Administrative Officer corps to become the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She is also the second highest paid world leader. Her political rise almost coincided with Taiwan’s first female president, President Tsai Ying-Wen, who leads the world’s only ethnic Chinese liberal democracy. Therefore, in the ‘Greater China’ area, there are now two female leaders at the highest echelons of their territories. Interestingly, Chinese minority women also did relatively well among the elite echelons of the CCP leadership. For example, Hunan Deputy Party Secretary Wulan (乌兰, born 1962, Mongolian) was the Inner Mongolian Communist Party Youth League Secretary/ Vice Governor/Propaganda Chief; Secretary of the All-China Women’s Federation Xia Jie (夏杰, born 1960, Hui minority) was Deputy Head of the Organization Department and Head of the United Front Work Department in the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee (supported primarily by former governor Li Zhanshu) and then Head of the Organization Department of the Henan Provincial Party Committee; and Ningxia governor Xian Hui (咸辉, born 1958, Hui minority) was the Executive Vice-Governor of Gansu.89 Almost a fifth of national civil service jobs (and prestigious positions in industries) only want to recruit male candidates (2018 Human Rights Watch Report).90 Factional contestation at the elite levels of the Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. Li, Cheng, “Status of China’s women leaders on the eve of 19th Party Congress” dated 30 March 2017 in Brookings [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/status-of-chinas-women-leaders-on-theeve-of-19th-party-congress/ 90  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 88  89 

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CCP hit the elite female politicians hard when they were associated with the wrong factions. In the recent past, two women come to mind. Shen Yueyue (沈跃跃, born 1957), Vice Chair of the NPC, and Song Xiuyan (宋秀岩, born 1955), Chair of the All-China Women’s Federation. They were up-and-coming female politicians who belonged to the tuanpai (Chinese Communist Youth League) factions but fell from political favor when their faction declined in prestige and power within the CCP hierarchy and they failed to reach promotions beyond what they had already achieved.91 Within a period of 70 years, no woman was admitted to the country’s most powerful political entity, the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) and, within the broader 25-person Politburo, there is only one woman, out of 31 provincial-level governments, there is no woman.92 Other than in the 10th/11th Party Congresses in 1973/1977, women did not make up more than 10% of the total Central Committee members.93 Only a few (mostly wives of top elites) became members of the Politburo [Jiang Qing (江青, Mao’s wife), Ye Qun (叶群, Lin Biao’s wife), and Deng Yingchao (邓颖超, Zhou Enlai’s wife)]; none made it to the PSC.94 Hui Faye Xiao (Associate Professor and Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures EALC Program, University of Kansas) argues that Mao’s reforms only looked at encouraging women to leave the house to work but did not encourage men to take up domestic duties, resulting in “male centrism” in post-Mao China such as the post-One Child Policy initiative to get more women to have babies.95 There is now a powerful countervailing force that reverses some of the global trends in male identity construction such as the tackling of Li, Cheng, “Status of China’s women leaders on the eve of 19th Party Congress”. 92  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 93  Li, Cheng, “Status of China’s women leaders on the eve of 19th Party Congress”. 94  Ibid. 95  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 91 

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“toxic masculinity”, metrosexuality, male feminization, and grasseating men. Chinese experts are now emphasizing “gender-difference education…[since] the crisis of masculinity in effeminate men is considered a peril to the security of the nation because it reflects powerlessness, inferiority, feminized passivity, and social deterioration reminiscent of the colonial past when China was defeated by the colonizing West”.96 The perceived lack of masculinity has effectively become a national crisis that exudes imagined weaknesses including absence of resistance against a Western global order and passive acceptance of a Western colonial order. Interestingly, while Chinese males are perceived to be turning into passive weaklings, Chinese women are gaining physical strength literally. Chinese women’s desires to become physically strong and fit gained traction in the 21st century. For the first time in fitness history, cosmopolitan Chinese women (especially those in first-tier cities) are becoming gym rats. This is a far cry from the Cultural Revolution era where ‘Western’ gym activities were banned from China and, in any case, mostly patronized by men. Today’s Chinese women want to grow muscle rather than become slim, signaling a changing trend away from thin and slim as the benchmark for beauty; the new fashion slogan is “strong is the new skinny”, a trend reinforced by Chinese ELLE fashion magazine and Chinese movie stars with buff figures like Fan Bingbing and Zhang Yuqi.97 It is interesting that Chinese women’s interest in becoming physically stronger is driven by fashion trends, Western ideas, and personal motivations rather than state-driven. These are social trends driven by global hipster fashions and Western-led fads that resonated with and attracted leagues of young Chinese women to follow them, accelerating their departure from the Chinese state’s conceptions of male and female roles in Chinese society and nation. Baculinao, Eric, “China Tackles ‘Masculinity Crisis,’ Tries to Stop ‘Effeminate’ Boys”. 97  Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?”. 96 

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From the perspective of the state, there needs to be a re-calibration of the roles of men and women in Chinese society through the power of moral suasion provided by state-allied groups. With the re-centralization of power in China, the state has become more robust with women’s rights groups, especially those who disrupt and/or publicly object to state policies. There are publicized incarceration of feminists, imposed restrictions on non-profit organizations, and increased scrutiny of female subject matter in order to meet the state’s goals of bringing about procreation to ward off the economic impacts of an aging society and reverse the birth rate starting from the Two Child Policy (2015).98 Intellectuals persuade women to reactivate their ability to sajiao in order to continue to be attractive to men. Hu Deng, Professor of Emotional Psychology (Renmin University) and a specialist in romantic relationships, is a progressive intellectual who supports female progress made from the revolutionary era but upholds the idea of sajiao-ism: “If a Chinese woman today doesn’t know how to sajiao, it’s very unlikely that she’ll find a boyfriend”.99 Rebecca Karl, Professor of History (China) New York University, even argued that the post-2008 Global Financial Crisis “economic imperative” pushed China to “coerce women to return to the home so as to free up remaining employment for men”; and indeed, in early 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping exhorted women to “shoulder the responsibilities of taking care of the old and young”.100 In such narratives, women as the weaker sex naturally suited for caregiving and child-caring were once again emphasized.

Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 99  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 100  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 98 

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Chapter Three

The Chinese Narratives Chinese state media disagree with opinions from the West about the state of China’s gender equality. The state-owned media highlights individual examples of women who sought and found work-life balance and assert that this is preferable to coercing women to look at their lives only at the expense of work. At the moment, state narratives appear to rely on moral suasion to instill changes amongst Chinese women. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, female employees made up 43.1% of China’s total workforce and 25% of all Chinese entrepreneurs in 2016.1 Women spent 15% more time than men on their families and 9% less time than men on their careers, according to a survey of 100,000 working women by major recruiter Zhaopin.com in March 2019.2 A survey by LinkedIn China and L’Oreal China in March 2019 indicated almost 80% of surveyed women born after 1995 desire to be financially independent or chase their dreams while only 23% considered being a dutiful wife and devoted mother as part of the definition of a “good woman”.3

Xinhua, “China Focus: Chinese career women find work-life balance” dated 1 November 2018 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 1 November 2018], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/01/c_137574646.htm 2  Ibid. 3  Ibid. 1 

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Certainly, more and more young women are seeking successful careers,4 possibly prioritizing work over marriage. As for those highly-educated women who want to get married, it seems they are being “tutored” by their parents to be less careerminded and to adopt more wife-like traits.5 As previously mentioned, Yale-educated June Ding’s mother imparted this ‘wisdom’ to her daughter: “Whatever you do, don’t get physical! ... After you reject a man physically, you need to lavish him with praise”.6 Such advice served to fill the gaps in Ding’s life experience, given that she was clueless about her education being a hindrance to dating and also had little dating experience.7 Ding’s parents were indirectly assisted by the state which promoted ideal role models for Chinese women to look up to. These alternative models for emulation were lauded for being successful in their careers yet dedicated to their families. For example, 36-year-old Peng Yan, Head of Shanghai University’s Unmanned Vessel Research Institute, recalled how she took her infant son along with her on a work trip at sea.8 She received support from her family for not abandoning her career and hopes one day she can be a role model for him.9 Encouragement from close ones have also inspired some Chinese sportswomen to achieve greatness. Strong support from family, including male family members, has been an important factor for women who achieved success in this area. For instance, encouraged by her family and acquaintances, Xinhua, “China Focus: Chinese career women find work-life balance”. Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands” dated 20 April 2020 in Financial Review [downloaded on 20 April 2020], available at https://www.afr.com/world/asia/why-chinas-women-are-feigningsubservience-to-win-husbands-20180418-h0ywtf 6  Ibid. 7  Ibid. 8  Xinhua, “China Focus: Chinese career women find work-life balance”. 9  Ibid. 4  5 

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Lara Zhang began her bodybuilding hobby after childbirth and competed full-time in 2016 before nabbing the runner-up title in the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) and Fitness Australian National Open 2017 and the IFBB All Female Classic Open 2017, thus becoming a well-known bikini competitor with 600,000 followers on Weibo.10 According to Tan Lixia, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Haier Group, “My son is 20 years old now and I have never reached a work-life balance…Instead of work-life balance, I believe harmony is a better word. I do what I can for my family and let others do what they want…The atmosphere in my family is very harmonious.”11 Parental influence and support on the emancipation of Chinese women has been instrumental in helping them achieve career milestones. Based in Qingdao, Shandong, Yu Herong (physician/social media sensation/bodybuilder/martial artiste/fitness influencer) said that she was motivated by her parents to be a doctor and committed to helping hundreds of patients recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.12 On Instagram, she posted this message to her 360,000 followers: “I’m a doctor. I must [be] on the front line. [I will] do my best to help the epidemic”.13 Similarly, citing crucial parental support, Liu Li (presiding judge of the You, Tracy, “Female bodybuilder is accused of spreading pornographic content online by Chinese police after posting a video of her posing in bikini” dated 19 February 2019 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 19 February 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6720179/Female-bodybuilderaccused-spreading-porn-posting-bikini-video.html 11  Xinhua, “China Focus: Chinese career women find work-life balance”. 12  Alladin, Unus, “‘I must be on the front line’ of coronavirus epidemic’, China’s bodybuilding traditional Chinese medicine doctor says” dated 6 February 2020 in South China Morning Post (SCMP) [downloaded on 6 February 2020], available at https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3049196/ill-fight-coronavirus-pandemic-sayschina-bodybuilding-doctor-yuan 13  Ibid. 10 

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Olympic Village People’s Court under the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing) agreed: For me, work and life are equally important…In terms of companionship with my son, I think the length of time [spent with him] does not matter. What matters is the quality of the companionship…I think hard-working parents serve as role models for their children…I find all delegates to the National Women’s Congress to be independent and have their own careers…I hope families of career women can give them full understanding and support.14

These women were all presented as exemplary models of mothers and career women who treated family life and work as equally important priorities. They are upper middle class to high net worth individuals who demonstrated that it was possible to successfully juggle both motherhood and a career and some of them were touted by the state as ideal modern Chinese women in state media, moral suasion campaigns, and/or propaganda. The Chinese state intends to move in another direction with regards to the cultivation of family virtues. In the case of China, the state is asking women to be the guardians and defenders of family values. The state media carried the essential arguments made in a September 2019 white paper Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women’s Cause in 70 Years Since New China’s Founding released by the State Council Information Office. It argued that women have a unique role in the cultivation of family virtues in China, contextualized within family construction and “protecting women’s rights to marriage and family” while “increasingly consolidate[ing] the equality between men and women in marriage and family relations”.15 Some intellectuals in state universities also Xinhua, “China Focus: Chinese career women find work-life balance”. Xinhua, “Chinese women play unique role in cultivation of family virtues: white paper” dated 19 September 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 19 September 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/201909/19/c_138404916.htm 14  15 

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believe women can play a role in soothing their men’s feelings about inadequacies, given that Chinese urban males have never faced so many challenges at once, including rising property prices (especially in first-tier cities) and shrinking numbers of stable full-time jobs, so the last thing they need is to be emasculated. Apartment ownership in Chinese cities today, considered almost compulsory for men seeking courtship in first-tier cities, is affected by the high prices of buying one. Social pressures exerted by material prerequisites (the source of which is unknown: parents of prospective brides? Materialistic women? Swaggering men? Overall materialism in Chinese society?) exert undue pressure on men seeking mates. In Beijing and Shanghai, purchasing a property translates to paying 20 times an average yearly salary for it.16 Hence, Psychology Professor Hu Deng from Renmin University quipped that women can comfort men facing material inadequacies and socioeconomic injustices while behaving immaturely to stroke the male ego, and eventually settle down with them to start a family thereby increasing social stability.17 On the institutional side, efforts are also made to create a promarriage and pro-natalist social environment. According to stateowned media, Chinese authorities have started a marriage and family system to bring about better parity between males and females.18 They are allocating social resources to support family education that highlights the special function of women in cultivating family virtues for a “more equal, harmonious, and civilized family relationship in the new era”.19 It took a Communist revolution in China to break the stereotype of a domestic and virtuous wife and mother that was reinforced by millennia of conservative Confucianism and traditionalism. Communist China has universally turned to education Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 17  Ibid. 18  Xinhua, “Chinese women play unique role in cultivation of family virtues: white paper”. 19  Ibid. 16 

