Page 163 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

150 SALLY SARGESON
But if men and their families put up new houses as a means to acquire a bride and all
that she might provide, women are demanding houses with a view to achieving their own
goals and their ambitions for their ‘uterine family’. Villagers explained that the possession
of a mansion demonstrates to a woman that her suitor and his family have income, access
to credit, and sufficient social connections and ability to navigate the bureaucratic obstacles
that confront house-builders. After all, they pointed out, ‘You can tell what a family’s
situation is like if they live in a dump.’ Young women said that they were reassured that
they would find comfortable, hygienic and attractive accommodation in a new house.
They also explained that when they had married, they had wanted a private, intimate
space for their husbands and themselves, and a measure of independence from their
mothers-in-law. Finally, men and women both reasoned that if a woman marries into a
family with a new house, she can be confident that she will not immediately be saddled
with the cost of constructing the house of her dreams: ‘A new house tells a woman that if
she marries into that family, there will be no need for the newly-weds to borrow in order
to build.’ Unencumbered by housing debts, she and her husband will be able to save,
invest in more lucrative ventures, pay school fees and so provide for her progeny.
When it comes to young women’s housing preferences, size matters. Brides’ desire for
an autonomous space has led to entire floors being given over to newly-wed couples.
Hence, in two-and three-generation households, I found the vertical duplication of
functional spaces. ‘On the first floor there is a kitchen, dining room, games room and
bathroom. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a living room and bathroom. On the third
floor is a living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.’ In wealthier houses, kitchenettes
are installed ‘upstairs’ for the convenience of young couples. Over one-third of the
surveyed households that lived in a new home mentioned that they had rebuilt specifically
to create more space for school-age children. Yet most respondents acknowledged that at
least one-third of the rooms in their new homes were unused. Perhaps one day, they
mused, the empty rooms might be inhabited by their child and its spouse.
Increasingly, however, young women want not just a floor to themselves, but a house
of their own. In four of the five case-study sites, the great majority of households divide when
a son marries. Young couples then move into their own, purpose-built, homes. In the
four villages where early division is common, informants said the creation of neo-nuclear
households grants young couples a high degree of autonomy and eliminates friction over
the increasingly divergent life-styles led by older and younger generations. This generally
was illustrated by reference to the minutiae of everyday domestic life. As one young
woman put it: ‘It’s simply not convenient for the older and younger generations to live
together. We eat different sorts of food. Old people like softer foods, whereas we like
crisp textures. Its much better to separate.’ Other women mentioned that early division
precludes intergenerational arguments over television programmes, music and bedtimes.
A few respondents explained that division can be caused not by youngsters’ desire to set
up an independent household, but rather by the refusal of the elderly to move into the
huge, ‘empty’ dwellings preferred by young women. Only in the poorest locality did a
few respondents say that household division sometimes is precipitated by economic
conflict. One old miser complained, ‘We are always scrimping and saving, whereas young
people waste money. If my sons had their way, they wouldn’t divide. They’d want us to