女人当家?——单身生育和性别角色的重新协商

Women in Charge?——Births among Unwed Women and the Renegotiation of Female Gender Roles

本文关注第二次人口转变背景下中国社会出现的中产阶层女性自主选择的单身生育实践,探讨转型社会背景下女性性别角色的变迁。文章基于对22名未婚生育的异性恋都市女性的深度访谈发现,单身生育是中国社会个体化进程的产物,体现了这些女性对传统性别角色的挑战和自我意识的觉醒。在育儿保障尚不完善和代际联系紧密的情况下,这些女性的原生家庭接纳并支持她们的单身生育选择,协助其进行抚育照料。文章认为单身生育体现了个体主义和家庭主义之间的协商和融合,并重新塑造了女性对家庭内外不同性别角色的认同。

This article focuses on the rise of active and voluntary practice of childbearing among unwed middle-class women in Chinese society in order to explore the changing gender roles of women during the current second demographic transition.Based on in-depth interviews with 22 unwed heterosexual urban women who are single mothers,we find that childbearing among unwed women is an outcome of the individualization process in Chinese society,as these women challenge traditional gender roles and determine to awake to their enhanced self-awareness.In the absence of childcare security but the existence of strong intergenerational ties,these women’s natal families’ acceptance and support of their reproductive choice may be their reliable assistance in the care of children.The article argues that births among these unwed women suggest that a negotiation and integration between individualism and familism is unfolding as these women redefine their different roles within and outside the family.