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and the emancipation of productive forces/economic potential within women as the main fulcrum of social change/resistance against entrenched traditionalism and patriarchal societal systems. China’s Case Study 1: Lü Pin, Activist The activism streak is strong amongst some Chinese women but it has always been a risky and dangerous business to resist the government in China. Still, some women and feminists have taken this risk as the #MeToo movement hit China and motivated some women to step out in 2018 to publicly reveal stories of sexual assault in the varsities that resulted in the firing of several high ranking intellectuals and such deve­lopments are encouraging for activists like Lü Pin, a feminist, columnist, and women’s rights advocate.20 Sexual assaults and other physical violence of women may motivate more Chinese women to become physically stronger and take up training in martial arts. In general, middleclass and urban Chinese women are becoming physically stronger, something observed by Chinese feminists. Lü Pin argued that adding strength and muscles can overturn gender barriers and reverse the idea that men are strong and women are physically weak.21 She added, “I would say that this trend shows the rise of China’s middle class, who have the resources to meet a certain lifestyle”.22 In other words, it was a lethal combination of wealth and the feeling of power/aggression/independence that drives urban middle-class Chinese women to become physically stronger. Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution” dated 30 September 2019 in AlJazeera [downloaded on 30 September 2019], available at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/china-women-battlingtradition-70-years-revolution-190927054320939.htm 21  Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?” dated 5 May 2015 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/920206.shtml 22  Ibid. 20 

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Nevertheless, despite changes and progress made in physical strength through sports, gym lifestyles, and intense physical training, Chinese feminists continue their fight for women’s rights and elimination of violence against women. This fight is passionate enough to drive some women to quit their attractive high-status jobs to enter into the world of activism full-time. For example, Lü Pin resigned from a state-owned daily in the 1990s to be a full-time activist and claimed she derives satisfaction from support from women (as opposed to subscribing to government priorities and subjugation to government support), especially those who resist the establishment in their own ways (including the young ones).23 Some achievements by other activists/feminists appear to resonate with Lü’s view that changes can happened through activism such as the enactment of China’s pioneering anti-domestic violence law in 2015 or having better gender ratio in public lavatories.24 China’s Case Study 2: Gu Qi and Li Xiang, Childcare Providers There are also Chinese women who want the government to have a policy framework for helping women coping with childcare. It is a call that the authorities in the state-centered Chinese political system has embraced very energetically. Gu Qi (34 years old, mother of two) is the founding boss of MEYOU Baby Educare.25 She started her care center business to manage her own childcare issue after leaving her job to deliver and raise her eldest son in 2014 (her

Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 24  Ibid. 25  Xinhua, “China Focus: Childcare centers ease Chinese parents’ anxiety for having sec­ond child” dated 18 July 2019 in Xinhuanet [downloaded on 18 July 2019], available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/11/c_138218280. htm 23 

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second son was born in 2017).26 Gu was elated at the authorities’ decision to invigorate the childcare industry and she lobbied for relevant laws and standardized criteria for regulating childcare facilities to be implemented quickly, especially with regard to sanitary factors, indoor air quality, and the location of the childcare centers.27 Besides the central metropolitan areas, other parts of China are showing interest in the provision of such services as well. In the northwest interior of China, Gansu province’s demand for early childhood education is being met by entrepreneurs like Li Xiang who operates an early education/childcare center (founded in June 2018) in a residential block in Lanzhou City (capital of Gansu).28 She looks after 20 children (1 to 3 years old) who are mostly the second born children of young couples.29 Li saw substantial demand from many interested parents who wanted daytime childcare, prompting her to provide this toddler care service from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.30 In doing so, she is meeting a crucial need of working parents and also providing opportunities for these young children to adapt to a new social environment, shape their character, and pick up good habits.31 China’s Case Study 3: Lyu Jiawei, Entrepreneur Lyu Jiawei put off having a second child so that she could continue managing her own home business and routine administrative tasks while taking care of her son.32 For Lyu, childcare help from her Xinhua, “China Focus: Childcare centers ease Chinese parents’ anxiety for hav­ ing second child”. 27  Ibid. 28  Ibid. 29  Ibid. 30  Ibid. 31  Ibid. 32  Ibid. 26 

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parents was not an option due to differing parenting practices and their own schedules.33 Lyu eventually found a childcare center in her neighborhood that caters to kids between six months and three years old which fits her needs, different from most Chinese kindergartens that only accept children three years old and above.34 Due to such pre-existing work and kindergarten regulations, Lyu put off having a second child; she did not want to abandon her business and decided that her son’s safety and health are paramount when it comes to finding a trustworthy childcare center to lighten her workload.35 The discovery of the neighborhood childcare center thus solved her problems effectively. A bonus for Lyu was that her son picked up good habits from his teachers and fellow classmates like washing his hands before eating and taking afternoon naps barely a month after entering the childcare.36 China’s Case Study 4: Zhao Yilin, 29, Job Seeker When Zhao Yilin submitted her application for a position at a hightech firm in Beijing, the interviewer (a managerial executive) asked her if she intended to have kids as the position required her to travel.37 According to Zhao: I knew I could do the job regardless of whether I planned to have kids, so it didn’t seem fair…In the end, I was honest. I said we planned to have children in the next few years.38

Xinhua, “China Focus: Childcare centers ease Chinese parents’ anxiety for hav­ ing second child”. 34  Ibid. 35  Ibid. 36  Ibid. 37  Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 38  Ibid. 33 

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Zhao did not get the job and neither did many others. An official 2017 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) survey indicated that 54% of Chinese women faced similar questions during job interviews and online recruiter Zhilian Zhaopin found that “severe” gender discrimination increased between 25 and 35 years old (when many women tended to their family).39 Then at 50 years old, it is compulsory for women to retire in some occupations which is a decade earlier than men, stifling their careers and hurting their retirement nest egg.40 Zhao’s predicatment is, in fact, faced by other Chinese women in all other sectors where there are prevailing notions that females are not suitable for certain jobs. Kay Kay Keung, the founder of Trybe Studio in Hong Kong, still had to contend with stereotypes in her chosen field of work as a fitness trainer: One fear I had when I started out as a trainer was that people wouldn’t trust me as a coach, because I am female and small. When they think of a trainer, they have an image of a male buff guy, and that’s not what I am…Even though I have the knowledge or skills, I still had the fear of people not recognizing it in females…They would suggest that men train with me because they are attracted to me, not because they think I am a good trainer.41

China’s Case Study 5: Zhang Nuannuan, Film Studies Student, 20 Years Old According to Zhang Nuannuan, she kicked her mother’s womb vigorously in utero, leading to excited speculations by her parents Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 40  Ibid. 41  Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles” dated 14 October 2017 in South China Morning Post (SCMP) [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.scmp.com/ lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2115080/three-hong-kong-women-weightlifterswho-arent-shy-about 39 

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and extended family that she was male.42 Upon discovering otherwise when she was born, her father was incensed for three days because the One Child Policy in China at the time (1990) meant that most Chinese families could only legally have one baby.43 Zhang’s father was expecting a male child worthy of investment of his time, energy, and money.44 Over the years, as Zhang’s father realized that she was smart, humorous, and competent, he slowly came to accept having a daughter and was willing to finance her tertiary education in film studies; nonetheless, it is clear he is still prejudiced against females: “She’s one of the good ones, not like the rest”.45 Zhang’s example shows that perhaps time and demonstration of individual capabilities can change traditional ways of thinking. Even in the more Westernized parts of China like Hong Kong, the conventional normative expectations for women are entrenched in traditional ways of thinking. Many traditional stereotypes for women still hold strong. For example, Hong Kongers who pick strength training are also subjected to social scrutiny. Stephanie Tsui took up powerlifting and attracted praise for being able to carry a tripod at her TV station workplace but received social pressure to train without becoming too muscular (e.g., an ab crack without bulky core, firm butt without monster thighs, fit but not big, strong but not emasculating) and received unsolicited advice to look smooth and rounded.46

Despite Chinese women’s struggles to live up to male-imposed expectations, Zhang Nuannuan is just glad that she received parental resources to get a good education. She candidly said that Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. Ibid. 44  Ibid. 45  Ibid. 46  Tsui, Stephanie, “Want some muscles ladies? Never mind the naysayers, just do it” dated 15 June 2019 in South China Morning Post [downloaded on 15 June 2019], available at https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014653/ want-some-muscles-ladies-never-mind-naysayers-just-do-it 42 

43 

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without the One Child Policy, she could have had a brother and, if so, not been given the opportunities she has received: “Without the one-child policy, I would have been screwed.”47 Other social mechanisms and socialization actors like school administrators, professors, and young women themselves helped change societal perceptions, opening up higher education that paved the way for female emancipation and career opportunities. Ironically, as mentioned in the previous chapter, Zhang’s case shows that social engineering efforts by the state led to the unintended effect of emancipating girls (women by now) because the majority of Chinese families had little choice but to invest all their resources in their single offspring, even if she turned out to be female. Furthermore, they could not legally choose the gender of their child. Gender equality was thus achieved through an accidental unintended consequence of the One Child Policy. China Case Study 6: Alimra Jumadel, E. Teng, Yong Ronglan, Naval Personnel Ethnic minority Alimra Jumadel’s story about institutional support, familial inspiration, the need for social change, and the importance of meaningful jobs for women resonate with other mainstream Chinese women in China. In addition to public schools, another important institution which can be gender-blind is the military. Alimra Jumadel, born in the small China-Kazakhstan border city of Bole (Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region), did not imagine that she could actually become a naval personnel with the People’s Liberation Army navy and serve onboard the big Changbaishan amphibious landing ship with the South Sea Fleet when she joined the military to actualize her childhood dream.48 In this case, Alimra’s story contains an element of patriotism, loyalty, and nation-building in addition to self-actualization and female emancipation. Alimra certainly did not expect to pass Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”.

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the tough physical test required to become a naval personnel manning a ship in the open sea.49 The progress made by a Muslim minority woman in vastly Han-majority China shows that Chinese women are making progress that reflected the rise of China as a major power. Women are gaining more access to job opportunities (including the physical and mental strength-intensive professions like the military) and enjoying increasing wealth (for access to gym membership or other sports clubs); becoming stronger, fitter, more confident mentally, and more powerful physically. Western journalist Oscar Holland opines that bodybuilding and fitness competition is a powerful positive development because the rising awareness of fitness, health, well-being, and the gym culture renaissance can be correlated with the rise of China and, as it grows stronger and more powerful, so will its bodybuilders (including the female bodybuilders).50 The power of physically strong Chinese women will grow alongside economic prosperity and nationalism. Across the Taiwan Straits in a different ideological space, another group of ethnic Chinese women has also ventured into physical sports and powerful muscular activities as an opportunity to do well and contribute to their people/nation. Taiwanese Li Yi-ming won Taiwan’s 1st championship award at the 2013 Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships held from 31 May to 3 June 2013 in Kazakhstan, where she was crowned the champion in the below-52 kg category. She beat traditional rivals Japan and South Korea (a feat since there were very few Taiwanese women in this sport in 2013), resulting in the flag of the Republic of China being raised and the Taiwanese anthem being played at the gold medal presentation ceremony — a phenomenon not even seen at the Olympic Games, according to the Chinese Taipei Bodybuilding Federation Sec-Gen Liu Chia-tsung.51

In the case of Alimra, the Kazak ethnic native from inland continental China had never seen the seas and oceans before, a desire actualized Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”.

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when she joined the military upon graduating from high school in 2012.52 She was inspired by People’s Liberation Army-themed Chinese movies to salute in front of the mirror upon hearing military anthems.53 A generation after Handa, in addition to non-interactive films and TV programs, Chinese women have another option when it comes to media images of strong and powerful lifestyles for women other than those in military life. Social media plays a part in educating young Chinese women on the virtues of fitness and strength. On YouTube, brief fitness routine videos created by Victoria Secret supermodels trainer Justin Gelband and Ballet Beautiful trainer Mary Helen Bowers are watchable in China through Chinese-subtitled streaming sites such as bilibili.com and/or retailed in China through Taobao for 10 yuan (US$1.45) per program.54 Industry 4.0 technologies like social media reach a wider audience with real-time information and promote instantaneous communications with interactive networking features.

While the sea was once forbidden terrain for Chinese women like Alimra, she is now serving proudly as a navigational officer on a warship, after overcoming an initial period of motion sickness: I endured nearly two months of nausea and dizziness from the first day I boarded this ship…I didn’t want to quit or even ask to be transferred Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China” dated 23 April 2016 in Thatsmag [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www. thatsmags.com/china/post/13273/bikinis-bronzer-and-bodybuilding-in-china 51  Lee, Chin-wei and Jamie Wang, “Taiwan wins gold in women’s bodybuilding at Asian Championships” dated 6 May 2013 in Focus Taiwan News [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://focustaiwan.tw/sports/201306050046 52  Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. 53  Ibid. 54  Li, Ying, “Chinese women share their journey of training like VS angel Gigi Hadid and other famous lingerie models” dated 6 December 2016 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/1022184.shtml 50 

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to a post on land because there are only two female sailors in the navy that come from my hometown. We are our family’s pride and must earn honor and respect.55

Confidence is evidently an important trait possessed by these Chinese women breaking into male-dominated spheres and shattering glass ceilings. Alimra’s physical military training and confidencebuilding naval assignments gave her both physical and mental strength, as well as a sense of power and assertiveness. Middle-class metropolitan Chinese women appear to be very keen on developing themselves in this same direction. Zhang Fu, a strength, conditioning, and rehabilitation expert at the Peking University Gymnasium Training Center argued that urban Chinese women’s fascination with physical strength can alter behavior and character positively as the explosive and even confrontational nature of some strength-building workouts increased the muscularity and confidence of women.56 Encouragement by others (family, friends, and members of the public) appears to be the universal driving force for women who are breaking gender glass ceilings. Across the Taiwan Straits, similar examples can be found in other ethnic Chinese women, Doreen Fu is one of them. Fu met her bodybuilding husband in 2013; they dated and worked out together in the gym, building her powerful beautiful physique and their romantic relationship.66 In the process, Fu gained a sense of well-being and confidence to buff up to a larger size, training first in muscle-flexibility exercises like yoga and then hardcore weights to build muscles: I think this is great. Being called “strong” means I have exercised well…After all, it was hard for a woman to grow muscles… Working out has a special meaning for us as it helped us build our relationship. Many of our friends wanted us to have a set of (Continued) Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?”.

