VANESSA L. FONG Research articles Chinas One-Child Policy and the Empowerment of Urban Daughters ABSTRACT Urban daughters have benefited from the demographic pattern produced by China's one-child policy. In the system of trilineal kinship that has long characterized most of Chinese society, parents had little incentive to invest in their daughters. Singleton daughters, however, enjoy unprecedented parental support because they do not have to compete with brothers for parental invest- ment. Low fertility enabled mothers to get paid work and, thus, gain the ability to demonstrate their filiality by providing their own parents with financial support Because their mothers have already proven that daughters can provide their parents with old age sup- and because singletons have no brothers for their parents to favor, daughters have more power than ever before to defy disad- tageous gender norms while using equivocal ones to their own advantage. [Keywords: gender, family, fertility, demography, China N 1998, WHEN I FIRST started tutoring Ding Na, the scores, checking and rechecking her arithmetic, her eyes daughter of two factory workers in Dalian City, China, wide. "Are you sure you heard correctly? "her mother thought her father's attitude exemplified the asked. Ding Na was sure. She had scored higher than she bias against daughters portrayed in many studies of Chi- had ever scored on a practice exam in high school, and lese family life(Greenhalgh 1985a, 1994b; Harrell 1982; well above the likely cutoff for her top-choice four-year Salaff 1995; Wolf 1968, 1972). Although studious and well college. She shouted with joy as we congratulated her. Her behaved, Ding Na was often criticized by her father, who father beamed at her with tears in his eyes and said, " I was liked to remind her that he had always wanted a son. He wrong to have wanted a son. a daughter like you is worth worried that she might not score high enough to get into ten sons good four-year college, even though she usually ranked in e experiences of girls like Ding Na are quite differ the top 20 percent of her high school class on practice ex- ent from those of daughters who grew up in the patril ams."What will you do if you don't get into a good col- ineal, patrilocal, and patriarchal world described in classic lege? " he lamented. " If you were a boy, you could study studies of gender in Chinese societies(Andors 1983; Croll abroad while supporting yourself as a laborer, but what 1995: Greenhalgh 1985a, 1994b; Jaschok and Miers 1994; can a girl do abroad besides sit around waiting for remit- Stacey 1983; Watson 1986, 1996; Wolf 1968, 1972). The afford? Although her mother praised her devastating effect of gender norms on daughters of th for being more willing to help with chores than most world is evident in the life stories of women born prior to other teenagers, whenever Ding Na had trouble helping the 1950s, and to a lesser extent in those of women born her father carry groceries or move furniture, he snapped, in the 1950s and 1960s. girls born after Chinas one-child Girls are so useless. A boy would have no trouble with this. policy began in 1979, however, have more power to chal On July 26, 1999, when Ding Na's college entrance lenge detrimental gender norms and use helpful ones than between Ding Na and her father in a different light. I sence of brothers for their parents to favor y and the ab- exam scores were released, I began to see the relationship ever before, thanks to the decline of patrili stayed up with Ding Na and her parents as we waited well In this article, I argue that urban daughters born un past our bedtimes for her scores to become available der Chinas one-child policy have benefited from the hrough an automated phone hotline at midnight. After demographic pattern produced by that policy. By compa her call finally went through, she wrote down her subject ing the experiences of daughters born in the 1980s with AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 104(4) 3-1109. COPYRIGHT 2002. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONVANESSA L. FONG Research Articles China’s One-Child Policy and the Empowerment of Urban Daughters ABSTRACT Urban daughters have benefited from the demographic pattern produced by China’s one-child policy. In the system of patrilineal kinship that has long characterized most of Chinese society, parents had little incentive to invest in their daughters. Singleton daughters, however, enjoy unprecedented parental support because they do not have to compete with brothers for parental invest￾ment. Low fertility enabled mothers to get paid work and, thus, gain the ability to demonstrate their filiality by providing their own parents with financial support. Because their mothers have already proven that daughters can provide their parents with old age sup￾port, and because singletons have no brothers for their parents to favor, daughters have more power than ever before to defy disad￾vantageous gender norms while using equivocal ones to their own advantage. [Keywords: gender, family, fertility, demography, China] IN 1998, WHEN I FIRST started tutoring Ding Na, the daughter of two factory workers in Dalian City, China, I thought her father’s attitude exemplified the parental bias against daughters portrayed in many studies of Chi￾nese family life (Greenhalgh 1985a, 1994b; Harrell 1982; Salaff 1995; Wolf 1968, 1972). Although studious and well behaved, Ding Na was often criticized by her father, who liked to remind her that he had always wanted a son. He worried that she might not score high enough to get into a good four-year college, even though she usually ranked in the top 20 percent of her high school class on practice ex￾ams. “What will you do if you don’t get into a good col￾lege?” he lamented. “If you were a boy, you could study abroad while supporting yourself as a laborer, but what can a girl do abroad besides sit around waiting for remit￾tances I can’t afford?” Although her mother praised her for being more willing to help with chores than most other teenagers, whenever Ding Na had trouble helping her father carry groceries or move furniture, he snapped, “Girls are so useless. A boy would have no trouble with this.” On July 26, 1999, when Ding Na’s college entrance exam scores were released, I began to see the relationship between Ding Na and her father in a different light. I stayed up with Ding Na and her parents as we waited well past our bedtimes for her scores to become available through an automated phone hotline at midnight. After her call finally went through, she wrote down her subject scores, checking and rechecking her arithmetic, her eyes wide. “Are you sure you heard correctly?” her mother asked. Ding Na was sure. She had scored higher than she had ever scored on a practice exam in high school, and well above the likely cutoff for her top-choice four-year college. She shouted with joy as we congratulated her. Her father beamed at her with tears in his eyes and said, “I was wrong to have wanted a son. A daughter like you is worth ten sons.” The experiences of girls like Ding Na are quite differ￾ent from those of daughters who grew up in the patril￾ineal, patrilocal, and patriarchal world described in classic studies of gender in Chinese societies (Andors 1983; Croll 1995; Greenhalgh 1985a, 1994b; Jaschok and Miers 1994; Stacey 1983; Watson 1986, 1996; Wolf 1968, 1972). The devastating effect of gender norms on daughters of that world is evident in the life stories of women born prior to the 1950s, and to a lesser extent in those of women born in the 1950s and 1960s. Girls born after China’s one-child policy began in 1979, however, have more power to chal￾lenge detrimental gender norms and use helpful ones than ever before, thanks to the decline of patriliny and the ab￾sence of brothers for their parents to favor.1 In this article, I argue that urban daughters born un￾der China’s one-child policy have benefited from the demographic pattern produced by that policy. By compar￾ing the experiences of daughters born in the 1980s with AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 104(4):1098–1109. COPYRIGHT © 2002, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION