6 The China Quarterly,pp.1-19 unmet.30 In addition,rural women were still disadvantaged not only relative to urban women but also to both rural and urban men.In terms of gender differ- ences,the urban and rural division was still substantial.A total of 54.3 per cent of urban women had received a high school education,compared to 19.2 per cent of rural women;additionally,rural women devoted much more time to housework than urban women did.Rural women's earnings equalled only 56 per cent of men's earnings in 2010.31 In his discussion of rural women's changing situation in contemporary China, Yunxiang Yan has emphasized the rising power of women and young couples over parental authority,a phenonmenon he describes as "the triumph of conju- gality over patriarchy."32 However,some scholars still consider it too premature to make this claim,because although in some ways transformation has taken place,in others,patriarchal norms and practices have prevailed.33 My observa- tions support this latter view.My female informants experienced changes in com- plex and contradictory ways,a finding which is substantiated by the empirical evidence discussed later in this article. Methodology My data comes from fieldwork which took place over the course of seven months during 2011 and 2014.In order to observe the life experiences of rural migrant workers,I primarily worked in the Meteor Restaurant (a pseudonym),a five-storey restaurant in Shanghai with 300 staff;96 per cent of the full-time workers in the restaurant were migrant workers from rural areas. I used participant observation to investigate the behaviour of service workers and their interactions in the workplace,the dormitories and leisure-activity venues.In addition,I conducted interviews to explore the migrant workers'well- being,migration experiences and intimate relationships.Data on intimate rela- tionships mostly originated from interviewing,because intimate relationships can hardly be observed in the field.I interviewed 49 informants,with an average age of 24,in the restaurant for an average time of 76.6 minutes per interview.Of the interviewees,21 were female.I guaranteed anonymity to my informants at the very beginning of the fieldwork and reiterated this guarantee at the beginning of each interview. From January to April 2012,I worked on a one-day-on and one-day-off basis. Most of the time,I worked as a waitress in the compartment area or the hall area. Occasionally,I worked as a pantry helper in order to observe and to find oppor- tunities to interview the pantry helpers.34 In July 2012,I revisited the restaurant 30 NBS and ACWF 2011. 31 The report did not suggest that rural women were compared to rural men or men in general. 32 Yan,Yunxiang 2003,14. 33 Brandtstadter and Santos 2009. 34 Pantry helpers are those who connect the back of house (kitchen)to the front of house (dining area). They deliver dishes from the kitchen to the dining area. CMM JOURNALS http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded:03 May 2016 P address:104.237.91.180
http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 03 May 2016 IP address: 104.237.91.180 unmet.30 In addition, rural women were still disadvantaged not only relative to urban women but also to both rural and urban men. In terms of gender differences, the urban and rural division was still substantial. A total of 54.3 per cent of urban women had received a high school education, compared to 19.2 per cent of rural women; additionally, rural women devoted much more time to housework than urban women did. Rural women’s earnings equalled only 56 per cent of men’s earnings in 2010.31 In his discussion of rural women’s changing situation in contemporary China, Yunxiang Yan has emphasized the rising power of women and young couples over parental authority, a phenonmenon he describes as “the triumph of conjugality over patriarchy.”32 However, some scholars still consider it too premature to make this claim, because although in some ways transformation has taken place, in others, patriarchal norms and practices have prevailed.33 My observations support this latter view. My female informants experienced changes in complex and contradictory ways, a finding which is substantiated by the empirical evidence discussed later in this article. Methodology My data comes from fieldwork which took place over the course of seven months during 2011 and 2014. In order to observe the life experiences of rural migrant workers, I primarily worked in the Meteor Restaurant (a pseudonym), a five-storey restaurant in Shanghai with 300 staff; 96 per cent of the full-time workers in the restaurant were migrant workers from rural areas. I used participant observation to investigate the behaviour of service workers and their interactions in the workplace, the dormitories and leisure-activity venues. In addition, I conducted interviews to explore the migrant workers’ wellbeing, migration experiences and intimate relationships. Data on intimate relationships mostly originated from interviewing, because intimate relationships can hardly be observed in the field. I interviewed 49 informants, with an average age of 24, in the restaurant for an average time of 76.6 minutes per interview. Of the interviewees, 21 were female. I guaranteed anonymity to my informants at the very beginning of the fieldwork and reiterated this guarantee at the beginning of each interview. From January to April 2012, I worked on a one-day-on and one-day-off basis. Most of the time, I worked as a waitress in the compartment area or the hall area. Occasionally, I worked as a pantry helper in order to observe and to find opportunities to interview the pantry helpers.34 In July 2012, I revisited the restaurant 30 NBS and ACWF 2011. 31 The report did not suggest that rural women were compared to rural men or men in general. 32 Yan, Yunxiang 2003, 14. 33 Brandtstädter and Santos 2009. 34 Pantry helpers are those who connect the back of house (kitchen) to the front of house (dining area). They deliver dishes from the kitchen to the dining area. 6 The China Quarterly, pp. 1–19