55  56 

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(Continued) exercise-themed wedding pictures, however we did not manage to due to some obstacles…So we started thinking how to combine working out with our wedding. And I thought why not do pull-ups in my wedding dress?67 Despite being separated ideologically (mainland China’s socialism with ‘Chinese characteristics’ and liberal democracy in Taiwan), ethnic Chinese women appear to be powerfully united by the same desire to inspire others and at the same time thankful for the support of enlightened and progressive men. Other mainland Chinese women like Tu Mengli are driven by another group of men (and women), namely their fans, to pursue their dreams of becoming powerfully muscular, strong, and fit. After beating 233 athletes from 26 Asian delegations in Ulaanbaataar (also spelt Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar) to clinch the gold medal for the 2017 bodybuilding championship, Tu inspired other Chinese people (of both genders) who became her fans regardless of conventional notions of beauty: She is very beautiful and I can’t imagine the tears and sweat she had to shed, and all the things she had to give up to get there and become a bikini bodybuilding champion. She probably got dehydrated before going on stage for the muscles to pop up. It is anyone’s prerogative not to appreciate this beauty of health and fitness, but she is not (doing what she is doing) to be judged.68

Certainly, the efforts by the state authorities and the Chinese military in accommodating the religious needs of minorities like Alimra for better social integration should be acknowledged.57 Alimra was the first batch of women recruited to serve on warships and one of just 10 Muslims onboard where her religious beliefs are Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”.

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accommodated with an onboard halal kitchen and food.58 Life on the sea has strengthened her character and self-reliance, allowing her to earn commendation from her superior officers who were impressed by her determination to do well even without a university degree.59 There is no doubt that physical endurance is a very important aspect of joining the military. Women like Alimra are breaking new barriers by proving that women have as much endurance as their male counterparts, if not more. Another iconic example and display of female endurance is the groundbreaking feat of young Chinese bodybuilder Tu Mengli. Tu clinched the Women’s Bikini Fitness title at the 51st Asian Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships Championship and became the youngest female Chinese bodybuilder by dedicating herself to a daily fitness regime and enduring the pain and discomfort from intensive training. “I know how Chengdu looks like at 5:30 — every single dawn”.60

Other ethnic minorities on board the same warship as Alimra included Mongolian E Teng from Bole, a finance degree holder from an Urumqi vocational college, who signed up upon graduation and had now become accustomed to the disciplined regime.61 She desired to prove to her father that she could overcome a pampered life and passed all physical tests, beating some 2,000 women competitors to clinch one of only 12 available naval positions.62

Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. Ibid. 60  Li, Yezi, “20-year-old becomes youngest Chinese bodybuilding champion” dated 25 May 2017 in CGTN [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d4d6a4d7841444e/share_p.html 61  Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. 62  Ibid. 58  59 

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Indeed, physical strength is no longer a barrier for Chinese women after E Teng’s generation as new role models emerge of physically strong Chinese women who have done it all. Take for example iconic Instagrammer Yuan Herong. Yuan’s popularity derives not only from her jacked and buff muscularity and cute facial features but also the fact that she is a doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine in her birthplace of Qingdao, Shandong. She garnered respect for assisting with 170 coronavirus patients’ recuperation while working as an assignment-based model and training hard in bodybuilding!63 She has truly become the image of a renaissance woman in China.

Like the many Chinese women mentioned in this volume, E Teng cited inspiration from her grandparents and parents as an important impetus for embarking on and succeeding in her career. 64 Progressivethinking Chinese men have clearly been as an important source of motivation and support for these women: My grandpa was a soldier in the army, and my dad was a paratrooper with the air force, so I am going to be a sailor with the navy.65

Like E Teng and Alimra, Yong Ronglan was a Xibe ethnic minority from the Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture in Xinjiang. Onboard the Changbaishan warship, she is a machine operator for the ship’s helicopter and just as enamored with her career as her previously Alladin, Unus, “‘I must be on the front line’ of coronavirus epidemic,’ China’s bodybuild­ing traditional Chinese medicine doctor says”. 64  Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. 65  Ibid. 66  You, Tracy, “Meet ‘the world’s strongest bride’: Taiwanese fitness fanatic stuns guests with effortless pull-ups while wearing her wedding dress” dated 1 November 2016 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ news/article-3890702/Meet-world-s-strongestbride-Taiwanese-fitness-fanatic-stuns-guests-effortless-pull-ups-wearingwedding-dress.html 63 

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mentioned colleagues. 69 She is going against her relatives’ criticisms of her career choice, showing that family members’ influence can have both positive and negative impacts: What I do in the navy is definitely irrelevant to my major in college, which enabled me to land a high-paying job in a bank. My mother, brother, and sister keep trying to persuade me to leave the navy as soon as my service ends…In addition, my boyfriend, an army artillery specialist in Xinjiang, spares no effort in trying to get me to retire on schedule so we can get married. But I’ve made up my mind that I will stay in the navy, even if it means breaking up with him…What really counts is that the navy has given us more than just military skills, it has given us a sense of team spirit and opportunities to see the world.70 Social approval from men seems to pervade the lives of all Chinese women in all aspects, even in conceptualizing body shapes. Even in Hong Kong (China’s Special Administrative Region), which is a lot more Westernized, women face criticisms. There is withdrawal of social approval for becoming too muscular by local benchmarks (way beyond the conventional understanding of an ideal beach body) and for ignoring male advice for getting fit but not excessively so, regardless of the advantages to health and improved body image (i.e. doing away with taut bodies and self-deprecating body image).71 Some of these social expectations also originate from other women, including colleagues, family members, and relatives.

In the case of Yong Ronglan, the challenges she faces are mainly related to her own desire to overcome social/institutional barriers You, Tracy, “Meet ‘the world’s strongest bride’: Taiwanese fitness fanatic stuns guests with effortless pull-ups while wearing her wedding dress”. 68  Li, Yezi, “20-year-old becomes youngest Chinese bodybuilding champion”. 69  Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. 70  Ibid. 67 

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to work in the military and serve her nation, and how to achieve social acceptance of her career choice by other stakeholders in her life who include her family members, relatives, friends, and boyfriend.72 To her, military life is transformative and instils self-confidence while allowing her to serve the nation.73 That she even mentioned she would go against her family members’ wishes to get her out of service shows determination and her story highlights the need to change mindsets in order to match the achievements that Chinese women have made in their workplaces and society.74 Whilst Yong’s strong character is enabling her to stand up to her loved ones when it comes to her personal decision for her life, other highly-educated Chinese women are not always able to find the courage to do the same. For example, Yale-trained lawyer June Ding faced a dilemma in her search for personal happiness. Ding dated a lieutenant in his mid-30s with a stable career and a calm temperament.75 She persisted in the relationship in order not to disappoint her mother. “I can’t say he’s unattractive, she’ll just say that won’t matter in 10 years…I also can’t say there’s no chemistry or she’ll just say I’m being shallow.”76 In her mother’s eyes, all problems fade away with time.77 Eventually, however, Ding decided to break up with him and pursue her own idea of happiness.78 When she explained to her mother that she found him both aggressive and needy,79 her mother retorted that this was a way for her date to

Tsui, Stephanie, “Want some muscles ladies? Never mind the naysayers, just do it”. Zhao, Lei, “Women empowered by PLA careers”. 73  Ibid. 74  Ibid. 75  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 76  Ibid. 77  Ibid. 78  Ibid. 79  Ibid. 71 

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“make a good impression” and that he must have had been “struggling to hide his true feelings!”80 From the interpretive work on secondary sources in the case studies on Chinese women, it is observable that whilst all the women mentioned had relatively open, progressive, and supportive family members and/or friends, as well as access to education (either high school or university), they simultaneously encountered challenges from dominant romantic partners, anxious parents, traditional relatives, conservative social perceptions, and state barriers, amongst others. It appears though that in almost every case of conservative resistance to female progress and evolutionary changes (such as becoming physically stronger), there is a growing league of progressive thinking Chinese men who are willing to support Chinese women in breaking glass ceilings in Chinese society. One female receiving such support is powerlifter Sun Xin who represents a new generation of urban Chinese women interested in powerlifting. The numbers of female powerlifters are growing. However, despite the health benefits, powerful aesthetics, and enhanced strength that Sun was able to develop, many Chinese men did not accept her six-pack abdominal muscles as something universally acceptable or even desirable.81 When she posted photos of her powerlifting a 30-kg dumbbell with sinewy back muscles to her WeChat Moments social media, most of her male friends were intimidated: A male friend even said that I could never find a valentine if I keep this muscular figure. No man would ever like me…Luckily as more men joined the gym themselves, they started to like my figure…I married my husband this February [2015], [he] is a personal trainer and likes the way I am now.82 Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?”. 82  Ibid. 80 

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A similar story can be found in Hong Kong where a partner with common interests inspired a woman to train hard in powerlifting. Powerlifter Stephanie Tsui Yan-ting started working out with her partner doing strength/muscle building activities, they visited the gym five times weekly for two hours each time, training before sunrise and work, deadlifting up to 140 kg of weights.83 In the process, she gained a muscular physique that was a far cry from her high school figure which had been maintained with diets and slimming exercises, but had resulted in hair loss and missed menstrual periods.84 The expectations and protocols that all these women were subjected to as females (either in the Confucian conception as wise mothers/virtuous wives or state perception as child-bearers to arrest the aging population problem) is indicative of a wider traditional perception of the role of women in China. The overarching influence appears to be that of Confucian ideology that is deeply entrenched and has shaped the cultures of not just China but its East Asian periphery as well. The Confucian ideology prescribes relations between different actors within a society, arranging them in a tightly organized social order. This makes it easy for modern socio-political ideologies like socialism, communism, and nationalism to appropriate it and impose social controls on a population in the name of resource allocation and total social mobilization (especially in the case of a highly centralized, authoritarian strongman regime). The Chinese state today has cross-fertilized modern ideas of demographic adjustments, social engineering, and social control with traditional Confucianism to form a hybrid ideology that can challenge liberal ideas of individual rights, feminism, and gender emancipation. Using its power and resources, it can also create alternative women’s organizations and feminist movements to counter the Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles”. 84  Ibid. 83 

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liberal strain of feminism. The state’s ultimate priority is not individual emancipation but a cohesive collective to enforce state objectives and goals and to ensure party survival through its leadership in a socially harmonious society made possible through constructed ideals. One of the striking observations that stood out from the case studies was that socialism and unintended policies like the one-child regulations emancipated women, but the same powerful state can also roll back progressive ideas on gender roles if political priorities change. The context in which state support/obligation for the women in the case studies can be understood exists at different levels. First, receiving state support is practically significant for Chinese women. It can be interpreted as implicit consent for other socializing agents and societal actors/agencies like the family, public school systems, or the military to support the choices that women make for their careers in either official or private settings (there is no clear unambiguous line drawn between the two). Non-compliance invites backlash and social labeling from the state. Therefore, it acts as a form of state-sanctioned social pressure to press for women’s rights. Another way to interpret this is in the context of state support at home and at the workplace in the provision of daycare centers, antiabuse monitoring of women’s legal rights, private sector recruitment regulations, role of women in elderly care, and many other activities in both public and private spheres. This state support is not only limited to women but has also made an impact on other members of society as well, e.g. prescribing male support for women’s household chores, getting the military to accept minority women in combat roles, standardizing benchmark practices for daycare centers, and determining the ultimate number of children each family can have. This is a complete ideological and policy penetration into private spheres and individual human rights. Finally, family and social obligations can be both exogenous and endogenous. This

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means that the pressure of the responsibilities can come from external sources, such as immediate or extended family or the social environment. Or it can come as a ‘self-imposed’ constraint arising from a personal sense of accountability or from the fear of society (what others will say). In a collectivist society like China, both types of pressure are subjected to the collective and group thinking molded by the strong ideological state. Many women who pursue careers enjoy family support to different degrees. Even when some family members did not support them, they have the support of other friends and family members. There is no absolutism in individual support for women but state support remains crucial in shaping the broad framework that aggregates individual demands. The collective in China is always more important than the individual. Elaborating on this aspect, all the women mentioned in this volume have, at different stages, acknowledged that many successful and talented women achieved what they did by complementing state goals. However, all the conditions described by the featured Chinese women in their unique journeys indicate a common social phenomenon mentioned in the concepts discussed in previous chapters — state-centeredness and women’s ability to work with them or around them. Another noteworthy observation is that women leaders navigated their path to change their trajectories if they conformed to state objectives. The minority women overcame decades of exclusion to become active combat personnel. The women who chose to give up their careers became entrepreneurs to look after their own kids as well as those of others while meeting the state’s needs to actualize the Two Child Policy. The feminists who proved they were not reactionary were given the leeway to agitate for legal accommodation of women’s rights. The entrepreneur who benefitted from state allocation of resources for more daytime childcare. The baby girls in the 1990s who received education because of the strict enforcement of the One Child Policy. With the dismantling of the One Child Policy and installation of the Two Child Policy, the priority now is to

