Fong China's One-Child Policy 1105 Because of womens preference for marrying up, men their fathers did any housework at all. The percentage of have difficulty obtaining brides of similar socioeconomic female respondents who indicated that they wanted to do status as themselves. I often heard boys and their parents more housework than their husbands was a lot smaller complain about how difficult it will be to find brides. This than the percentage of respondents who indicated that is partly because of China's skewed gender ratio. In addi- their mothers did more housework than their fathers tion, young Dalian men fear that there is a shortage of ur- When I asked boys who indicated that they wanted to do ban women willing to marry men of equal status. Women more housework than their wives why they chose that re- already at the top of Dalian's socioeconomic hierarchy as- sponse, some said they would have to do a lot of house pire to marry even higher-status men from wealthier cities work to win and keep wives, since they are not likely to or foreign countries. Dalian men who cannot find local get good jobs or neolocal housing in time for their mar brides can acquire brides from the countryside, where riages. Others who already had girlfriends pointed out that women are eager to gain urban residency through marriage. their girlfriends are unlikely to do much housework after Most urban men, however, consider this unacceptable. marriage. As one college prep high school student said, Matthew Kohrman(1999) found that even a disabled Bei- " my girlfriend is too lazy to even buy her own snacks, so I ng man considered permanent bachelorhood or marriage have to run down to the shop and get them for her during to a disabled urban woman preferable to marriage to a lunch. How can I expect her to do even her fair share of nondisabled rural woman, because he felt that as an urban the housework? an he could never feel "real love" toward a rural woman Boys and girls alike recognize that greater gender some of my male students likewise told me that they would equality in the distribution of housework is expected for prefer lifelong bachelorhood to marriage with"country their generation than for previous generations. As a junior bumpkins high school student replied when her mother, a retired factory worker, asked what she will do after marriage if she CHANGING DOMESTIC ROLES never learns to cook, "My husband will cook! Who says In my students' parents'generation, men are expected to women have to be the ones to cook earn more, have better jobs, and do less housework than heir wives, who are expected to take primary responsibil- CONCLUSION ity for domestic work, usually at the expense of their ca- The benefits enjoyed by singleton daughters result from reers. Survey respondents mothers were far more likely the demographic pattern produced by Chinas one-child than their fathers to do household chores. Still, my stu- policy, and not necessarily from the compulsory nature of lents'fathers were far more likely to help with housework that policy. Global processes of industrialization, modern than my students' grandfathers, most of whom told me ization, and urbanization have led to low fertility in all de that they did no housework at all. In the families of a few veloped countries and many developing countries world students I tutored, husbands did even more work than wide. These processes would probably have caused a their wives. This was particularly likely when the mother fertility transition in cities like Dalian even without a one worked or earned more than the father. The mother of the child policy. Such a transition would have occurred more family I lived with cheerfully did all the housework while slowly, and produced fewer brotherless daughters, than she and her husband both worked at nine-to-five jobs. the transition mandated by the one-child policy. Still, Things changed when she rented a fruit stall, where she even a daughter with one brother is likely to enjoy more sold fruit from 8: 30 a. m. to 7: 30 p. m, seven days a week, resources than a daughter with several brothers while his factory increasingly sent him home with no Singleton daughters deal with gender norms in ways work and no pay and eventually laid him off. Suddenly, that seem likely to further their own interests. People of she was making more money and doing more hours of every generation have tried to use gender norms to attain paid work than he. Although she took pride in being a their own desires(whether they involved socioeconomic good wife and virtuous mother, "she realized that her success or the maintenance of strong ties to ones parents time had become a lot more valuable than her husband's but the efforts of Chinese daughters born prior to the one time and started pressuring him to do more housework. child policy were severely hindered by a patrilineal system He reluctantly agreed, and from then on had dinner wait- that overwhelmingly favored sons at the expense of their ing for her when she got back home at 8 p.m sisters. In contrast, urban singleton daughters enjoy un g 4e Survey respondents expect the division of domestic precedented support for their effort to challenge norms in their own marriages to be more egalitarian than in that work against them while utilizing those that work in heir parents'marriages by their their favor. When daughters are not systematically ex sponses to a question about how much housework they cluded from familial resources, norms that once went nt to do after marriage. The percentage of male re- hand in hand with patriarchy become tools that girls can ondents who indicated that they wanted to do at least use as well as boy half the housework after marriage was somewhat higher Chinas social structure is still characterized by than the percentage of respondents who indicated that inequality, particularly at the upper levels of the academicBecause of women’s preference for marrying