Filial Daughters?7 for three weeks.I worked as a waitress again in order to observe any changes in the restaurant and with the employees.In order to collect more materials and keep myself updated,I revisited the restaurant from December 2012 to January 2013,June to July 2013 and March to April 2014,during which periods I conducted some follow-up interviews and observations.From the very begin- ning of the fieldwork I repeatedly read the field notes,the interview summaries I wrote immediately after each interview,and also the full transcripts of certain interviews.Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Its techniques of repe- tition,similarities and differences are core to this method.35 The process of iden- tifying themes was based on the following principles:themes that I considered important to the migrants;recurring themes;themes of similarities and differ- ences within the group;themes that differed from the literature;and themes that linked to the research questions.Themes were identified based on intensive and repeated readings of the interview summaries and field notes.36 Emipiral Findings Choosing a partner and marriage negotiations are complicated and interactive processes.The variation of marital status contributes to the different experiences and self-understanding of migrant women.In this section,I first use Ru Nan's case study to explore how she embodied the idea of filial piety as a moral prin- ciple to regulate her behaviour.Exemplified by the case of Yue,I then consider the contradiction and conflict between being filial and pursuing romantic love.I also address how Yue's relationships with her parents-in-law and partner reflected her post-marriage status.The last part discusses the rising power of mar- ried migrant women and the perpetuation of conventional gender ideas and prac- tices.All three parts respond to the question of how women's agency was exerted and subjectivity was represented. Filial piety of unmarried women Several of my female informants recounted that they had experienced unfair treatment because of their parents'preference for sons,which corresponds with other research.Son preference is prevalent in many parts of China,especially in rural areas.37 Although they are treated unfairly,some women still feel obliged to fulfil their filial obligations by sending back remittances and attending arranged matches as required.Ru Nan was one such woman.She was born in 1993.When I met her,I quickly noticed that her first name,Ru Nan,has the same pronunciation as ru nan如男，which literally means“like a man'”in Chinese.It is very typical for a family to give this name to a first-born baby 35 Ryan and Bernard 2003,102. 36 A more detailed discussion of methodology can be seen in Shen 2015a.2015b. 37 Gao 1993;Qiao 2004:Yuan and Shi 2005. CMM JOURNALS http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded:03 May 2016 IP address:104.237.91.180
http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 03 May 2016 IP address: 104.237.91.180 for three weeks. I worked as a waitress again in order to observe any changes in the restaurant and with the employees. In order to collect more materials and keep myself updated, I revisited the restaurant from December 2012 to January 2013, June to July 2013 and March to April 2014, during which periods I conducted some follow-up interviews and observations. From the very beginning of the fieldwork I repeatedly read the field notes, the interview summaries I wrote immediately after each interview, and also the full transcripts of certain interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Its techniques of repetition, similarities and differences are core to this method.35 The process of identifying themes was based on the following principles: themes that I considered important to the migrants; recurring themes; themes of similarities and differences within the group; themes that differed from the literature; and themes that linked to the research questions. Themes were identified based on intensive and repeated readings of the interview summaries and field notes.36 Emipiral Findings Choosing a partner and marriage negotiations are complicated and interactive processes. The variation of marital status contributes to the different experiences and self-understanding of migrant women. In this section, I first use Ru Nan’s case study to explore how she embodied the idea of filial piety as a moral principle to regulate her behaviour. Exemplified by the case of Yue, I then consider the contradiction and conflict between being filial and pursuing romantic love. I also address how Yue’s relationships with her parents-in-law and partner reflected her post-marriage status. The last part discusses the rising power of married migrant women and the perpetuation of conventional gender ideas and practices. All three parts respond to the question of how women’s agency was exerted and subjectivity was represented. Filial piety of unmarried women Several of my female informants recounted that they had experienced unfair treatment because of their parents’ preference for sons, which corresponds with other research. Son preference is prevalent in many parts of China, especially in rural areas.37 Although they are treated unfairly, some women still feel obliged to fulfil their filial obligations by sending back remittances and attending arranged matches as required. Ru Nan was one such woman. She was born in 1993. When I met her, I quickly noticed that her first name, Ru Nan, has the same pronunciation as ru nan 如男, which literally means “like a man” in Chinese. It is very typical for a family to give this name to a first-born baby 35 Ryan and Bernard 2003, 102. 36 A more detailed discussion of methodology can be seen in Shen 2015a, 2015b. 37 Gao 1993; Qiao 2004; Yuan and Shi 2005. Filial Daughters? 7