Live Beneath a Precipitous Wall: The Other Façade of Chinese Women

Abstract

Objectives: While feminism is arousing international debates on traditional and new media, collective efforts such as #MeToo are generating visible influences on societies as well, under such collectiveness, I still believe personal stories of women are also worthy of telling. Provocations: This provocation intends to start with a young girl who wished to be a teacher as it was ‘domestic’ and ‘perfect for marriage’, but now has stepped into a different river, conducting funeral studies in a remote village in China. It offers a chronologic view of how that transaction has occurred and why is that. More importantly, it tries to publicly present the expectations or stereotypes of Chinese culture and society, yet the ultimate goal is to lead the ‘gaze’ towards a Chinese woman to a broader perspective, to build an individual and living ‘her’ in a broader world rather than a ‘her’ on television programs or literatures. Conclusions: I believe such telling is necessary as it contributes to the narratives of women in an international dimension by recognizing the efforts and struggles required for a woman’s growth and self-identification process and by highlighting the role that society and education have played. The conclusion follows after the personal story, and it highlights the continuous fight against stereotypes and inequalities.