WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

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ZHENG Z.
especially among less prestigious occupations (Zhang, 2004). Empirical
research also found that the threshold for women to enter the labour
market is higher than that of men, some recruitment posters stated
that only males are eligible for the job, some companies set a higher
standard for women than men when recruiting, while women exit
formal employment earlier than men, both due to the younger age of
retirement and a higher percentage of firing during the economic
reform (Cai, 2002).
The traditional role of women in family and marriage customs
also put women in a disadvantaged position. In most places in rural
China, the wife lives with her husband's family and largely devotes
herself to household works within the family. This traditional practice
does not encourage parents to invest much on a girl’s education since
she is going to be married out, and women are less likely to participate
in village public affairs. In some counties of Hubei Province where son
preference is not strong, there is a tradition of husbands living with
wife’s family and of a daughter’s responsibility of the elderly (Li et al.
2002; Jin et al., 2004; Li and Zhang, 2001). It is found that the sex ratio
at birth has always been normal in these areas. However, rural areas
with such traditions represent a small minority. Although the state is
advocating a new norm of marriage and living arrangement for the
newly wed, the tradition is very difficult to change in a short period.
The tradition of marriage practice puts women in a disadvantaged
position, especially rural women. Since the woman is the one moving
after marriage, she will be more likely to loose her right to have her
own land or to have a share of the inheritance. The law on the
Contracting of Rural Land (nongcun tudi chengbao fa) enacted in 2002
defines clearly that men and women have equal rights to contract land,
however, it has been found that the implementation of this law is
different. In some rural areas, women did not get their land both after
but also before leaving the family house to get married; it would be
even more difficult for a divorced woman to claim her ownership to a
piece of land, especially when there is a shortage of arable land. The
change of living place due to marriage makes a woman more
vulnerable in protect her rights. Although no deliberate discrimination
towards women was found in most places, women’s right has often
been violated in practice (Zhang et al., 2006).
The public image of women is also often stereotyped by the
media and in textbooks. Women are often portrayed as a good wife, or
in a vulnerable position to be protected. The way that the media
addresses the problem of imbalanced sex ratio is to assume the
shortage of women or shortage of potential wives for men. Such