Women’s “Gender Capital” Experiences in Conjugal Housing Consumption: Understanding a New Pattern of Gender Inequality in China

Abstract

This article looks into the phenomenon that many women request men to provide a house for marriage in contemporary Chinese society. Going beyond explanations such as that the skewed sex ratio motivates men to engage in a Darwinian race and that some women have materialistic mating ideology, through a feminist engagement of Bourdieu’s concept of capital, I explicate how women wield their gender capital (in particular, the female capital) in the negotiation of conjugal housing consumption. I argue that women’s re-inscription of the “less-capable” female role should be differentiated from a simple return to tradition; it is more likely to be their protection-seeking strategy to counteract the increased uncertainty in relationships and the perceived gender inequality in marital life. The intergenerational dynamics in such negotiation process are also discussed. The study asserts that the gendered advantage enjoyed by some women in conjugal property negotiation has its root in the ongoing structural and gender constraints towards women. Such operation of gender capital therefore does not embody the liberation of women; it ironically traps both genders in a vicious circle of inequality.