Chinese Women Speak

When Verschuur-Basse, a French sociologist specialising in the family, was invited by the Academy of Social Sciences to Beijing in 1985, she interviewed women from three generations and a variety of professions about their lives as women, wives, mothers and daughters-in-law. Over a five-year period she conducted in-depth, non-directed interviews with educated women who were able to analyse and interpret their lives in the context of important formative factors such as the Cultural Revolution, the one-child policy, and other social reforms. The difference between urban and rural expectations from women is particularly apparent in the life stories of the 13 women included in this book. The women voice common concerns as wives and mothers who work outside the home and comment on the prevalence of abortion and preference for male children, the increase in divorce rates, and the place of women as decision-makers in the family. Originally published in French as Paroles de Femmes Chinoises: La Famille Autrement (Harmattan, 1993), the study received critical acclaim from academy and media as a revealing portrayal of social reality in China.