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quickly reverse declining trends in marriages, procreation, and population growth, and combat the socioeconomic impact of an aging population. The usual problems associated with an aging/graying population include lower tax revenues from a working population for the national economy, lack of manpower for industries, and lack of young fighting power for the military. In addition, a smaller number of young productive members of society supporting the increased medical costs of a fast-aging elderly retired population, decreased consumption from the elderly, decreased abilities amongst older workers in picking up new skills/technologies, etc. State-backed feminist voices have advocated a return to family values. In China’s case, agendas that complement the state will see success and actualization of their advocacies. Coders, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and Activists: The Lives of Women Who Made Our Technological World Possible85 One of the toughest sectors for Chinese women to break into (like their global counterparts) has been the scientific research and technological/engineering professions. Subsectors in these tech This section is partially derived from an earlier article published by the author in an upcoming issue of Pugongying Dandelion magazine printed by the Tan Kah Kee academic foundation in 2020. Other references for this section include: Jardine, Cassandra, “Award winning businesswoman Kate Craig-Wood talks about her extraordinary transition from Robert” dated 7 July 2009 in the Telegraph (UK: Telegraph), 2009, available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/5761265/Kate-Craig-Wood-Im-lucky-many-men-would-never-pass-for-awoman.html; The Business Magazine, “Kate Craig-Wood — Memset” undated in The Business Magazine [downloaded on 1 September 2019], available at https:// www.businessmag.co.uk/profiles/kate-craig-wood-memset/; Zuckerman, Catherine and Jenna Fite, “Meet history’s most brilliant female coders” dated 29 March 2019 in National Geographic [downloaded on 29 March 2019], available at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/meet-historys-mostbrilliant-female-coders/ 85 

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industries include the information and communication technologies sector. We have taken for granted the development of the computer and computerization process in contemporary history and view them through a lens of gender stereotypes. Often, we credit these developments to pioneering male scientists, rapid industrialization and incentives for greater productivity, and mass production or logistical efficacy. Some attribute the rapid development of computers and the information and communications technology industry to (mainly male) individuals who constantly broke barriers in the name of scientific development. However, as with many other developments in history, credit has been given to privileged male scientists, engineers, coders, information technology (IT) entrepreneurs, mathematicians, and other stakeholder roles in the IT industry. This arises out of ignorance, for the fact is that many IT projects and achievements are collaborative in nature. They require teams of specialists (both females and males) working together and sharing knowledge before they can be successfully completed. Because of such mistaken perceptions, glorification of past achievements by individuals (both male and female) became biased towards male individuals. The less privileged individuals and the minorities are forgotten in the process. Perhaps, one of the more de-privileged groups are the women who disappeared from the accounts of global, American (the pioneers in this industry starting with Alexander Graham Bell), and later Chinese catch-up IT developments. Women’s contributions go unrecorded in the history of the industry. On top of women, minority women (the ‘double minority’) are concealed even more in the curated accounts of IT and computer development. In China, regardless of Han-majority or minorities, some Chinese women are forming communities so that they can help each other in their professions. Gu Xi is the co-founder of TechieCat, the first female tech community in China that organizes frequent meetings for women in the tech sector to learn and interact with each other,

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even attracting a lonely Google engineer from Hong Kong who was the only woman in her workplace.86 Perhaps this situation of the invisibility of women in the tech sector is unacceptable, given that the history of IT development is invariably tied and connected to women. In fact, the earliest computer instructions was written by a woman, Countess Augusta Ada Byron of Lovelace, a mathematician. The contemporary computer language Ada is named after this pioneer. Therefore, it would be historically inaccurate to exclude the achievements of women in any accounts of IT developmental history. In fact, some of these women made contributions to IT under very trying circumstances. Many early IT applications had been developed as dual use technologies — for military use but also viable in civilian applications. This machine was given operating instructions fully by women. Contemporary Chinese coders like Cui Yiran at LeanCloud are the beneficiaries of the trailblazing progress made by earlier female coders in the West. Cui is the sole woman programmer in a project group of 30 but she takes that in her stride.87 She acknowledges that fewer women enter this male-dominated profession but does not want to overthink about whether the jobs are mostly filled by men or women, as long as she has self-actualization and enjoy it.88 In the West, it is perhaps the inspiration generated by the pioneering women in the United States (US) and the successes of American women in this aspect that inspired other women ‘across the pond’ (the term formerly used to refer to the Atlantic Ocean between the US and United Kingdom (UK)) in the UK. Like in the US, it is tough to find female IT engineers in the industry in the UK. Very Gao, Yun and Grace Shao, “Chinese women take on computer programming” dated 15 February 2017 in CGTN [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https:// news.cgtn.com/news/3d49544e31516a4d/share_p.html?t=1487165529237&from=ti meline&isappinstalled=0 87  Ibid. 88  Ibid. 86 

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often, we forget that while coders, programmers, and engineers make the products, it requires equally brilliant technologists to market those products, to commodify them and make the products commercially successful. That is where the technically trained entrepreneurs come in. It takes equally exceptional people to understand the application of technologies and sell them to the global business community. While technologists face challenges in navigating through a male-dominated IT industry, the female entrepreneurs have it equally challenging when they have to code and/or sell those same products to an equally male-dominated business world. In China, some men have also made it their mission to introduce more women into the coding profession. For example, male engineer Wen Yang resigned from his job in a Chinese state-owned enterprises to found the Coding Girls Club that organizes workshops and camps for female computer engineers as he wants more women to join this profession in the name of gender equality and a belief in the equal abilities of men and women.89 All women have this potential capability to transform their female instincts to their advantage. They also have the advantage of technology in equalizing the playing field. BBC News reported that in the last half century, women have become more independent of men.90 Many have surpassed men in salaries and progress in different fields where technology is the great leveler that has opened up historically male-dominated sectors like manufacturing and military [as well as other technical fields] where women can now depend on brainpower and hand-eye coordination rather than body strength to do their work.91 There is, however, still room for improvements. Gao, Yun and Grace Shao, “Chinese women take on computer programming”. Nuwer, Rachel, “What if women were physically stronger than men?” dated 30 October 2017 in BBC News [downloaded on 1 Jan 2019], available at https://www. bbc.com/future/ article/20171027-what-if-women-were-physically-stronger-than-men 91  Ibid. 89  90 

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Data from online recruiter Boss Zhipin in early 2019 indicated that Chinese women earned 78.2 cents for every dollar paid to a man (a decline of nearly 9% from 2018).92 Many women can look up to female science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pioneers who blazed a trail for them despite the immense challenges and glass ceilings they faced. It also helps to know that some women were actually not just pioneers but originators of the scientific fields themselves, including for example, Countess Lovelace Ada. Now that STEM has become more attractive and accessible for women, one can expect more trailblazing achievements to be made and greater numbers of female entrants into the field. Women are already a majority in the developed world’s university student population, except in the IT and engineer departments. That may change in the near future, thanks to inspiration by the early pioneers. Women and men working together with stakes in scientific project management are likely to contribute even more collectively to human progress and development. It can only mean greater achievements, since humankind’s aspirations are not limited to the moon and lunar landing but are now being cast upon the red planet of Mars as a possible future colony and settlement for humankind. China has her own ambitions to land Chinese taikonauts (taikonauts is the Chinese term for astronauts) on the moon and eventually Mars. Undoubtedly, IT and communications technologies will play a major part in this venture. Women and men are likely to play an equal role in developing such technologies together. In addition to women, the pioneers mentioned above may also make it possible for racial minorities like African American women and gender minorities like transgender people in the world to catch up with mainstream majority individuals in the West. It may take a longer time for gender minorities to be normalized or/and recognized in the Northeast Asian (and Chinese) contexts. Increasing Dawson, Kelly, “China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution”. 92 

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recognition of their achievements may also open the way for more participation from their counterparts by breaking through barriers in place from the past. The pace and acceptance of such minority groups will be dependent on prevalent social trends and societal progress. In this sense, women’s achievements have inspired other minority groups to fight for recognition by the majority.

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Chapter Four

A New Age of Chinese Women Professionals in Traditionally Male-Dominated Arenas Like their counterparts in the West, Chinese women continue to break barriers even today. Bodybuilder Mou Cong won the prestigious title of Women’s Bodyfitness in the 11th Arnold Amateur International Bodybuilding & Bodyfitness Championships held in Columbus (Ohio) in 2017. The ‘Arnold’ namesake in the title refers to Hollywood A-list star Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Terminator movie fame. Considered the 2nd most prestigious award after the Mr Olympia Bodybuilding Contest, Mou was the first Chinese woman to win the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness’ Pro card after besting 15 world-class international rivals.1 She had spent a decade in tough training for the sport (in addition to three years of mixed martial arts experiences, wrestling, and free spar).2 Gym training is by no means part of the list of desirable activities for a traditional Chinese woman; rather, a slim figure was considered appropriate/attractive for Chinese women, something perpetuated in traditional Chinese cultural portrayals, educational materials, and

Wang, Xin, “China sees first Arnold bodybuilding female champion” dated 7 March 2017 in China Radio International CRI) [downloaded on 1 Jan 2019], available at http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/sports/13/20170307/1178.html 2  Ibid. 1 

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family education.3 Mou thus had to overcome gender stereotypes as well because she is tanned-skinned, buff, jacked and taut — very different from the traditional female aesthetic ideal of being fair skinned and slim.4 Mou herself dispelled this traditional notion of beauty: “There are many kinds of beauty. Maybe more and more Chinese women will show themselves at the Arnold contest next year”.5 Mou and many others are taking possession of their own bodies and physical appearances and creating diversified concepts of beauty that do not conform to ideals of male patriarchy and conservativism. Defying traditional notions and ideas about femininity, others have taken up the intensely physical sports of boxing. For example, Huang Wensi became the Asia Female Continental Super Flyweight Championship Gold champion in 2018. She is part of an expanding community of female boxers who like the intensity of boxing and want to challenge gender stereotypes and encourage more women to join the sport: “A woman is not just limited to being a wife or mother in the house”.6 Another ethnic Chinese woman, Doreen Fu from Taiwan, has the same thoughts. On her wedding day in September 2016, she wanted to make the point that strength training has been an integral part of her life and decided to display her strength, muscular power, and fitness as a way to highlight this.7 Fang, Nanlin, “Chinese women’s newest accessory: six-pack abs” dated 30 May 2018 in CNN Health [downloaded on 30 May 2018], available at https://edition. cnn.com/2018/05/29/health/china-majiaxian-gym-abs-trend-weibo-intl/index.html 4  Wang, Xin, “China sees first Arnold bodybuilding female champion”. 5  Ibid. 6  BBC News, “Chinese boxer fights depression to be ‘Queen of the Ring’“ dated 2 April 2019 in BBC News [downloaded on 2 April 2019], available at https:// www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-47786409 7  You, Tracy, “Meet ‘the world’s strongest bride’: Taiwanese fitness fanatic stuns guests with effortless pull-ups while wearing her wedding dress” dated 1 November 2016 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 1 Jan 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3890702/Meet-world-s-strongest-bride-Taiwanese-fitnessfanatic-stuns-guests-effortless-pull-ups-wearing-wedding-dress.html 3 

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Her low-back wedding gown showed off her jacked and buffed shoulders, biceps, and arms at her wedding in Kaohsiung, and she even went a step further to entertain her guests by doing perfectly executed pull-ups, earning her the title of “strongest bride” by the Daily Mail.8 Fu’s story was covered in the international media and she became a global news sensation. Similarly, on the mainland, Guangdong native Huang Wensi trained for boxing in 2002, became a provincial representative in 2005, retired in 2011 due to an injury, then made a successful comeback in 2016, overcoming post-pregnancy depression.9 She was able to do so because her husband, whom she met in 2015, is supportive and takes care of their son while she is training.10 Urban Farmers11 Chinese women are also making headway in another traditionally strength-intensive profession. They are getting interested in hightech urban farming. Farming used to be a male profession and traditionally, farmers were located at the second rung of the Confucian social hierarchy. At the very top of society were the Mandarins and Confucian scholar-gentry officials, followed by the farmers, then the artisans, and at the bottom of the pecking order were the merchants. The merchants were disdained for their profit-seeking and exploitative ways. Farmers were considered important food producers whose socioeconomic role was crucial to the survival of a society, thus they were second only to the scholar-gentry officials who obtained their titles after undergoing a grueling meritocratic process. Farming activities are making a comeback in Chinese cities. In You, Tracy, “Meet ‘the world’s strongest bride’: Taiwanese fitness fanatic stuns guests with effortless pull-ups while wearing her wedding dress”. 9  BBC News, “Chinese boxer fights depression to be ‘Queen of the Ring’“. 10  Ibid. 11  This section is partially featured in an upcoming issue of Dandelion 2020/2021 on urban farming published by the Tan Kah Kee Foundation. 8 

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Shanghai, urban farming is becoming a fad. It combines the benefits of harvesting fresh agricultural foods and enjoyment of green spaces many floors above ground in a large concrete jungle. The city is large, with more than 20 million denizens living in densely populated spaces. In the process of its urban growth, Shanghai has expanded into the surrounding farmlands, including those in Pudong. Some enterprising urban farmers are interested to bring farming and agricultural work into this urban setting. Further south, another Chinese city has similar ambitions. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities on Earth with 7.4 million people residing within 1,100 square kilometers (425 square miles) of land and, atop its gleaming skyscrapers, there is strong potential for rooftop farming, which is similarly gaining interest in Hong Kong.12 In fact, farming groups and conglomerates have also muscled their way in for a piece of the urban farming action. For example, Red Star Macalline Group (China’s largest furniture distributor) has its headquarters located on a rooftop agricultural space known as Yiyun (meaning “leaning on the clouds” in the Chinese language), cultivating chilies, white gourd, eggplant, chives, and other vegetables in a 4,600-square-meter green space, and the company extracts the vegetables for the company’s in-house canteen.13 In doing so, they are protecting their expensive rosewood furniture from heat through the rooftop farm (absorbing both sunrays and rainwater), adding a botanical touch to the city skyline, and breaking the concrete dullness with the natural green color, together with 20 other mature rooftop farms in Shanghai that provide Shanghainese Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong” dated 5 November 2019 in Reuters [downloaded on 5 November 2019], available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkongfarming-cities-feature-trfn/crops-in-the-clouds-the-rise-of-rooftop-farmingin-space-starved-hong-kong-idUSKBN1XF03P 13  Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops” dated 24 October 2017 in Sixth Tone [downloaded on 1 Jan 2019], available at http://www.sixthtone.com/ news/1001052/shanghais-edible-rooftops# 12 

