“Factory Girls” by Leslie T. Chang provides an inside look on migration in the inner cities of China. The book follows the lives of women who have left their home villages to work in factories. Primarily, Chang focuses on the lives of two women, Min and Chunming. Min left her village at the age of sixteen with her older sister to chuqu, or to go out, and see the world. She often changed jobs while in Dongguan because she is never satisfied with her position. Chang met Chunming at a dating agency where men and women could mingle with one another. Chunming began her career at a toy factory. In her diary, she often wrote out the goals she wanted to accomplish and how to accomplish them. She was very determined to become successful. Her persistence …show more content…
Women usually worked as secretaries or on the assembly line because “bosses felt that young women were more diligent and easier to manage” (p. 56). Men, however, were either in a high managing position in the factory or worked in the lowest of jobs available, such as a security guard or driver. It was interesting to learn that about one-third of all of China’s migrants are women. These women go to the factory towns to work, but also, a majority of them leave their homes to see the world and experience life on their own for the first time. Chang makes a point that “to some extent, this deep-rooted sexism worked in a woman’s favor” (p. 57). The statement is supported by the idea that women are less treasured in their families; therefore, they had more freedom to do what they wanted with little care from the family. Shockingly, Chang noticed that no woman ever complained about unfair treatment. “They took all of these injustices in stride” (p.58). The women were grateful for the opportunity leave home and gain a sense of freedom; injustice was not a prominent …show more content…
They denote an opportunity, a new job, and a new life. “Min saw the city through different eyes: Every town was the possibility of a more desirable job then the one she had” (p. 75). The different factories are an integral part of her life, they determine who she is. However, Min can easily become unattached to a place because the meaning of a particular factory is temporary. She attaches herself to the factory while working, but is quickly able to leave without any hesitation to a place of better opportunity. Changing jobs abruptly has no effect on Min or any of the other migrants. An altered form of placelessness, where places have temporary meaning but still lack diversity, is achieved in the city of
While being seen as inferior to men in the countryside, women were able to work in difficult conditions to support their families. Even through radical change women played a central role in agriculture and thus in the advancement in industrialization. Especially in time of war and during the Five Year Plans, women were able to show their ability to outperform the expectation of their male counterparts and work relentlessly.
Gender equality has been an issue in the world for the past century. The contrast between men and women in China begins at home and translates into workplace expectations. In China, the expectation in the home is that men are superior to women and that she should be obliged to serve her husband. According to the Passport to China, “Confucianism is still a major factor in Chinese culture. A direct quote from the Passport to China represents this well. “The Confucian husband rules over his wife as a lord rules his people.” This essentially means that the husband is superior to the woman entirely in households that still maintain the Confucian attitudes of the past.
Factory Girls by Leslie Chang is a book that looks into the lives of two migrant workers in China, and the author carefully scrutinizes their journey in search of a better life. Having a sense of self-fulfillment, both of these characters desire success, and they will go above and beyond anything to reach their purpose in life---which is, transitioning into a higher class. With their independent-driven mind set, both are able to reflect upon themselves the necessity and extravagance appropriate to their knowledge. Both show different flaws in how they handle economic exigencies, however they are able to face those with simplicity just by recognizing their dreams and ambitions. Nonetheless, both characters show different innovation and imagination, and thus having those characteristics creates a sense of agency which symbolizes as a “whole” to all Chinese migrant workers.
According to Confucius, a Chinese teacher and philosopher of the period of Chinese history where he created a patriarchal society that woman had to obey their husbands and grown sons. Therefore, during the early times, people in China are generally gender stereotype. Women were discriminated because they were deemed as weak, submissive, passive and dependent on men which only capable of doing house chores and taking care of children comparing to the males who is seen as the core of the family because they were dominant, independent, assertive and usually the one who provides financial support to the family. Women do not have legal rights in making decisions and most of them were illiterate and only educated on self-discipline, etiquette, relationships with in-laws, household management, humility and chastity. Women being lesser than men were considered to be natural and proper. This in turn caused gender inequality and it is not unusual to see males dominate the business world in the early days as well. However, in the modern days now, China has become more of a communism where everyone, regardless of gender, receives equal shares of benefits derived from labour. This led to a rise of the general status of women and they were given more opportunities for education. This is due to the president of China, Mao Zedong who utters the memorable phrase “Women hold up half of the sky” which changed the perceptions towards women in China. According to the study produced by the Beijing arm of accounting firm, Grant Thornton, the proportion of women in senior management in China has climbed to 51% at the year of 2013, up from 25% in 2012 and outpacing the global average of 21%. In a survey of 200 businesses in China, 94% of them employed wo...
There are obvious differences within our two cultures and the way we depict gender roles. These differences show themselves in the work force, the distinct tasks performed in the home, and the privileges one receives in society. In the work force, the women of America hold many positions of importance, relatively speaking (I know that's a whole other essay). They are usually treated as equals with men and there are few jobs from which they are excluded, again for the sake of argument. In China, women are expected to stay at home and are not permitted to be in a work force that is held exclusively for men. They are assigned the role of housewives and must stay at home to clean the house and raise the children. Women in America receive education that will prepare them for the high paying jobs of a professional, all while the women in China are obeying the orders from their husbands and culture. The films portrayal of these particular gender roles are very evident. We can't forget however, that this was a western made film and in my opinion I feel that it tends to exaggerate the gender roles. I'm not saying that they are not present, because there is a definite inequality. I just keep in mind that it is a film and has to have an audience appealing theme.
