Intergenerational gendered livelihoods: Marriage, matchmaking and Rural-Urban migration in China

Abstract

This paper uses marriage as a lens to highlight norms, customs, identities and shared values that shape livelihoods and give meaning to intergenerational and gendered practices at the individual and household level. Drawing on feminist contributions to understanding power differences between women and men and between generations, this paper shows that while livelihood may be seen as involving mainly the economic and material aspects of living, it is equally a matter of how people pursue important goals in life such as marital formation, and how these goals are situated in social, cultural, historical and locational contexts. Based on interviews in Anhui and Sichuan provinces, I highlight how intergenerational livelihoods are influenced by gendered ideology and practice, in particular transactional marriage, parents’ and children’s responsibilities in enabling marital formation and lineage, and the pursuit of rural-urban migration to enhance men’s competitiveness in the marriage market. I foreground the voices and narratives of rural Chinese and rural-urban migrants, who share how they live their lives, resources that they have access to, strategies that they pursue, and their goals and desired outcomes that are situated in relevant social, cultural and spatial contexts. Quotes from interviewees underscore the deep-rooted patriarchy that has manifested itself through marriage, especially the traditions of patrilocal exogamy and transactional matchmaking. Specifically, I draw attention to the roles of house-building and bride price in marital formation, and their implications for rural-urban migration as a long-term household strategy and a way of life. By doing so, this paper emphasizes the social and cultural contexts, in particular gender and intergenerational relations, for research on rural-urban migration.