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urbanites with the experience of farming in an urban setting.14 Hong Kong is slightly ahead in urban farming area usage. From 2008 to 2019, 60 rooftop farms (total surface area 15,000 square meters, 161,460 square feet) appeared in Hong Kong and the largest one is the 1200-square-meter (13,000-square-foot) Sky Garden in Metroplaza Mall located above a shopping center where residents can grow edible fruit and flowers as they participate in other lifestyle activities like mindful gardening.15 Chinese authorities are noticing the strong potential of having rooftop farming spaces. According to the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (September 2011 data), there is 10 billion square meters of growing rooftop space in Chinese cities, but state finances are needed due to the expensive costs of running such farms sustainably (though potentially offset by lower energy consumption due to soil insulation and prevention of drainage flooding from heavy rains).16 Hong Kong faces the same constraints in costs associated with running urban farms and most importantly with property prices. Property prices are a major cost deterrence. Both Shanghai and Hong Kong sit on prime real estate property. Hong Kong, in particular, is second only to Monaco in terms of property prices (according to data from property company Knight Frank).17 However, Rooftop Republic, a social enterprise, has been able to locate itself on top of the Hong Kong Business Environment Council headquarters, a non-profit organization (NPO) that promotes sustainability. Research based on 108 rooftop farmers also revealed that ¾ of them cited social value and socializing opportunities as the most important advantages of farm work.18 Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 16  Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. 17  Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 18  Ibid. 14  15 

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Yiyun’s lady founder Zhou Qun is passionate about this industry. As the boss of Red Star Macalline Group’s labor union, she initiated the Yiyun project in May 2015 shortly after completing a study tour of rooftop farming in Wuxi.19 Yiyun became profitable just a year later with an initial investment of 800,000 yuan (US$120,500).20 Hong Kong’s cost-benefit analysis is more esoteric and intangible. The significance and importance of Hong Kong’s rooftop farms which have legal status is reiterated in the authorities’ New Agricultural Policy paper (2014) and the HK 2030+ strategic plan. This encouraged NPO activities to push for urban planners creating ecosystems to cultivate Hong Kongers’ connection to nature by integrating the spaces for entertainment, workplace, residence, and community farms.21 Both Rooftop Republic and Yiyun shows contributions made by Chinese women in urban farming. The founder of both projects were Chinese women. The counterpart to Yiyun’s Zhou Qun in the case of Rooftop Republic is Michelle Hong (co-founder of Rooftop Republic) and most of her company’s staff members and, in addition, her company’s business model is also especially particularly attractive to women who form the majority of applicants whenever there were positions open for recruitment in her company.22 While the aims and objectives are notable, there are nevertheless obstacles in the way of urban farmers both in Shanghai and in Hong Kong. In Shanghai, Zhou Qun was alert in spotting all the obstacles that any would-be urban farmers would have to overcome. Zhou noted that the capital outlay for construction/maintenance (including logistics needed to move the soil up to the rooftop) deters Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. Ibid. 21  Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 22  Boyde, Emma, “Rooftop initiative brings farms to Hong Kong skyline” dated 17 October 2019 in Financial Times [downloaded on 17 October 2019], available at https://www.ft.com/content/114ea900-d64e-11e9-8d46-8def889b4137 19  20 

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“a smaller company [as it] would not be able to afford it”, along with lack of government guidelines/subsidies, despite the fact that central/municipal authorities understand that exposed rooftops consume energy but have powerful potential ecological benefits.23 Hong Kong’s case study has shown many advantages of urban farming along the line of ecological benefits. Ecological and agricultural experts’ studies opine that rooftop farms produce food, green spaces, biodiversity, awareness of ecology/wellbeing/food systems, and lowers the heat island effect on cities (i.e. heat absorbed by dark-colored roads and buildings).24 They also have the ability to shape the city’s human-centric landscape and cooperation with architects/bureaucrats/developers for future urban developments, bridging formal and informal city planning.25 There are revenuegenerating schemes in place in Shanghai to make such ecological benefits sustainable in dollars and cents. Yiyun tried hard to selffund by retailing their products but Chinese customers are reluctant to buy pricier organic vegetables so Yiyun tried charging 119 yuan for group visits by those keen on farming experience and relaxing scenery.26 Still, the costs can be prohibitive so it relies on a one-year subsidy of 350,000 yuan for its environmental initiative to sustain some activities.27 The group visitor option attracts children who want to experience nature in an urban environment in Shanghai. It is also a good learning opportunity for them in picking ideas and concepts about nature and farming. Further south, Hong Kong has taken a step further and started an academy in the urban farm, giving formal lessons and teaching urban farming professionally as a subject. The previously Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 25  Ibid. 26  Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. 27  Ibid. 23  24 

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mentioned Rooftop Republic, established in 2015, has constructed over 50 urban farms and started its own training school in March 2019 to conduct lessons on urban farming with a curriculum on botany, organic farming, and soil/pest/weed/water resources management, thus encouraging a healthy lifestyle while learning about nature.28 It trained about 150 farmers in 2020.29 Two women lead the crusade to try to make rooftop gardening a success in Shanghai. Zhou Qun argues for leading by example: If the nation implements concrete policies to lead [the growth of rooftop farms], others will be happy to follow…If not, it could be very hard for enterprises to take sole responsibility and promote it little by little.30

Ke Fangfang (Guan Sheng Yuan Group’s 700-square-meter rooftop Sky Farm) opined: The government promotes roof greening, but greening is something that you have to throw money into maintaining every year.31

Women seem to be a major group of enthusiasts in the case of Hong Kong as well.32 Women have become an important group of urban farming/rooftop farming enthusiasts. They are exhausted with working/residing in skyscrapers and dealing with extended working hours, making them lose connections with Mother Nature in the concrete jungle. Hong Konger Jessica Cheng (a non-profit Rooftop Republic student) argues, “We’ve become detached from the history of the sea and land that Hong Kong ha[s]”.33 Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 29  Ibid. 30  Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. 31  Ibid. 32  Boyde, Emma, “Rooftop initiative brings farms to Hong Kong skyline”. 33  Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 28 

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Other than providing landscaped natural beauty in the concrete jungle, urban farms like Sky Farm are innovating new strategies for rooftop farming to make it profitable, e.g., giving 300 farmers rental plots registered via an app and the opportunity to grow and monitor their own produce in real time over livestream while watering or sunning them remotely via the app.34 Ke Fangfang opined, “It is very easy to lose the sense of novelty if you’re just playing on your phone”, and so there are rental planters (99 yuan per month) to help these amateur farmers cope with Shanghai’s large contrast in weather conditions (from sweltering wet summers to cold humid winters).35 In Hong Kong, urban farm academy student Alyson Hamilton (an educator who manages her educational institution’s micro-garden) considers the educational value of urban farms as the most important point in running such facilities: “(My) students have no knowledge about food, where it comes from, how much plastic it comes in”.36 Ultimately, capital and business sustainability are market forces that will determine the success of urban farming. It helps to have well-capitalized backers to support the initiatives. Fortunately, Ke works for the venerable 100-year old Guan Sheng Yuan Group (that used to produce the iconic White Rabbit candy). It enjoys a one-time construction state subsidy for Sky Farm in addition to working with other local community stakeholders, hosting events and farm education for revenue, and attracting rental planters by offering fast-growing weather-resistant crops for these customers.37 In the case of Hong Kong, urban farms can also mitigate aging population issues. They keep the elderly healthy/mentally alert, growing old where they live/ farm and involved in communities that care for each other and the crops while close to Mother Nature. It also nudges planters toward a realization of the inadequate supply of natural sunlight, potable Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. Ibid. 36  Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 37  Liang, Chenyu, “Shanghai’s Edible Rooftops”. 34  35 

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water, and clean air, and prompts questioning about whether cities are indeed most ideal for human habitation.38 If urban farming becomes part of community activities and growth, then the cost factor will be subsumed into community maintenance costs and budgets, and hopefully become less prohibitive. Women Stone Carvers Urban farming goes beyond subsistence farming to create aesthetic landscapes for stress relief by mimicking natural sceneries and beauty. Urban farms are oases of green sitting in the middle of concrete jungles. Incidentally, landscaping is also traditionally a profession associated with Chinese men. Within the context of traditional Chinese garden landscaping, the inclusion of rocks serves to represent the mountains (jiasan) in a Chinese traditional landscape with flowing streams. In recent years, however, Chinese women have made inroads into this traditional landscape rock industry as well. Ye Zi, a Fujianese Shoushan stone sculptor from Pucheng county, specializes in Chinese classical landscapes and her idyllic hometown scenes adopt a “draw on the traditional and innovate the new” strategy, whereby she combines traditional carving and Western sculpting skills to create her works.39 Ye works on her trademark Shanxiuyuan stone (a non-mainstream kind of soapstone) and draws artistic influence from the symbolism of pine trees, banana leaves, plum blossoms, maidens enjoying reading, and scholars playing musical instruments found in ancient poems.40 Her carvings are so attractive that collectors have become Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong”. 39  China Daily, “Female sculptor infuses culture into Shoushan stone carvings” dated 12 March 2018 in China Daily website [downloaded on 12 March 2018], available at http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2018-03/12/content_50700714_3.htm 40  Ibid. 38 

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more appreciative of her artistic representations than the value of the stones she carves on.41 Thus, even common Laos stone and Shoushan stones have had their value enhanced after receiving intricate, innovative, and fresh carvings. As Ye Shaobo, Director of the Fujian Arts Industry Association, explained, Chinese sculptors are reflecting more of their personality in their works while continuing with the traditional technique of Shoushan stone carving.42 The Female Chinese Consumer With the rise of China and its growing wealth, women are also fulfilling another socio-economic role as consumers. The mass media and its influence has foisted a powerful influence on female consumption in China, driving fashion trends and consumption patterns. The Chinese state is aware of the power of the mass media and social media in shaping the lifestyles, fashion trends, and clothing choices of Chinese women, hence they want to regulate what is permissible on such media. For example, Chinese authorities in central China promulgated regulations for live-streaming hostesses, making it illegal for them to put on lingerie, sexy uniforms, seethrough, flesh-colored or figure-hugging clothing.43 A consumption-focused lifestyle is not universally viewed with approval by everyone in China; in fact, for conservative Chinese men, materialism in women is considered negative. This is especially true in the case of initial impressions during the social ritual of dating. As previously mentioned, when Yale-educated and Manhattan-trained lawyer June Ding returned to China to date, she China Daily, “Female sculptor infuses culture into Shoushan stone carvings”. Ibid. 43  You, Tracy, “Female bodybuilder is accused of spreading pornographic content online by Chinese police after posting a video of her posing in bikini” dated 19 February 2019 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 19 February 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6720179/Female-bodybuilder-accusedspreading-porn-posting-bikini-video.html 41  42 

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downplayed her Western-style cleavage-revealing sexuality and avoided any show of material opulence, favoring instead humble sweaters and a quiet demeanor in order to score at dates with Chinese men.44 Fashion has also been utilized by some Chinese women as a vehicle to break social stereotypes and/or even begin social revolution. Chinese professional bodybuilder Lara Zhang advocates greater freedom for women to express their physical beauty. She encouraged her 600,000 Weibo followers not to engage in social stereotypes such as traditional expectations for women to be gentle, delicate, and fragile: “Bikinis are meant to display the beauty of women, highlight the proportion of [their bodies] and display the outcome of training...”.45 In such cases, differences in social status or display of social disparities between women from higher socioeconomic classes and men below their standing can be an obstacle to relationship formation or marriages. While this has created a conundrum for relationship-building, materialism has driven some women to become mistresses. 27-year-old Ivy, adorned with a Cartier watch, Dior bag, Chanel earrings, cashmere Burberry coat, and Louis Vuitton shoes, is a mistress who blandly pointed out: In the eyes of many Chinese men, a beautiful girl can only be beautiful so long as she’s useless and completely lost and destroyed without a man supporting her…And a smart girl can only be smart so long as she isn’t too beautiful to be taken seriously.46

Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands” dated 20 April 2020 in Financial Review [downloaded on 20 April 2020], available at https://www.afr.com/world/asia/why-chinas-women-are-feigningsubservience-to-win-husbands-20180418-h0ywtf 45  You, Tracy, “Female bodybuilder is accused of spreading pornographic content online by Chinese police after posting a video of her posing in bikini”. 46  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 44 

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Not everyone agrees with this view. There are beautiful Chinese women who are powerful, strong, fit, and muscular, but they tend to have their own set of admirers and haters. Thus, although not all Chinese women who do not fall into the same category as Ivy are defined as aesthetically ugly, they are considered acquired tastes that invite mixed reactions. Beautiful Chinese women, especially those who do not fit into the traditional mold of feminine beauty, can be ambiguously admired and condemned simultaneously by male gazes. Professional bodybuilder Lara Zhang’s competitive poses represent this kind of ambiguity in male reception. Her bulging but healthy muscles and sexy poses have invited mixed reactions.47 She is considered ‘beautiful’, ‘sexy’, and ‘inspiring’ by her friends (and social media fans), but conservative men criticized her broadcasted clips, calling them ‘vulgar’, ‘disgusting’, and ‘unattractive’.48 Chinese authorities accused her of making porn and threatened to send her to jail but Zhang countered their attack by launching a lawsuit claiming that she had only done regular bodybuilding poses).49 Between Ivy’s svelte/sexy figure and the bulging muscular physique of Lara, there are growing leagues of men who accept and have become fans of women who are fit, taut, lean, and muscular, but not bulging and can look sexy in bikinis. The female divisions of ‘fitness,’ ‘figure’, and ‘bikini’ of bodybuilding championships have the largest numbers of fans in China, as International Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo Head Judge Rocky Cao explained: Bikini is the most popular now because it’s the most accessible… People, especially in China, prefer women to be more fit and feminine. Bodybuilding for women got cancelled because it’s too You, Tracy, “Female bodybuilder is accused of spreading pornographic content online by Chinese police after posting a video of her posing in bikini”. 48  Ibid. 49  Ibid. 47 

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muscular — you couldn’t tell if it was a guy or a woman at all…For bikini, the judge needs to see that you’ve trained and have a healthy diet…You have to be thin, but not as lean as the physique athletes.50

IWF Shanghai is China’s largest fitness, wellness, and bodybuilding event. Therefore, it is a major source of institutional influence on shaping the ideas of Chinese female aesthetics. On the other hand, other Chinese women are keener on seeking traditional notions of feminine beauty. In search of materialism, therefore, some Chinese women like Ivy capitalized on their looks for social mobility and material well-being. Hailing from a humble background in second-tier Chongqing city, Ivy depended on her beauty and talents to enter a well-known drama institution in Beijing and worked in movie distribution after graduation.51 It was in this job that Ivy got to know wealthy individuals at movie premieres and started her involvement with married men, eventually even owning a Porsche Carrera.52 However, newer generations of Chinese women appear to be moving away from male dependence altogether. They see no need to seduce men to be their protectors, patrons, or husbands. They want to be respected as successful educated women, accomplished executives, and savvy business owners without snide remarks or condescending comments from male counterparts. This is especially so for the more Western-educated, liberal-leaning, independent modern women in China, including possibly the most Western-influenced part of China — Hong Kong — which implements Western-style education for the masses. An example of

Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China” dated 23 April 2016 in Thatsmag [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www. thatsmags.com/china/post/13273/bikinis-bronzer-and-bodybuilding-in-china 51  Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 52  Ibid. 50 

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such women breaking social perceptions and glass ceilings is Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Kay Kay Keung. Despite being a successful gym owner, Keung experienced remarks from her male colleagues who asked why she did not wear make-up or pull the zip of her jacket lower to be more seductive/attractive for men.53 In Keung’s mind, however, she wants to be respected more as a successful female entrepreneur than a pretty face who can lure clients through strategic use of her physical appearance or the clothes she wears. Other accomplished mainland women also echo their Hong Kong counterparts’ in this respect. They want to feel accomplished and be independent based on their achievements rather than seek validation from other men. Sun Xin, a Beijing anchorwoman, explains the connection between beauty and muscles: Ever since I started to do some anaerobic exercise, lifting weights and strength training, my weight started to fix at 46 kilograms, even if I eat a lot as the hostess of a gourmet show and sometimes can’t go to the gym for a week…I also look better in clothes with some muscles on my shoulders and back.54

Thus, materialism in acquiring branded goods is no longer sufficient to satisfy the powerful desires of Chinese women. They also want physical well-being and muscles to fulfil their self-actualization needs and feed their desire to feel independent, strong, and powerful; regardless of what Chinese men think and regardless of what the state wants. This is a desire driven by personal and egocentric needs and a powerful self-driven sense of vanity for Cheung, Rachel, “Three Hong Kong women weightlifters who aren’t shy about showing their muscles” dated 14 October 2017 in South China Morning Post (SCMP) [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.scmp.com/ lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2115080/three-hong-kong-women-weightlifterswho-arent-shy-about 54  Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?” dated 5 May 2015 in Global Times [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at http://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/920206.shtml 53 

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sophisticated metropolitan Chinese women, especially those living in first-tier cities. Even Ivy has mentioned getting tired of being a mistress despite the attractive monetary compensation. She aspires to retire before she gets too old and without being over-dependent on the income from being a mistress.55 She wants to get married after making enough for herself and her parents and before she becomes a ‘leftover woman (shengnu)’.56 More Chinese women seemed to have moved on from merely focusing on external possessions they can acquire (branded materialism) to having a physique to flaunt as an indicator of social status. The status symbol has thus shifted from tangible markers of material wealth to intangible and more esoteric ideals of muscular power, physical strength, and healthy well-being. This may be a little-noticed transition of Chinese women from the industrial/modernization age to the post-industrial/postmodern society today. Previously mentioned Sun Xun (31-years-old, 46 kg, 1.73 cm height, Beijing anchorwoman) is the embodiment of the new-age Chinese woman with a strict diet and five-day weekly gym routine to gain muscles, bulging abs (now a sign of social status), and tanned skin; her appearance today is a far cry from her 55 kg high school frame: My weight wasn’t stable back then. If I stopped running for a month, my weight would increase dramatically…My body was also very loose. I still had some fat in my arms and belly although I was already very thin.57

In making the decision to get fit, Sun had chosen power and physical strength, as well as other unconventional markers of Lake, Roseann, “Why China’s women are feigning subservience to win husbands”. 56  Ibid. 57  Zhang, Xinyuan, “Is strong the new skinny?”. 55 

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feminine beauty over traditional ideals of a slim, thin, or even waiflike delicate frame. Some powerful Chinese women even involve their fans in shaping their looks through the use of social media. One such example is Mou Cong—fitness expert, champion bodybuilder, mixed martial arts accomplished boxer, gym owner, and social media celebrity. Before Mou left for Columbus, Ohio to compete in a bodybuilding world championship where she took home two titles, she gave her online fans a teaser. She uploaded photos of herself in different bikinis on her social media account. She asked her fans to select her competition outfit and the popular choice eventually was a shiny silver rhinestones bikini which Mou wore with makeup to display her ‘oriental beauty’ which she wanted to introduce on the international stage.58 Mou’s message of gratitude to her fans was: “never give up chasing your dreams” and she made it clear that her own dream was the Olympic Games.59 Many of these superwomen have high aspirations. Besides Olympics Games dreams, other super-competitive women are demanding for more muscularity in bodybuilding competitions and female strength-intensive sports events. Competitive bodybuilder Lisa Liu is a successful gym photography studio owner in Beijing and also China’s most successful fitness athlete with supplement sponsorship.60 She trains hard for 4-5 hours daily and can bench press 100 kg; unsurprisingly, she imposes very high standards for herself and her country’s standards of bodybuilding: Judging in China is below par…The bikini contest is more about beauty than muscles. As long as female contestants look beautiful and skinny, judges think they’re great — even if they don’t have You, Tracy, “Face of an angel, body of the Hulk: Meet the fitness champion who’s dubbed ‘the prettiest bodybuilder’“ dated 13 March 2017 in Daily Mail [downloaded on 1 January 2019], available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-4309176/Meet-fitness-guru-dubbed-prettiest-bodybuilder.html 59  Ibid. 60  Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. 58 

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muscles. A woman I know is a pole-dancing teacher, who never spends time building up her muscles, but she does well in competitions every time because she’s beautiful.61

Successful Chinese women have the power to command leagues of fans to do their bidding in support of a self-centric quest to reach personal goals. Such powerful display of individualism continues to break the mold of a collectivist society like China’s, situated in a Northeast Asian regional culture that tends to emphasize communalism, community-building, groupism, collectivism, and falling in line with authority. Feminism is a powerful route to the individualistic pursuit of self-centric goals and has a transformative impact on a traditionally collectivist society like China. Legions of male fans now subscribe to these powerful physically strong goddesses like Mou. These men are awed by their beauty and strength. Bikini athletes with powerful taut, jacked, and buff bodies thus become celebrities on stage in competitions like the IWF. Their fans use smartphones, iPads, and even zoom lens cameras to shoot the muscular women decked out in immaculate makeup, rhinestone-shiny bikinis, and attractive high heels, and they are rewarded by “overtly flirtatious hair flicks, pouts and playful smiles”.62 It is a celebration of female strength and also the ability of strong females to project sexuality on their own terms.

Holland, Oscar, “Bikinis, Bronzer and Bodybuilding in China”. Ibid.

61  62 

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Chapter Five

Conclusion Confucian ideology homogenized cultural influence in China. After forced unification by Emperor Qin millennia ago, Chinese centralization and unification under the concept of tianxia (all under the heavens) created a powerful centralized state that acted as a centripetal force to hold the periphery to the center. Thus, the most important factor in all major social engineering projects was, and still is, state support. The state (a modern successor to the imperial system) prescribes duties, behavioral norms, and social agendas. In the current political/ideological atmosphere, there is some convergence of selected Confucian values with state ideologies. This was visible in the policy analyses and individual case studies discussed in earlier chapters. In the case of China, the state is mandating that women have to play a unique role when it comes to household and family responsibilities. Thus, household duties are not considered as (unpaid) work but part of a nurturing role that women should have as guardians of family values. Given that there is now the Two Child Policy in place to combat aging and declining population growth, the traditional roles of women have been re-introduced in the context of social engineering the reversal of demographic decline. The Chinese state maintains that it is gender-neutral in this aspect, although a revival of Confucian values may create ‘gender-neutral policies with Chinese characteristics’. The state wants to empower women 101

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on its own terms and use it to buttress social harmony, which in turn can reinforce the political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. Women’s individual rights are a peripheral issue as compared to the important roles they can play in ensuring smooth implementation of state policies, creating a harmonious society where the young and the elderly are taken care of and, ultimately, party survival. Confucianism has a saying that highlights the importance and significance of individuals and their responsibility to society: xiushen, qijia, zhiguo, pingtianxia (self-cultivation leads to immaculate households which gives rise to an orderly state that results in peace and harmony under the heavens). Thus, women’s individual roles are considered directly consequential and therefore subjugated to the collective. In China (as compared to other Northeast Asia countries like Japan and South Korea), the gender ceiling was broken by an authoritarian Maoist state that was interested in maximum mobilization of female resources for meeting state goals. Traditionalism and Confucian values prevented complete destruction of male-centered values and thus, when ideological gender-neutrality went too far and started to pose a threat to the party (e.g., non-state-led feminism, radical women’s movements, breakdown of family values, rampant individualism amongst women, etc.), traditional values were allied to state ideology to push back against those challenges. A decline in rankings of gender parity (by Western standards from the perspective of Chinese planners) is visible in the Chinese case, and Western sources attribute the trend to state policies and backsliding of previous freedoms and rights. The Chinese state-owned media promotes a different narrative: the need for China to place collective state goals above that of individual freedoms and rights. Its narrative places emphasis on a continuity of emancipation (albeit modified for family constructions) rather than the discontinuity in individual rights provision highlighted in the Western media. In China, some party elements are re-introducing gendered roles in public education allied to state goals and party priorities, although

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any return to pre-modern feudalism or full-fledged orthodox Confucianism is out of the question. Similarly, the introduction of Western liberal values and emphases on individual human rights in the Western pluralistic and activist sense is considered naive. This was a point mentioned by some Chinese intellectuals based overseas on the topic of gender issues in China. In China, the major imperative is to arrest the decline of population growth and encourage young couples to procreate again. That objective is likely to become a major priority for mass education in China. In China, the mass media as well as social media are filtered through a Great Firewall and Industry 4.0 algorithms. Materials available for viewing are likely to reinforce state goals and objects. The centralized state maintains a powerful control on information flow. There is a reversal in attitudes towards civil society activism. Education reforms are state-centered and promulgated from political party elites within the politburo, then implemented by the State Council executive mechanism. In the case of China, the pendulum that swings between liberal individual rights and gender equality on one side and socially engineered constructed emancipation shaped by social conservatism on the other is mediated by the state. Policy changes are made based on party priorities expressed through party mechanisms (of which the politburo standing committee is at the apex) and through state mechanisms like the State Council. Consultations takes place through state-led grassroots organs or the purely consultative twin parliaments of the National People’s Congress and China People’s Political Consultative Conference.

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b2530   International Strategic Relations and China’s National Security: World at the Crossroads

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Epilogue: Post COVID-19 Job Situation Introduction In the final stage of this writing, the world experienced the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic required lockdown in many parts of the world, numerous jobs were affected. This in turn had tremendous impact on both men and women, ethnic Chinese or otherwise. At this point in time, it may thus be useful to do some general/global trendspotting with regard to the kinds of jobs that are still be tenable or sectors that are still hiring in the post-pandemic or post-lockdown era (particularly with reference to the impact on women). After the first two waves of infections, some parts of the global economy are re-opening again. The first few months of the pandemic impacted some sectors severely. Aviation, travel, tourism/ hospitality, and retail sectors virtually came to a standstill or were severely affected, and there are two schools of thoughts with regard to the future of these business sectors. Some feel that sectors like cinemas, traditional malls, and airport car rental will never be able to recover again. Others feel that though these retail sectors are the first victims, they may also be the earliest to return to a normal postpandemic in a gradual and long-drawn manner as people start getting used to a new normal and/or when they start earning a regular salary again.