up, men have difficulty obtaining brides of similar socioeconomic status as themselves. I often heard boys and their parents complain about how difficult it will be to find brides. This is partly because of China’s skewed gender ratio.11 In addi￾tion, young Dalian men fear that there is a shortage of ur￾ban women willing to marry men of equal status. Women already at the top of Dalian’s socioeconomic hierarchy as￾pire to marry even higher-status men from wealthier cities or foreign countries. Dalian men who cannot find local brides can acquire brides from the countryside, where women are eager to gain urban residency through marriage. Most urban men, however, consider this unacceptable. Matthew Kohrman (1999) found that even a disabled Bei￾jing man considered permanent bachelorhood or marriage to a disabled urban woman preferable to marriage to a nondisabled rural woman, because he felt that as an urban man he could never feel “real love” toward a rural woman. Some of my male students likewise told me that they would prefer lifelong bachelorhood to marriage with “country bumpkins.” CHANGING DOMESTIC ROLES In my students’ parents’ generation, men are expected to earn more, have better jobs, and do less housework than their wives, who are expected to take primary responsibil￾ity for domestic work, usually at the expense of their ca￾reers. Survey respondents’ mothers were far more likely than their fathers to do household chores.12 Still, my stu￾dents’ fathers were far more likely to help with housework than my students’ grandfathers, most of whom told me that they did no housework at all. In the families of a few students I tutored, husbands did even more work than their wives. This was particularly likely when the mother worked or earned more than the father. The mother of the family I lived with cheerfully did all the housework while she and her husband both worked at nine-to-five jobs. Things changed when she rented a fruit stall, where she sold fruit from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., seven days a week, while his factory increasingly sent him home with no work and no pay and eventually laid him off. Suddenly, she was making more money and doing more hours of paid work than he. Although she took pride in being a “good wife and virtuous mother,” she realized that her time had become a lot more valuable than her husband’s time and started pressuring him to do more housework. He reluctantly agreed, and from then on had dinner wait￾ing for her when she got back home at 8 p.m. Survey respondents expect the division of domestic work in their own marriages to be more egalitarian than in their parents’ marriages, as demonstrated by their re￾sponses to a question about how much housework they want to do after marriage.13 The percentage of male re￾spondents who indicated that they wanted to do at least half the housework after marriage was somewhat higher than the percentage of respondents who indicated that their fathers did any housework at all. The percentage of female respondents who indicated that they wanted to do more housework than their husbands was a lot smaller than the percentage of respondents who indicated that their mothers did more housework than their fathers. When I asked boys who indicated that they wanted to do more housework than their wives why they chose that re￾sponse, some said they would have to do a lot of house￾work to win and keep wives, since they are not likely to get good jobs or neolocal housing in time for their mar￾riages. Others who already had girlfriends pointed out that their girlfriends are unlikely to do much housework after marriage. As one college prep high school student said, “my girlfriend is too lazy to even buy her own snacks, so I have to run down to the shop and get them for her during lunch. How can I expect her to do even her fair share of the housework?” Boys and girls alike recognize that greater gender equality in the distribution of housework is expected for their generation than for previous generations. As a junior high school student replied when her mother, a retired factory worker, asked what she will do after marriage if she never learns to cook, “My husband will cook! Who says women have to be the ones to cook?” CONCLUSION The benefits enjoyed by singleton daughters result from the demographic pattern produced by China’s one-child policy, and not necessarily from the compulsory nature of that policy. Global processes of industrialization, modern￾ization, and urbanization have led to low fertility in all de￾veloped countries and many developing countries world￾wide. These processes would probably have caused a fertility transition in cities like Dalian even without a one￾child policy. Such a transition would have occurred more slowly, and produced fewer brotherless daughters, than the transition mandated by the one-child policy. Still, even a daughter with one brother is likely to enjoy more resources than a daughter with several brothers. Singleton daughters deal with gender norms in ways that seem likely to further their own interests. People of every generation have tried to use gender norms to attain their own desires (whether they involved socioeconomic success or the maintenance of strong ties to one’s parents), but the efforts of Chinese daughters born prior to the one￾child policy were severely hindered by a patrilineal system that overwhelmingly favored sons at the expense of their sisters. In contrast, urban singleton daughters enjoy un￾precedented support for their effort to challenge norms that work against them while utilizing those that work in their favor. When daughters are not systematically ex￾cluded from familial resources, norms that once went hand in hand with patriarchy become tools that girls can use as well as boys. China’s social structure is still characterized by gender inequality, particularly at the upper levels of the academic Fong • China’s One-Child Policy 1105