Page 72 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

FEMININITY AND AUTHORITY 59
Modern feminine ideals, while often constructed around Westernised office protocols
and globalised consumption patterns, are also shaped by traditional notions of the model
woman, defined by such qualities as modesty, femininity and beauty. The women
interviewed in this study sought to project an appropriately feminine persona, particularly
when dealing with unfamiliar people. In popular magazines and Internet sites directed at
women one finds widespread acceptance of women’s work in the private sector, but there
is also a concerted effort to focus on their stereotypically feminine qualities. This includes
discussion of women’s roles as wives and mothers, their style of dress and their manner
when dealing with others. These attempts to reaffirm the femininity of entrepreneurial
and managerial women support the argument that the private sector is culturally defined
as masculine space and that women within this environment are going against their
gendered natures. Interviewees revealed a sense of contradiction in their responses
concerning their place in this competitive workforce. Their ambivalence about how to
behave in positions of authority highlight the complexity and confusion of this evolving
workplace. Many women have responded by mastering a type of gendered guanxi that
allows them to adopt behaviour appropriate to each situation.
In conclusion, women’s participation in China’s private sector creates challenges not
only to established norms, which help construct female roles and stereotypes, but also for
women themselves. While the interviewees mentioned qualities such as honesty, being
forthright and strong as important to a woman’s career success, they also spoke of
maintaining warm and friendly relationships and being kind to those around them. These
contradictions highlight the ways in which such women have to balance the demands of
traditional notions of womanhood and professional duties. Many women are finding they
are able to adopt a form of gendered guanxi that enables them to carry out their necessary
obligations while maintaining a harmonious and unchallenging relationship with colleagues
and business contacts.

Notes
1 Throughout the socialist period in China, domestic tasks primarily fell to women. As Emily
Honig has pointed out, even during the Cultural Revolution, a time when the family and
other ‘traditional’ institutions were challenged, women still bore the main burden of
childcare. The commune or work unit did not necessarily provide childcare in all cases and
many women had to rely on family members such as grandmothers (Honig 2000:99–100).
2 The one exception here was a senior state employee whom I took the opportunity to meet,
in order that her feedback would provide an informative contrast with the private-sector
participants
3 In the interviews, I used the term guanxi in the sense of women’s specific use of personal
contacts and relationships in a professional setting, noting the value placed on connections
and how women perceived their options for networking in and around the workplace. There
are ranges of definitions of guanxi—for instance, the work of Mayfair Mei-hui Yang (2000),
Andrew Kipnis (1997) and Yan Yunxiang (1996) all offer varying interpretations. However,
I am using guanxi here to refer to networking activities and not to refer to ‘corrupt’
practices.