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Green Transportation Many are now turning their eyes to the kinds of jobs that are sustainable in the post-COVID-19 era. According to a study by the International Labor Organization and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe,1 openings in the environmentally friendly transportation sector are expected to add 15 million jobs in the post-COVID-19 economy while enhancing well-being, achieving sustainable development, and benefitting the economy.2 Business sustainability in the manufacturing sector has necessitated energy and renewable/green businesses roles to sustain reduced pollutants in the pre-pandemic era with the objective of self-production of energy and food, health products, and leisurely activities.3 50% of all automobiles produced are going to be electric, adding approximately 10 million more jobs internationally, and producing green products is a way to make the world better by reducing the greenhouse effect, air/noise pollution, fossil fuel spending, as well as increasing the number of renewable energy jobs and easing traffic conditions.4

International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, “Jobs in green and healthy transport: Making the green shift” dated 2020 (Geneva: United Nations), 2020, [downloaded on 1 August 2020], available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_745151.pdf 2  Newsroom, “REPORTS — Post-pandemic ‘green shift’ in transport could create up to 15 million” dated 20 May 2020 in Modern Diplomacy Newsroom [downloaded on 20 May 2020], available at https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/05/20/ post-pandemic-green-shift-in-transport-could-create-up-to-15-million-jobs/ 3  Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future” dated 4 May 2020 in London School of Economics website [downloaded on 4 May 2020], available at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/careers/2020/05/04/newworld-order/ 4  Newsroom, “REPORTS — Post-pandemic ‘green shift’ in transport could create up to 15 million”. 1 

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Logistics Related to transportation, the logistics industry is facing a renaissance of sorts due to the need for more delivery of goods as brick and mortar businesses remain locked down. Supply chain roles include planners, analysts, and technology specialists who can connect hitherto unconnected parts of the supply chain to provide a responsive, slick operation that can be dialed up or down depending on demand. Logistics roles include fulfilment, warehousing, transport and delivery management, all of which marks the need for companies and other institutions to transport goods from the producer to the customers/clientele via access through the best distribution channels, as well as enhanced productivity carefully tracked by data managers/analysts (e.g., Amazon recruited 100,000 personnel to cope with increased demand during the pandemic).5 It is expected that many women will take up these jobs, including part-timers and those who had been working in the informal economy. In creating these 100,000 new positions, Amazon has a specialist team that will ensure many of these jobs will have similar salaries regardless of gender and they will also not ask about salary history when filling up these jobs to reduce discrimination.6 This is especially since women tend to request for lower salaries and are not as comfortable negotiating their salaries.7 Manufacturing The logistics industries work closely with the manufacturing sector for the production and delivery of goods. It is argued that Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. Lucas, Suzanne, “Amazon to Hire 100,000 Without Asking for Salary History” dated 25 Jan 2018 in Inc.com [downloaded on 25 Jan 2018], available at https:// www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/amazon-to-hire-100000-without-asking-for-salaryhistory-women-still-hit-hardest.html 7  Ibid. 5  6 

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manufacturing has an advantage in post-pandemic recovery because, unlike the services/retail sector, the manufacturing sector can ramp up production in order to catch up with lost/delayed orders from customers. The pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of global supply chains as over-reliance on overseas production has affected national security with many countries facing shortages in vital supplies like face masks, ventilators, food supply, and disinfectants. Therefore, there has been a global reconfiguration of supply chains involved in making such vital goods to relocate such manufacturing capacity back to their own countries. The fast moving consumer goods sector is poised to search for new human resource talents for their re-energized production, sales/marketing, and their back-office functions (e.g., finance, human resources, procurement etc.).8 Work from Home Jobs In the developed economies, according to Statistics Canada, job losses were largely concentrated in sectors where working from home is impossible, including retail, restaurants/hotels, construction, and manufacturing; the service sector experienced the worse performance — occupations in beauty/wellness, food-making, and hospitality/tourism.9 In particular, the beauty/wellness industry requires physical spaces like gyms to conduct lessons, sessions, or therapy. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this industry was experiencing a boom amongst Chinese women (both in mainland China and societies with ethnic Chinese majorities). For such Chinese women, their dreams and aspirations may well need to be put on hold until social distancing requirements are removed from the Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. Flanagan, Ryan, “These jobs may be most in-demand in a post-pandemic Canada” dated 22 May 2020 in CTVNews Canada [downloaded on 22 May 2020], available at https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/these-jobs-maybe-most-in-demand-in-a-post-pandemic-canada-1.4947022 8  9 

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anti-coronavirus measures and when the general economy bounces back from the current sharp recession at the point of this writing. An examination of global trends, including the employment situation in the advanced economies, can perhaps provide suggestions of the categories of jobs that will be revived earlier in the first-tier cities of China. In advanced economies like Canada, for example, admin jobs (administrative assistants, receptionists, data entry, and customer service) were the first to be lost but healthcare workers like physicians, personal support employees, and nurses continue to be in high demand. It is noteworthy that many of these healthcare jobs, like that of nurses, are dominated by women.10 Regardless of whether work is performed from home or in an office, project and program managers to deliver outputs will remain in demand, i.e., strategic leaders skilled in formulating a macro perspective of problems, networking with stakeholders, comprehending complexity and decisively tackling it; innovators with entrepreneurial mindsets to provide solutions for urgent problems; communicators to provide accurate information and secure buy in from stakeholders for new ideas; and linguists/translators in the new connect and collaborate world.11 In many of these jobs, women who are generally considered stronger (compared to men) in soft skills may have an advantage over men, i.e., working as linguists, networkers, communicators, etc. Nursing and Healthcare In Hubei where the coronavirus was discovered, for example, women make up 90% of all nurses in the province, offering close

Flanagan, Ryan, “These jobs may be most in-demand in a post-pandemic Canada”. 11  Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. 10 

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and intimate care for patients.12 They are indeed the real heroes of the pandemic recovery work. Women who work behind the scenes are invisible to many members of the public, unless there are attention-grabbing headlines like nurses who shaved their heads or advocacy by the All China Women’s Federation to include female sanitary products in epidemic response gear when female medics in Hubei could not get tampons during the emergency period.13 There is a whole ecosystem of healthcare jobs that will face acute need in the pandemic and post-pandemic world. They are not just nurses and clinicians but also pharmacists, care-givers, health trust managers, and professional service providers (including those in procurement, finance, demand management, recruitment, and training in health services, health policy, research, and management roles in government at regional, national, and international levels); digital health analysts (including data scientists and infection tracing specialists); emergency services roles (front line paramedics to the police and leaders, strategists); crisis managers and planners for steering the future of the sector; and scientists and researchers (including virologists and microbiologists in research and academic institutions, private laboratories, and pharmaceutical companies).14 Remote Employment Healthcare, dominated by women in the caregiving sub-sector, is amongst the top three sectors where there are hiring activities. Based on LinkedIn data (confirmed by LinkedIn Talent Solutions UNDP China, “How Gender Inequality Harms Our COVID-19 Recovery — Views From China” dated 10 April 2020 in UNDP [downloaded on 10 April 2020], available at https://www.cn.undp.org/content/china/en/home/ourperspective/ourperspectivearticles/2020/how-gender-inequality-harms-our-covid-19-recovery--views-from-ch.html 13  Ibid. 14  Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. 12 

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Senior Director Adam Gregory), information technology/software services/telecommunications (increased 17.3%), healthcare (up 12.6%), and finance (topped 10.3%) are the top three performers in terms of employment trends with the latter two sectors allowing for remote work.15 In the financial sector, economists are expected to be in great demand giving advisory to governments, banks, research institutes, and companies to recover from the pandemic’s economic damage, perhaps with some adjustments to consultancy fees while demand may be affected by reduced intake of banking and finance graduates.16 The technology sector likewise will likely boom. Technologies for social distancing to combat COVID-19 and collaboration, communication, entertainment, information, data, and other tech services will create incentives for jobs in this sector.17 Childcare and Education Childcare is another area of interest in the pandemic and postpandemic economy. All over the world, women’s jobs and careers have been affected by the need to stay at home to look after their children due to the pandemic. In the United States alone, 14% of women are thinking of resigning in order to handle family duties like childcare, especially given homeschooling requirements; the nation-wide survey also found that 42% of women respondents reported decreasing work productivity.18 There is thus demand Boddy, Natasha, “Demand soars in three industries as pandemic drives massive job losses” dated 30 March 2020 in Financial Review [downloaded on 30 March 2020], available at https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/careers/demand-soarsin-three-industries-as-pandemic-drives-massive-job-losses-20200327-p54ep3 16  Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. 17  Ibid. 18  Park, Sumner, “Workload disparities during coronavirus pandemic taking toll on women’s careers: Survey” dated 4 May 2020 in Fox Business [downloaded on 4 May 2020], available at https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/coronavirushome-online-work-women-pandemic 15 

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for childcare/homecare by such women so that they can once again perform optimally at the workplace. Childcare is also related to educational needs. The pandemic has changed the way learning and assessment/examinations are implemented in schools, universities, and educational institutions with the advent of remote learning, collaborative educational tools, and qualification verification; such technologies necessitate new skills for teachers and educational/learning infrastructures.19 Essential Services The essential services and workers will also continue to be in demand. These include fast food workers, sanitation workers, grocery store workers, nurses, healthcare workers, and teachers. The proliferation of such jobs for both women and men would depend on the availability of basic personal protective equipment, health benefits, medical leave, paid vacations, and a decent living wage, given that they are under the pressure of being labeled as “essential”, which is another way of defining these workers as people who cannot stop working.20 Thus, the growth of these essential jobs would require some kind of re-configuration of job scope, benefits, and work mode. Again, women make up a significant portion of essential workers, if not the majority, in most economies. Civil Service Another line of government jobs in demand would be disasterresponse services to manage ongoing and future pandemics. They Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. 20  Jaffe, Sarah, “The Post-Pandemic Future of Work” dated 1 May 2020 in The New Republic [downloaded on 1 May 2020], available at https://newrepublic. com/article/157504/post-pandemic-future-work 19 

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include project and program managers for the management and implementation of governments’ resources/commitments (e.g., organizing/coordinating volunteers into effective/efficient/productive taskforces or allocating/distributing medical equipment expeditiously); disaster and crisis response roles (e.g., decisive mobilization and speedy implementation of specialist teams); risk assessment managers to handle political/financial/societal/environmental risks and manage economic/health challenges; as well as labor market planners to meet the demand for new products/services needing new jobs/skills/approaches to education.21 Both men and women will need to be re-directed to these jobs in the pandemic and post-pandemic world in order to remain in employment. Women are especially vulnerable since many of them worked in the informal sector, part-time jobs, and the service/retail sectors in the prepandemic era, all of which are vulnerable sectors exposed to the pandemic. Thus, it is essential to help re-direct, re-train, and re-deploy women to the job growth sectors that include those listed above (not a comprehensive list). In some of these jobs, new modes of working (e.g., working from home), re-designing of protocols (e.g., in the healthcare sector with emphasis on safety), and re-configuration of work is needed (e.g., to fit women who may need to homeschool, stay at home in lockdown but still deliver work output). Post-COVID Economic Climate and Job Environment: Current and Future Directions for Employment and the Required Skills and Competencies22 In terms of skills training in the future, regardless of gender and nationality, there is a need to have emphasis on digital platforms, Williamson, Garcia, “The New World Order: Jobs For A Post-Pandemic Future”. 22  There are sections drawn from: Lim, Tai Wei, Industrial Revolution 4.0, Tech Giants, and Digitized Societies (London and NY: Palgrave Macmillan), 2019. 21 

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robotics and automation, and their applications in practical sectorspecific settings like the seaports and airports. These facilities will literally become test-beds and living labs for companies to test their new tech and gear through specific programs. Industry 4.0 technologies like robots can also create more jobs and/or foster further cross-disciplinary skills acquisition amongst humans. For example, industrial robots integrated into healthcare may require the training of new skills like surgeons picking up robotics engineering or robotic surgeries. Therefore, medical students may have to be cross-trained in engineering modules while robotics engineers may need to be familiar with medical procedures to design the appropriate robots. Universities, polytechnics, or institutes of technical education may have to consider training non-traditional tertiary students given such ongoing trends. Re-designing training and jobs creates demand for design thinking to map out how a job and its tasks are managed in a company. These maps are then analyzed by management to segregate assignments that require human skills versus robot-capable tasks. In this way, planners will be able to identify the parts of the work process that still require human inputs. It will also help companies plan ahead with regard to projecting how many full-time and part-time/seasonal workers are needed. In re-designing the workplace, businesses (including entrepreneurs), governments, other stakeholders are now trying to differentiate human skills from standardized assignments or repetitive tasks based on logic that can be executed by robots. Human resource departments are now seeking candidates who possess characteristics that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate, such as empathy, creativity, leadership, listening and soft communication skills, teamwork and collaboration, ethical thinking, socialization, and other aspects of emotional intelligence. In fact, these so-called soft skills have been increasingly acknowledged as vital in workplaces everywhere. Communication skills, interactional and collaborative capabilities, ability to empathize,

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on-the-spot problem solving, service to an organization (service in the most basic sense — helping other humans), strategizing, and thinking long term are all salient skills sought after by employers in today’s job market. They are also regarded as the more humanistic parts of any job. Advocates of automation, AI, and robotics sometimes argue that these tools then allow human beings to take on more humanistic assignments which enhance our creativity, allow us to show empathy for one another, and develop higher order skills that promote strategic thinking and understanding. E-commerce Boom Globally, it is clear that an e-commerce boom has emerged and will create an entire ecosystem around it. Given that e-commerce will be a powerful engine of growth, it would be useful to determine its potential in hiring full-timers and part-timers. Online consumption patterns have changed dramatically for many global consumers, including those from East Asia. In Singapore, Taobao (which bought over Lazada) and Shopee are now the main online channels through which Singaporeans shop. In the United States, Amazon was actively hiring through the entire pandemic and its founder Jeff Bezos added a large fortune to his already formidable personal wealth. It is also evident that long-distance work technologies have kept work ongoing during the pandemic. Some of these Industry 4.0 technologies like multi-user video conferencing and the digitalization of data (to achieve digital connectivity) may drive certain jobs to extinction. In Singapore, remote work was uncommon before COVID-19 struck and proved to be a great experiment for many Singaporeans to understand the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. With the majority of people working from home, particularly during the lockdown period, retail, tourism, and the food and beverage industries suffered greatly, and are likely to continue their slump in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to job

