1062 Journal of Marriage and Family mixture context can embrace and integrate cohabitation of those realms by more progres- different elements of moderity and tradition to sive women and traditional men. strategically make decisions regarding family At a micro level,I also drew on femi- behavior.In so doing,they actively participate nist insights regarding individuals'efforts to in and reinvent the modern-traditional mosaic in challenge patriarchal tradition as well as the their daily lives.Researchers have found,instead family literature described above regarding the of individuals choosing to be only "modern" ways in which individuals select and combine or "traditional,"diverse strategies and patterns: modern and traditional ideas and practices. the hybrid arranged love marriage in India,the Work by Nazli Kibria(1990,1995a,1995b)on simultaneous student and mother who enjoys Vietnamese immigrant women in the United the support of her extended family in Nepal,and States and South Asian women in the urban romantic love in consanguineous marriages in context has revealed how women use their Qatar. socioeconomic resources to renegotiate gender For many non-Western societies,rapid indus- and family relationships within the patriarchal trialization has occurred only since World War system.This mosaic framework thus helped II;yet,their cultural heritage and indigenous me examine how women navigate a tradition family practices may have lasted for centuries and modernity“maze,”so to speak,and how or even longer.It should thus be no surprise to their decisions regarding marriage and career see the coexistence of traditional and modern both shape and are shaped by the pathways and elements with the onslaught of either modern- closed passages of that maze.Whether individ- ization (economic development)or Westerniza- uals select conflicting or harmonious elements tion (e.g.,developmental idealism)in regard to of modernity and tradition,what kind of new family behaviors. meanings develop out of their combination and the extent to which actors exercise agency within those selections remain questions that require The Modern-Traditional Mosaic With a Gender investigation. Lens At the macro level,the theoretical framework THE RESEARCH QUESTION of this study challenges the linear narratives of In the pre-reform period,the Communist progress and convergence offered by modern- government vigorously modernized Chinese ization theory.Instead,I understand tradition families via laws and policies that abolished and modernity as constituting a dynamic rela- underage and polygamous marriages,granted tionship that varies across time and context, women the right to decide when and whom which then variously shapes individuals'moti- they would marry,and promoted other forms vations regarding family behaviors in different of gender equality (Davis Harrell,1993). societies.At the meso level,I also incor- However,the influence of patriarchal tradition porated insights from feminist perspectives was never eliminated from the private sphere of on the public and private spheres (Pateman, family (Sun Chen,2014:Zuo,2003).With 1989)that complement this coexisting mosaic the rise of neoliberal globalization,supposedly approach. "modern"individualistic approaches to solve According to Paula England (2010),in"mod- gender and family issues align remarkably ern"Western societies,the private sphere of the (and ironically)well with resurgent patriarchal family is still regulated by traditional gender expectations regarding traditional gender norms. norms despite significant gains for women in With this potent mix of sometimes-conflicting, parts of the public sphere,such as the labor sometimes-overlapping messages regarding market and mass education.However,although marriage,family,and gender roles,in this women have become more progressive in their study I asked how educated,unmarried women gender ideology,men tend to remain relatively in China make decisions related to marriage traditional.Therefore,this research provides and career.Also,to what extent and how do a gendered mosaic lens,one that highlights they see themselves as navigating between the sometimes-uneasy coexistence of the mod- tradition and modernity in their efforts to ern public sphere and the traditional private make sense of their difficult and challenging sphere and the similarly sometimes-uneasy situation？1062 Journal of Marriage and Family mixture context can embrace and integrate different elements of modernity and tradition to strategically make decisions regarding family behavior. In so doing, they actively participate in and reinvent the modern–traditional mosaic in their daily lives. Researchers have found, instead of individuals choosing to be only “modern” or “traditional,” diverse strategies and patterns: the hybrid arranged love marriage in India, the simultaneous student and mother who enjoys the support of her extended family in Nepal, and romantic love in consanguineous marriages in Qatar. For many non-Western societies, rapid indus￾trialization has occurred only since World War II; yet, their cultural heritage and indigenous family practices may have lasted for centuries or even longer. It should thus be no surprise to see the coexistence of traditional and modern elements with the onslaught of either modern￾ization (economic development) or Westerniza￾tion (e.g., developmental idealism) in regard to family behaviors. The Modern–Traditional Mosaic With a Gender Lens At the macro level, the theoretical framework of this study challenges the linear narratives of progress and convergence offered by modern￾ization theory. Instead, I understand tradition and modernity as constituting a dynamic rela￾tionship that varies across time and context, which then variously shapes individuals’ moti￾vations regarding family behaviors in different societies. At the meso level, I also incor￾porated insights from feminist perspectives on the public and private spheres (Pateman, 1989) that complement this coexisting mosaic approach. According to Paula England (2010), in “mod￾ern” Western societies, the private sphere of the family is still regulated by traditional gender norms despite significant gains for women in parts of the public sphere, such as the labor market and mass education. However, although women have become more progressive in their gender ideology, men tend to remain relatively traditional. Therefore, this research provides a gendered mosaic lens, one that highlights the sometimes-uneasy coexistence of the mod￾ern public sphere and the traditional private sphere and the similarly sometimes-uneasy cohabitation of those realms by more progres￾sive women and traditional men. At a micro level, I also drew on femi￾nist insights regarding individuals’ efforts to challenge patriarchal tradition as well as the family literature described above regarding the ways in which individuals select and combine modern and traditional ideas and practices. Work by Nazli Kibria (1990, 1995a, 1995b) on Vietnamese immigrant women in the United States and South Asian women in the urban context has revealed how women use their socioeconomic resources to renegotiate gender and family relationships within the patriarchal system. This mosaic framework thus helped me examine how women navigate a tradition and modernity “maze,” so to speak, and how their decisions regarding marriage and career both shape and are shaped by the pathways and closed passages of that maze. Whether individ￾uals select conflicting or harmonious elements of modernity and tradition, what kind of new meanings develop out of their combination and the extent to which actors exercise agency within those selections remain questions that require investigation. The Research Question In the pre-reform period, the Communist government vigorously modernized Chinese families via laws and policies that abolished underage and polygamous marriages, granted women the right to decide when and whom they would marry, and promoted other forms of gender equality (Davis & Harrell, 1993). However, the influence of patriarchal tradition was never eliminated from the private sphere of family (Sun & Chen, 2014; Zuo, 2003). With the rise of neoliberal globalization, supposedly “modern” individualistic approaches to solve gender and family issues align remarkably (and ironically) well with resurgent patriarchal expectations regarding traditional gender norms. With this potent mix of sometimes-conflicting, sometimes-overlapping messages regarding marriage, family, and gender roles, in this study I asked how educated, unmarried women in China make decisions related to marriage and career. Also, to what extent and how do they see themselves as navigating between tradition and modernity in their efforts to make sense of their difficult and challenging situation?