Since the beginning of early Confucianism, women in early China suffered oppression. Unfortunately, the religion holds much responsibility for the sexism. Confucius’s answers for the Chinese people’s way of living consisted of sexual discrimination and segregation towards females. Women in China were urged to meet the expectations outlined in Confucian ideals. Such concepts were mainly limited to the men. Thus, Confucianism defined gender expectations. Confucianism stimulated the inequality of women in Chinese culture.
The men in the factories looked at the women coming in as just an extra pair of hands. They were mostly indifferent. Even so, the women could not date the men. This rule was more of a control effort and a bit of the women not being seeing as respectable women. Yet, the bosses were at a lost because they were not used to women working. The bosses tried to enforce rules; when they were broken, the bosses did not know how to punish the women because they were women. The women had to wear hats, even if their hair was longer than the men. The women did not like this because they felt as though they were being discriminated against. They would wear slacks and carry tools because the men had to, but the men did not wear head coverings. Also, everyone that worked in the factories, besides the factory women, viewed them as girls because a true woman would be at home taking care of the house. They had to trade in their smooth soft hands for rough hands filled with
Over many years women have been seen by men as accessories and do not treat them fairly. Even though women do have rights and freedom, they are still not treated as equals by men. Women are usually seen as doing housework things but comparing to the book O-lan shows differently because she contributes to helping Wang Lung work on the fields. Women are seen down upon but throughout time it is seen how women can do as much as men can.
In Factory Girls, Leslie Chang, a Chinese American journalist, writes about her experience following the lives of Chunming and Min, two migrant factory workers working in Dongguan a well known industrial city in Southern China. To express China’s economic growth, Chang utilizes her conversations with Chunming and Min about their history and future. Living in the city starts off as a culture shock for the girls, but it eventually wares off as they get assimilated to city life and working. Even though these people are leaving, they send money to help
Firstly, the relationship expectations in Chinese customs and traditions were strongly held onto. The daughters of the Chinese family were considered as a shame for the family. The sons of the family were given more honour than the daughters. In addition, some daughters were even discriminated. “If you want a place in this world ... do not be born as a girl child” (Choy 27). The girls from the Chinese family were considered useless. They were always looked down upon in a family; they felt as if the girls cannot provide a family with wealth. Chinese society is throwing away its little girls at an astounding rate. For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are 118 little boys in other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing (Baldwin 40). The parents from Chinese family had a preference for boys as they thought; boys could work and provide the family income. Due to Chinese culture preference to having boys, girls often did not have the right to live. In the Chinese ethnicity, the family always obeyed the elder’s decision. When the family was trying to adapt to the new country and they were tryin...
Kingston uses the story of her aunt to show the gender roles in China. Women had to take and respect gender roles that they were given. Women roles they had to follow were getting married, obey men, be a mother, and provide food. Women had to get married. Kingston states, “When the family found a young man in the next village to be her husband…she would be the first wife, an advantage secure now” (623). This quote shows how women had to get married, which is a role women in China had to follow. Moreover, marriage is a very important step in women lives. The marriage of a couple in the village where Kingston’s aunt lived was very important because any thing an individual would do would affect the village and create social disorder. Men dominated women physically and mentally. In paragraph eighteen, “they both gav...
Is it because he was a woman that he cried out at the sight of a child being harmed? Did he not cry out at the death of his wife because she was a woman? The role of the female in this story reveals a sense of inferiority towards women. These questions that the story raises show how women were viewed as inferior and weak in the eyes of the Chinese culture.
The jobs that women did occupy at this time were often in terrible factory conditions with meager wages. This reflects the image of women as inferior and undeserving of the same rights and status as men. Eventually women began to tire of being subservient to men and started to yearn for their rights....
Many US women’s experiences have been shaped by the intersecting power inequalities that they have faced throughout their lives. These inequalities bring criticism, cruelty and sometimes death; however these women continue to fight for their rights through protests, activist organizations and by remaining composed when faced with adversities. At the start of “Shanghai Girls” by Lisa See, we are introduced to two sisters, May and Pearl, whose lives change for the worse when the realities of living in a sexist society impact them personally. When May and Pearl’s father says, “I’ve arranged marriages for you” (See 20), they must accept. This is because despite their education, without a male figure, such as their father’s ability to support them, they would only end up as beggars or prostitutes.
Winnie’s mom was stated as a ‘traditional Shanghai women’ who was strong-willed and independent-minded. She desired for a love marriage, but during this time period in China, women were supposed to be submissive, so instead she became the second wife to a man she did not care for. After her death, Winnie also faced the same mistreatment. During Winnie’s youth in China, she lived a burden free life because she had a wealthy father and a status in her town. However, her status did not stop the discrimination she received as a woman. With her status, Winnie was able to have a bright future, but she had to obey her father’s wish and ended up ruining her good life by marrying an abusive husband. Winnie’s father, Jiang Sao-yan, told Winnie before her marriage that her husband’s desires and opinions come before her own. Therefore, despite your position and class in society, women are powerless when it comes to deciding how they want to live their