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disruptions, the COVID-19 pandemic coincides with structural changes in the economy due to the advent of Industry 4.0 technologies. For example, the autonomous vehicle is likely to deconstruct more jobs in the transportation sector. All advanced economies are already developing such technologies at a steady pace. The United States has already tested autonomous vehicles on the highway with some registered accidents. In China, by 2018, Baidu’s Apollo autonomous vehicle had already clocked nearly 140,000 km in Beijing.23 It would only be a matter of time before autonomous vehicular technologies are approved by their respective government agencies for actual use on public roads, highways, bus routes, and in other public transportation services. Manufacturing The other sector where human jobs have been replaced by machines is the manufacturing industry with the installation industrial robots. Germany and Japan are leading the world in industrial robot technologies. Even China which has surplus human labor is also going full steam into the utilization of industrial robots for its production processes. However, robots can also create more jobs and/or foster further skill development amongst humans. As robotics take over manufacturing production, product assembly, and product testing, human technicians/supervisors and quality control personnel are still likely to be needed in the production process. Banking Even large businesses in the service sector such as finance and banking have not been spared from the onslaught of Industry 4.0 Tan, Phillip, “The Singapore Employment Market in Post-COVID 19 economy” dated 30 May 2020 iIn LinkedIn [downloaded on 30 May 2020], available at h t t p s : / / w w w. l i n k e d i n . c o m / p u l s e / s i n g a p o r e - e m p l o y m e n t - m a r k e t post-covid-19-economy-phillip-tan-?articleId=6672395909315358720 23 

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technologies. Before the onset of COVID-19, financial institutions like banks had already been affected in terms of automation of business operations and functions. Changes had to be made to front, middle, and back offices with secretarial, trade settlements/ brokerage operations, relationships management, and co-ordination jobs almost completely eliminated by AI, chatbots, digital banking, and fintech, and this revolution was accelerated with the advent of tech-savvy banking consumers (especially amongst the younger consumers).24 Some are even predicting changes to Chinese fintech as they deal with post-COVID-19 funding issues, a drop in investors (keen on a wait-and-see attitude), and an anticipated spike in default rates.25 However, there are glimpses of hope in some of Singapore’s economic sectors, with sustained hiring in the following sectors: Medical Services Across the world, there are at least 70 institutions working overtime on a vaccine for COVID-19 pandemic. The pharmaceutical companies and research labs in the United States, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and China are amongst those on the front-line for such research. They are joined closely by Russia and even Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School. Duke-NUS had stared clinical trials in 2020.26 Developing the vaccine alone is likely to generate jobs and also the need for humans to participate in the clinical experiments. It can create an ecosystem of supporting roles such as administrators, researchers, postgrad students, postdocs, and clinical assistants.

Tan, Phillip, “The Singapore Employment Market in Post-COVID 19 economy”. 25  Ibid. 26  Ibid. 24 

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Biotechnology and Medical Sectors The scientific and medical research fields will also face increased demand for researchers and post-graduate students in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Both female and male human talents in these fields are required in order to come up with the appropriate measures and policies to manage the spread of the pandemic. The entire ecosystem, or what experts call the “academic career pipeline from graduate students all the way up to senior tenured faculty”27, will require manpower and thus universities can work well with all stakeholders in this ecosystem to provide the appropriate manpower and human resources for these scientific institutions fighting the virus on the research frontlines. There is likely to be a shortage of epidemiologists in Singapore and worldwide. This is a field that is gender-neutral — women are already working as advisors to policymakers, designing clinical trials, coordinating field studies, and leading data collection and analysis; they are working as epidemiologists, virologists, and clinicians, and communicating with journalists and the public about their scientific work.28 Growth in this field would also fuel demand for supporting personnel — including admin officers, research assistants, statisticians, graduate students, and fieldwork coordinators. It may be useful for universities and institutions of higher learning to reach out to these medical establishments to find out more about their human resource needs and try to plug any gaps in the demand through internships, career fairs, and management trainee schemes. Times Higher Education, “Women in science are battling both Covid-19 and the patriarchy” dated 15 May 2020 in Times Higher Education [downloaded on 15 May 2020], available at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/womenscience-are-battling-both-covid-19-and-patriarchy 28  Ibid. 27 

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In the near future, there will be biotech revolutions that universities and other training institutes must pay close attention to. DNA hacking is just at the start of the curve when it comes to possibilities (including enhancement of human features); in other words, it is a rapidly growing industry. But at the same time, the success of the industry is uncertain and amorphous as stakeholders debate about the ethical, legal, and safety issues related to the technology. As the boundaries of allowable research were defined by United States and United Kingdom institutions, genetic editing has persisted in some areas that do not contravene these rules. It would be essential for Singapore to keep pace and catch up with this field. Besides hiring more biotech-trained graduates, an economy serious about tackling this field must also hire ethics lawyers, philosophers trained in applied ethics, public administration-trained policy researchers, political economists, and statisticians to meet the growth of this sector. Another growing area that will require the same set of stakeholders is that of precision medicine (PM). PM focuses on tailored-made custom solutions to individual healthcare, particularly with regard to prevention and treatment of diseases. Machine learning and big data have allowed medical practitioners to provide hundreds of gigabytes of data to identify medical issues and make predictive assessments/evaluations on how the human body will react to certain treatments.29 Technological companies can collect inherited genetic data and combine it with factors like lifestyle, environment, diet, exercise, and use computer modelling to compute the diseases and health problems that an individual has and/or may likely develop in the future.30 Schwab, Klaus, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Great Britain: Portfolio Penguin), 2018, p. 159. 30  Ross, Alec, The Industries of the Future (NY and London: Simon and Schuster), 2016, p. 60. 29 

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Food Production Urban farming is becoming a fad. It combines the benefits of harvesting fresh agricultural foods and enjoying green spaces atop tall buildings in a large concrete jungle. Participants can grow edible plants and participate in other lifestyle activities like mindful gardening.31 According to research by ecological and agricultural experts, rooftop farms produce food, green spaces, biodiversity, awareness of ecology/wellbeing/food systems, lower the heat island effect on cities (i.e., heat absorbed by dark-colored roads and buildings), provide urban dwellers with the ability to shape a more human-centric landscape for their cities, and encourage cooperation with architects/ bureaucrats/developers for future urban developments, bridging formal and informal city planning.32 There are revenue-generating schemes such as urban farm tourism and wellness programs in place to make such ecological benefits also financially sustainable. Logistics and Delivery In the case of logistics, Amazon leads the way. Amazon.com is a successful example of integrated human-robot logistical delivery services for just-in-time logistical planning. The integration is so successful that some Amazon workers even gave their robots affectionate human names. Information Technology (IT) The need for programmers, data analytics-trained personnel, AI and cybersecurity operators, coders, as well as architecture Bray, Marianne, “Crops in the clouds: The rise of rooftop farming in spacestarved Hong Kong” dated 5 November 2019 in Reuters [downloaded on 5 November 2019], available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkongfarming-cities-feature-trfn/crops-in-the-clouds-the-rise-of-rooftop-farmingin-space-starved-hong-kong-idUSKBN1XF03P 32  Ibid. 31 

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designers will increase as the economy goes through digitalization. The attention given to these technologies will also create an ecosystem for all stakeholders engaged in designing, operating, and implementing these technologies. It is a growth area that is likely to witness increased demand for manpower. Besides the demand for generalists trained in IT, there are other niche fields that require specific IT specialists and expertise. Even if global stakeholders overcome the challenges related to ethical issues in hacking the human DNA, they must also deal with DNA data security issues. This applies to basic DNA testing services for ancestry to the most sophisticated gene-splicing operations. Much of the data recorded is in digital online format. Guarding the confidentiality of these data and ensuring they are not stolen by hackers is a field by itself known as cyberbiosecurity. Despite all the advancements made at the level of hacking the human DNA, cyberbiosecurity is lagging behind in protecting these achievements. There are strong incentives to hack into such data given the commodification of genetic codes today. Thus, there is imperative need for cyberbiosecurity experts, anti-bioterrorism personnel, ethics lawyers and prosecutors, medical archivists, coders, cybersecurity personnel, “white” hackers (those who will search for and plug loopholes in the systems), applied ethics philosophers, and other stakeholders in this emerging industry. Lab technicians trained in DNA materials handling would also need to be hired to eliminate DNA traces leftover from samples sent to biotech companies for a wide range of commercial and business purposes. Besides the growth in “hardcore” areas like programming/coding and cybersecurity, there are the “softer sides” of the coding/programming sector that is being leveraged upon for creative pursuits and business opportunities, namely, the billion-dollar global Anime, Comic, and Game industry where the United States and Japan are leading entities. The electronic gaming industries is a value-added industry where employees acquire higher value-added skills like coding and creating computer graphics. These are also “weightless” industries that are knowledge-intensive and require a high level of human creativity inputs

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that AI systems and algorithms are not yet able to replicate. Although animation and game coding teams may not hire as many people as the traditional manufacturing industries, they impart high value-added skills to industry practitioners and workers and the work they do constitute high value-added economic activities (neither routine nor manual) that is still difficult for machines to do well at present. Urban Farming Robotics in the form of exoskeleton can enhance strength for women and elderly people working in the construction and agricultural industries. Robots can also perform jobs in urban-farming. Rooftops, indoor spaces, apartment blocks, and high-rises can be converted to farm spaces for urban farmers as robotic applications take over the manual and routine duties of injecting fertilizers and minerals into the soil, watering the crops, and managing temperature controls for the plants. As workers fret about the future of their jobs, employers simply do not have enough supply for skills that they need, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics specialists and generalists who possess the skills and aptitude to work in a team, ability to communicate and interact with others, even be on time for their appointments and assignments. As previously mentioned, other soft skills that are in demand in today’s workplace include active listening and empathy, persuasion skills, as well as problem-solving and decisionmaking ability. Governments everywhere are mobilizing their educational systems and syllabi to train individuals in such skills. One way to replenish the shortage of individuals possessing the appropriate skills in the economy is to absorb foreign talents, but this option accentuates existing fears about globalization. The goal then is for more humans to become adept in the skills required for globalization e.g., language training, usage of electronic tools of communication, and cross-cultural exchanges. In fact, language-learning, linguistics, communication skills and cross-cultural communications are all strong suits of women. These “soft skills” are associated with

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feminine abilities to be strong communicators, empathizers, translators, and oral communicators. Other than multinational companies and state-owned enterprises, entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized enterprises that can accurately spot market product demands as and when it arises will be able to capture a bigger consumer base for profit-making. Therefore, entrepreneurial studies can focus on courses that teach simulated trendspotting, big data analysis, and other pedagogical tools that enhance entrepreneurs’ market research capabilities. When businesses can better read the consumer market, they can customize solutions for consumers and create products/ services that can meet market demand. Childcare Services In the services sector, given that more women need to work but COVID-19 has locked down schools, their children need someone to take care of them. Besides the impact of women as caregivers, in many economic crises of the past (e.g. the 1973 oil crisis), more women are compelled to go out into the workforce to become supplementary breadwinners or even take over as the main breadwinners if their husbands (or partners) were retrenched or had their salaries reduced, regardless of whether it is due to technological advancement or the COVID-19 pandemic. When this happens, as more women join the workforce and require professional help to take care of their children, the childcare industry is expected to boom. Given the higher demand for childcare, childcare centers are being more conscientious about containing the proliferation of COVID-19 by using stricter measures against COVID-19 like doctors issuing longer medical leave certifications for children who are sick.33 AWARE, “How the COVID-19 pandemic affects vulnerable women in Singapore” dated 31 March 2020 in AWARE website [downloaded on 31 March 2020], available at https://www.aware.org.sg/2020/03/how-the-covid-19pandemic-affects-vulnerable-women-in-singapore/ 33 

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Social Work Social work is a growth sector dealing with poverty, homelessness, and the disadvantaged. The social work sector requires aptitude as well as a consistent and conscious choice of empathy towards fellow human beings, coupled with other high order skills for problem solving and to promote understanding amongst fellow human beings. Certain skills are classified as ‘soft skills’ because they deal with human emotive elements and human interactions (which women excel in). For example, jobs in sectors such as early childhood education, social work, and human resource greatly require soft skills such as empathy. It is not possible to work with children, poor and destitute persons, the homeless, or individuals with special needs without the ability to show empathy for their challenges, celebrate their tribulations, and provide support for them through their trials. In inculcating soft skills at the university (specifically service learning and community work modules), teaching service learning, encouraging community-based research, and leading volunteer groups for missions related to poverty alleviation, environmental conservation, and disaster relief efforts are important because the impacts of environmental damage and natural disasters tend to be long-term and so teaching the future generation to tackle these problems is crucial to managing the problems longitudinally. These skills will also be useful in dealing emphatically with other humans. Continuing long-term community-based research also helps to understand the problems better to cope with their long-term impact. These are job sectors that are still short of humans and therefore the need to train human resources to fill up the capacities.

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