Presentation Title
The Emergence of Singlehood in the 20th and Early 21st Century: Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan
Location
Council Chambers
Start Date
11-10-2013 10:00 AM
End Date
11-10-2013 12:00 PM
Abstract
In East Asia, Confucian philosophy is the dominant value system, especially its prominent doctrine of filial piety. Filial piety is a requirement of life, and being filial is an essential approach to acquire public recognition as an individual with integrity. The most unfilial and unforgivable behavior is being unmarried or sonless.[1] However, there are more and more Asian women who are immersed in this social milieu yet are choosing to embrace their singlehood. The liberation of Asian women is one of the momentous outcomes of Western modernization. This is also a trans-cultural trend that spans nations, societies, and ideologies. What reasons impel Asian women to choose a generally acknowledged difficult lifestyle? Why would they rather be stigmatized as a social outsider than have a reputation of virtue as a member of a collectivist society? This article will analyze the factors that impact these Asian women’s decision-making processes and the forces which lead them into an unconventional lifestyle in East Asian society: singlehood. These arguments will be embodied and compared through specific case analyses from women in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.
[1] Mencius, The Works of Mencius, Book IV, Part I, Li-Lau, Mencius said, “There are three things which are unfilial, and to have no posterity is the greatest of them.”, 372-289 B.C.
Included in
Asian History Commons, Cultural History Commons, East Asian Languages and Societies Commons, History of Gender Commons, Social History Commons, Women's History Commons
The Emergence of Singlehood in the 20th and Early 21st Century: Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan
Council Chambers
In East Asia, Confucian philosophy is the dominant value system, especially its prominent doctrine of filial piety. Filial piety is a requirement of life, and being filial is an essential approach to acquire public recognition as an individual with integrity. The most unfilial and unforgivable behavior is being unmarried or sonless.[1] However, there are more and more Asian women who are immersed in this social milieu yet are choosing to embrace their singlehood. The liberation of Asian women is one of the momentous outcomes of Western modernization. This is also a trans-cultural trend that spans nations, societies, and ideologies. What reasons impel Asian women to choose a generally acknowledged difficult lifestyle? Why would they rather be stigmatized as a social outsider than have a reputation of virtue as a member of a collectivist society? This article will analyze the factors that impact these Asian women’s decision-making processes and the forces which lead them into an unconventional lifestyle in East Asian society: singlehood. These arguments will be embodied and compared through specific case analyses from women in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.
[1] Mencius, The Works of Mencius, Book IV, Part I, Li-Lau, Mencius said, “There are three things which are unfilial, and to have no posterity is the greatest of them.”, 372-289 B.C.
Comments
Presentation is included in Panel 1: Changing Family Relations in Contemporary East Asia